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My friend says deer management courses aren't worth it?

The close seasons for stalking may be reduced.

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Monday, 18 June 2007

My friend says deer management courses aren't worth it, and also is the season for shooting female deer being extended to include the month of March?

Stalking
GEORGE WALLACE says: While there is undoubtedly an element of truth in what your friend says - and there are certainly all sorts of people of dubious repute jumping on the bandwagon - it would be wrong to dismiss all training, and trainers, on that score.

We can never know too much about our chosen recreation and any contact with knowledgeable people is very valuable.

Training courses are one way of meeting such people and increasing your own knowledge from their experience. Unfortunately, from reports reaching me, not all those offering training are of equal quality.

I can only advise you select your course provider with care after speaking to people who have benefited from training, found it to be good value for money and can recommend a particular provider. One good recommendation is worth a thousand pages of glitzy advertising!

As for the extended season my most recent information is the parliamentary committee looking at reform of deer legislation will recommend to government the close season for females in England and Wales should be reduced so they may be culled during the whole of the month of March.

This is good news and reflects great credit on the energetic and effective lobbying by deer interests such as BDS (the British Deer Society) and the DI (Deer Initiative). Thanks are due also to those readers of Sporting Gun who took the trouble to write to their MPs asking them to advise the committee to ignore the ill-intentioned efforts of some bodies to obstruct change.

Don't hold your breath, but it really does look as though progress is being made. I will report again as soon as we have some idea of timing of the reforms.


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