DSC 1

[Squirrel_Basher 17,100]

Scare mongering if i ever saw it .Carry on Cap as only a few desciples are listening .

[fireblade_rrw 20]

Like it or loathe it, DSC and being able to demonstrate your competence is here to stay.

 

Folk can bump their gums until they bleed, but its only going to get harder to go deer stalking.

 

Either embrace the change, or lose out.

 

Its a very simple choice.

[Night Hunter 109]

I for one will challenge my FAO in court if he insisted after having my certificate for 15 years that I had to now pay a fortune for a piece of paper to jump through hoops to keep the firearm that I have spent a large lump of cash on after being granted permition to hold ,my landowners need not worry as I have insurance to cover me and they have a copy of a permission letter which would imdemnifiy them should a claim arise....keep up the scaremongery there are a few of us that will fight this to the bitter end,it seems that only the few that stand to make money out of this are the driving force behind it .... I started this post in 2009 when I was told that it would be compulsory for sure and it is still not compulsory ......probably wont be in my lifetime because the powers that be would have to fork out a huge amount of cash in compensation when they loose court case upon court case how could they possibly convince a court that after being suitable for 15 years that I am no longer suitable because I don't have a piece of paper.....Remember as stated in previous posts I have cleared up after various so called certificated stalkers who held both DCS1 and DCS2 certificates you simply can not account for experiance and I had a great Mentor when I started out , I do agree that every day is a school day for sure ...... who would you trust someone who had 15 years experiance or someone who has had a piece of paper for a couple of years .... but how many stalkers have fell for the scaremongers tactics.... Lets remember not all landowners are buttoned up the back.

[Danny .308 11]

I don't mean to give this thread mouth to mouth but going back to the original question.

 

No it shouldn't but i would like to think that most new stalkers would do it.

 

I personally think that the fee for a level 1 (£290) isn't expensive at all for a week long course. Or if you are so cocksure you know what you are preaching you can do one day for the assessments only & its little over £100 as i remember it. You also aquire your trained hunter number which is a legal requirement to sell the venison. It also teaches you what to look for & what is reportable with diseases such as TB.

 

DSC 1 is mandatory to aquire some stalking grounds & more are wanting DSC 2.

 

There is nothing wrong with having a certificate that is evidence that you do have the minimum level of knowledge to go out there & stalk safely. If i was a farmer i know i wouldn't let anyone I didn't know on my land just because they turned up & asked. I would want some evidence that they knew what they were doing.

 

The shooting safety part of the DSC 1 is also helpful in getting an open FAC. What reason have they got to restrict you when you have undergone training, assessment & are now qualified & certified to judge the land for suitable backstops & know what is & isn't a safe shot.

 

It should always be a personal choice & therefore not mandatory but i am all for people doing the DSC 1 and any other form of further education in field sports.

[OldCoppice 9]

If you're a professional stalker , I believe you should have a relevant qualification , even if it just proves you can shoot straight and know one end of a deer from the other .

 

I did the BDS course many years ago, I didn't pay for it my boss did, so I was lucky in that respect . Did I learn anything ? Yes . Has it made me a better stalker ? No . There is no substitute for putting the hours in .

 

I did the BDS course because Avon & Somerset Police flatly refused to add a .243 variation to my FAC1 without it, despite this not being a legal requirement .

 

I haven't done part two , I don't think I need to .

[Limpo 23]

I let my centrefire fac go about ten years ago after having an accident (t wat springs to mind!) I kept SG and rim fire up through all this time but to get my centrefire back I have to do DSC1 and be mentored, my mentor is my BIL who I taught to shoot 30 years ago! I've been shooting centrefire for 30 odd years, shot hundreds of Foxes and dozens of deer yet it seems the DSC1 and mentor hoops are here to stay. I know an assessor who I've stalked with and he told me to just do the assessment.

[Baldcoot 2,352]

I think yes u should do it to learn the various nastys they carry so u dont put yourself at risk or others,but i dont think it should be retro .If youve been stalking and shooting for years n a day and know your nodes,TB,and who to call if you find something wrong in a carcass fair enough .

However if your a newby with no experience then yes im afraid there,s a lot u need to learn and it needs hands on experience and the knowledge of others to make you a safe stalker.I dont mean just backstops and where to aim but that your not putting diseased meat into the food chain or into your family through ignorance and lack of knowledge.

Experience is priceless but knowledge needs sharing so the yes for new peeps, No dont force the experienced as many would resent being to do something they dont want to and in some case dont think they need.And sometimes the "trainee"will probably have more grassed deer then the instructor has seen as there,s some old farts out there being stalking long long time atb

[Limpo 23]

The food hygiene angle is a fair one but why don't they break the dsc1 down into units, gun safety, markmanship, carcasse preparation and inspection and food hygiene? I'd happily do the food hygiene but should be able to just get assessed for the first three. I don't mind showing I'm able to do the job I just feel I'm being striped.

[Baldcoot 2,352]

Some courses you can do assessment only for a nominal fee ,so if you approach the course provider it may be possible.Some agri colleges do D.sc as do a lot of stalking firms

.I,d suggest approaching someone like Mike at Jelen Deer services or B.A.S.C at Marford Mill and ask the question if theyre happy for people to do the test,s stand alone doing 1 module i,e Food Hygiene shouldnt be the end of the world atb and good luck.

[sussex 5,777]

NGO do a one day food hygiene course , costs about £60 if my old memory serves me well ....covers all aspects of hygiene from field to plate and gets you trained hunter cert...

[Limpo 23]

I've bitten the bullet so to speak and booked up for the dsc1, pro's it's only 10 minutes up the road from me, cons, £290 and four days when I could have been stalking.

My main objection is that the police are just blanketing these conditions without making it a legal requirement if that makes sense?

I have a mate of mine who has had an open FAC granted for centrefire after doing the dsc1 and shooting UN mentored for about six months. I've held SG, rim fire and previously centrefire since 1981 yet I have to jump through the hoops.

[Baldcoot 2,352]

It is a bind im ex army started age 13 firing Lee Enfield .303 and spent a few years firing L1A1 in 7.62 ,Browning 9mm,.30cal and .50 cal and Bren in 7.62 ,Berretta 9mm ,Garand in 7.62 ,M.G 42 in 7.62<With The Italians,>but the D.s.c1 was still needed as was a restricted F.A.C for the first 3 years seems my experience didnt count for much .

It,s totally down to Police force lottery some get enough calibres to fight a war and open ticket after a year ,some have to be mentored which is nothing to do with the home office guidelines what so ever and causes many a barney across most forums .There,s never going to be a standard across the country as some seem to make their own ideas part of the process but the guidelines are there and should mean Derbyshire is the same as Essex but theyre not even on the same page as Wessex which gives the best service of all according to the 6 fingered web foots that live there

[Stone14 9]

I'm new to the sport/ hobby/ trade etc. And think there should be a mandatory minimum level of knowledge for shooting/ hunting/ stalking any animal in UK. Alot of people get this knowledge passed down which is fair enough but this also leaves the gate open for anyone to have a go, and some of those may have no clue. 

Hunting/ shooting may be further accepted by a general population if a minimal level of knowledge is recognised.

But also, mandatory generally means 'it will cost you' which isnt a good thing imo as it then cuts many people out that can't afford the costs. It shouldn't be an unnecessary cost to catch your own prey animals and carry out pest control.

 

Edit

...actually thinking about it. Deer courses such as the DSC have only came about due to all the hypersensitive emotional whining crying marys in the UK. They're more heart broken to a deer getting shot than a rabbit. I think this ultimately boils down to the size of the animal. Larger animals emotionally hit people harder than small ones. If a rabbit was the size of a deer we'd have a rabbit stalking course. It seems its ok by many and acceptable to blow a rabbit in 2 or punch a hole out the back of a fox with a 308 yet not cause the same damage to a deer with a larger calibre that equal the damage. Why is that? Some say it will damage the meat, what if you care not for the meat? Can you then blow a hole through it? Likely not with a smiley face. So why is the deer more cared for than any other pest? Its down to the hunting community bowing to the whining Karen's of today. Just looking online people are carrying out studies on kulled deer to check the level of cortisol in their blood in aid to prove a point to these whining Mildenhall that stalking them is least hurtful to the deer! It's these same weak hearted soya bean types that kick off saying people in the army shouldn't get shouted at. Rant over.

Edited September 16, 2021 by Stone14

[Stone14 9]

On 21/03/2009 at 15:48, harry mac said:

 

 

 

Edited September 16, 2021 by Stone14
Other guy removed his post so I removed my quote of his

[Stone14 9]

Do you need prior knowledge of deer stalking before you do the DSC1 course? I know there are pre dsc but I'm sure they are just money makers. You can likely get all pre course info from a basic £20 deering book. Id imagine... I like jumping in at the deep end, but its a £300 deepend. Does the course teach you everything to pass the course? The multi question assessment out of 30p possible questions sounds a it steep to learn all that and pass on the day. 

Edited September 16, 2021 by Stone14