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one of us |
A friend of mine has just returned from 2 days level 2 assessment with a bill for £900.. And not one drop of ink in his portfolio. Let me just set the scene: £125 per outing (2 outings per day) £75.00 per day assessment. £40 per doe over and above the outing fee £75 per buck over and above the outing fee 9 deer shot, one was a trophy buck which was shot by mistake, the Stalker instructed him to shoot it and only realised the mistake when they approached it..then proceeded to charge him £175.00 He has told him to come back in February to finish it off... The reason for not filling in the portfolio was stated as "gralloch not good enough". After 9 deer when was it pointed out that his gralloching was not good enough? I would just like to throw this out into the forum for some responses.. Jon, sorry for stealing your thunder but I'm sure that you will add to this far more than I can! regards griff | ||
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One of Us |
No problem Griff This is what I have posted on SD Dear all This sorry tale (in my opinion) is regarding how much a DMQ Level 2 Witness has just charged a friend of mine for "assessing" him for his level 2. I will try and make this as succint as possibe. Basically my friend had phone contact with the assessor and email corespondance and a price of the following was agreed. £125 for 2 outings per day and £75 per day for him carrying out the assessment. My friend turns up and shoots over all 9 Fallow deer. One buck and the rest does. On monday morning just gone, my friend and the assessor successfully get onto a buck. The assesor tells my friend to shoot it. The shot is good and the buck goes down. Upon approahing the animal the assessor says "oh it's the white one it's the white one! That was the white one I was saving for someone to come up and shoot from Cheshire". It is a nice buck. Not medal class but with fair palmation and a very nice representation - all white. At the end of the 2 days, my friend has shot 9 deer in total so it comes to settle up time. He talleys it all up and says "ok that all in comes to £900". He then proceeds to breakdown the costs:- It appears that does are £40 per animal and "cull bucks" £75 per animal. He says "but I will have to charge you £180 for the white fallow". Remember the assessor told him to shoot it and the price was never mentioned. My friend thought it would be charged as a cull buck as it was a mistake the assessor had made. My firend came away feeling pretty sick and rang me to ask if I thought it was fair. Furthermore the assessor has said he is not yet comepetent on the gralloch and has told him that it would be a good idea to come back in February to improve his competency on the gralloch!!! What a bastard is what I say. Also he has not filled in any of the portfolio. Not about his rifle handling skills or whether his knife was sharp or wearing gloves etc etc the portolio is blank. My fallow average out at 34 - 37 kg's per animal dressed out so I make that at £2.20 a key £736 in value down the game dealers. My friend said to me "is that the going rate" and although he felt a bit sick didn't necessarily think that e had been wronged. The assessor has made over £1600 in two days. I say that is outrageous. What I am looking for is everyones opinions on this. Look forward to your responses. Many thanks | |||
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One of Us |
Its very unfortunate because it plays into the hands of those who believe that these tests are more a money making excercise and less a desire to increase skill and knowledge. It certainly sounds a great deal of money. | |||
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One of Us |
I would have asked the assessor to come outside for a word and then broke his jaw! hear in N.Ireland this type of ballocks happens too often and the BDS are mostly to blame. I was talking to a guy who had never shot deer before and booked a days Sika stocking in a well known esate. sitting in a double high seat he was told to shoot a stag, he did not want to as it was on the edge of a river bank. the stalker made him take the shot and the stag fell into the river and was not recovered. at the end of the day he was handed a bill for £500! he didn't pay it and has never heard another thing about it. | |||
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One of Us |
It appears that does are £40 per animal and "cull bucks" £75 per animal. Hmm! This either "appeared" surely when the whole session was being agreed that animals shot would be charged OR it "appeared" after the animals were shot. Did your friend not ask a direct question before booking of "How much per beast if I kill?" Or at the very latest BEFORE he pulled the trigger? If he was told that all he would pay would be the stalk and the assessment fee then I would do this: I would "name and shame" and drop the guy in the sh1t to the taxman. How many outings does the guy do? Hmm! The taxman may very well find that informatuon interesting. That really is quite disgraceful. I would refuse to pay. And invite the guy to see him in Court for the extra. And a reminder that what ends up in the "public domain" will end up with the taxman. An agreed price - if your friend's version is 110% correct - is an agreed price. As you say this is all good meat and drink to those who think that this whole DMQ is just a way to make money. However I find it unusual that no mention of any agreement was made of any cost per animal killed beforehand. On the other side of the argument: Either there was no cost per animal killed mentioned or there was. I can't see this factor having not been set down clear to start with. Surely nobody sets out on a stalk without the making it crystal clear BEFORE if the cost of the stalk includes or does not include the cost of any beast killed? If he was told that there would be a cost additional per animal killed then he has not a moral case. Except maybe the white buck. As there was no "extra fee" mentioned before it was taken then he is justified in offering only the £75. As the friend was taking "Level 2" surely he can't be that much a "greenhorn"? | |||
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One of Us |
Name & shame buddy!, I'ts high time we all helped with a good clearout of tw*ts like these! | |||
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new member |
I was given exactly the same prices as these by Annandale Estate, not the same place by any chance? | |||
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One of Us |
SHOCKING why on earth did he pay that much,surely a question on one of the many shooting forums would have given an insight into how much things really cost name and shame | |||
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One of Us |
Thanks everyone for your comments. I was certain this was not good and proper but just wanted the view of others which I now have. My friend didn't want me to name the guy but after sleeping on it (on not initially as I was so angry) I feel that it is important that he is named. This guy is called Albert Clayton Robertson and goes by the christian name of Bertie. He operates on Lord Annandale's Estate near to Moffat. My firend says he wants to just write it off as a bad experience (I told him to stop the cheque and re-negotiate a fair price). | |||
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One of Us |
stop the cheque,people like this should be taught a lesson | |||
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One of Us |
pm sent Regards, Amir | |||
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one of us |
I would like to point out something that has just sprung up and bit me in the backside! The level 2 candidate is supposed to select the animals to be culled and not be instructed on which ones to shoot! He should contact the person concerned and ask that his portfolio be filled in, in all the apsects of his stalking on the Estate over the two days, after all he has paid £75 per day for the portfolio assessment. Would others who done their level two please give us a run down of what their costs have been. Is there anyone out there that can beat £450 a day, and not even get your portfolio filled in.. regards griff | |||
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one of us |
I thought the requirement for level 2 was 4 completed stalks conducted by the trainee. Where did this guy get another 5 stalks required and still no ink in the portfolio...? I may be wrong but there are a couple of Level 2 assesors on the board that I'm sure will give the right answer. Either way I would not pay the excesses and only pay anything once my portfolio was filled in and signed off. Having said that I got stung in my early stalking days and paid up so I do feel for the guy. Rgds, FB | |||
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One of Us |
I would be careful about stopping a cheque once issued. It can be a criminal offence. Unlike offering to pay "x amount" as that was all it was worth/agreed instead of "y amount" which is a civil matter. If there were an issue your friend should have said "No, I'm paying what was agreed and that is all I am paying". To pay the whole lot and then stop the cheque is now, I think, an offence. | |||
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Moderator |
Yes and No to this... Before he went out, your friend should have established exactly what he was supposed to shoot, along with costs ect. By the same token, if your friend had incorrectly selected an unsuitable buck, ie a trophy, there is no reason in the world why the AW couldn't have stopped him before he pulled the trigger. Given that we are talking about a white fallow buck, it does very much sound as if the AW allowed him to make the mistake.... If the AW had stopped him pulling the trigger, he of course wouldn't have been able to sign off that particular Performance Criteria, but it would have saved your friend a costly mistake. With regards the rest of the Individual Cull Return, its not a case of "pass" or "fail", essentially the AW just signs which ever PC he has seen the Candidate perform correctly. Theoretically, it might take a Candidate two or three outing to complete one ICR, and the PC's in that one ICR might be signed off by two or three different people. In addition to observing the candidate, the AW should also be asking (& recording) questions to confirm the Candidates knowledge... Under normal circumstances, the actual paperwork should be completed by the AW (or CW) at the end of the stalk (s) as there are parts which require the Candidate to fill in and sign ect. Other than for photocopying for his own records, I see no reason why an AW should retain the Candidates paperwork.... If the Candidate is made towait several weeks/months for the AW to complete his paperwork it makes a bit of a mockery of the whole thing, as the detail of the Candidates performance is hardly going to be fresh in his mind when he fills the forms out. I should add that at the end of an outing, even if the Candidate made a hash of a couple of things, there should still be certain PC's the AW can sign off... I suspect your friend was trying to get a "Quicky Level 2" by throwing cash at it, and he's been bitten by one of the rogues who offer this... I hope BASC/DMQ help your friend, but I'm pretty sure that in the DMQ paperwork it does say any witnessing costs are stricktly by arrangement between the AW and the Candidate. Aside from the price, this particular AW seems to be running a very questionable operation anyway, and if DMQ look into this and verify the detail of your friends story, hopefully he will be removed from the AW register to stop others getting fleeced, Regards, Peter | |||
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One of Us |
. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sounds awful.... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . I'll get me coat.... Regards, Amir | |||
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One of Us |
Could you explain that to the other lads please. Mr FB, MR IanF, Mr CD and bonny Ms. A. I put up with all sorts from that merry crew ATB, Amir PS. Sorry Sahib | |||
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One of Us |
I have never charged for an DSC2 outing. As soon as an assessor needs to give instructions, the assessment stops, but all Performance Criteria completed satisfactorily to that point should be filled in. The “instructions” depending on what happens may be sufficient to correct the issue and the remaining Performance Criteria signed off on the next stalk. Remember you can only sign off 1x Individual Cull record per stalk, although its simple to return to the vehicle and start another stalk on the same day. In two days with 9 deer in the bag, I would expect completion of a DSC2 portfolio, if there was an area in which a candidate was not making the standard this would be pointed out during that stalk. | |||
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One of Us |
My portfolio was three deer(the minimum) with additional info on other stalks(which struck me as, in the case above the assessor should have at least filled in the outings in the "additional information" section on the portfolio. This has turned into a money spinning wheeze for a lot of unsavoury characters. My level 2 cost me probably between 4 and 5 hundred quid, but that was with 2 different assesors. My main problem with them was that one of them filled the portfolio in wrong and the other one"s writing was so bad that I had to go back and ask him to type everything so the examiners could read it! There"s some very dodgy assessors out there! good shooting | |||
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one of us |
You pay your money and make your choice! All sounds a bit one sided and peculiar/fishy account too me. If Jon and Griff count him as "a friend" maybe they could/should pointed him in right direction earlier on. Help him sort his portfolio and learn to differentiate between shooting deer and stalking deer. The guy must have discussed charges and the DSC criteria demanded for witnessed stalks; or "maybe he thought he could just buy a DSC2 with a big cheque and is peeved that it wasn't that simple/he went to the wrong place!" Just could be the assessor is correct here. | |||
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One of Us |
Lincs stalker I agree. 9 deer should have done the job and that is my point. My friend is not a green stalker and has shot planty of animals and is a competent stalker. That's why it smacks of rip off merchant. The whole DMQ level 2 scheme is seriously flawed - always has and always will be unless some very basic changes are made i.e. pricing guidelines etc etc. Trans, he was recommended to go to this guy by Ronald Rose jnr. By the way Ronald is a super bloke and fair in everyway and I am sure if he knew how much this guy was charging, he would not be referring people to him. I didn't realise Griff was still on the list and when I did realise this and put it to my friend he had already booked with this rip off monger and felt obliged to honour the booking so as not to mess him around!!! | |||
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One of Us |
Would it be wrong of me to put this in some perspective? A average swedish hunter takes an average of 2,2 deer a year, consider the time it would take him to get a DMQ level 2!!!!! Ohhhh well that is sort of OT, best regards to you all/Chris | |||
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one of us |
Let me clear up any confusion here! I had no idea that my friend had booked with Annandale Estates to do his level 2.I have also made it very clear that I don't like doing DSC2 paperwork because of the repititous questions and answers! The £900 that our friend payed is irrelevant, it is the fact that the portfolio has not had any part of the P.C's filled in. I also don't like the insinuation that he thought he could buy his DSC2,totally out of order! I don't want this thread to end up being a DSC2 discussion,I would just like to highlight the fact that there are some who will fleece you, and that there many problems with DSC2 that could be sorted out by DMQ. regards griff | |||
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One of Us |
Perhaps we should take a lead from other boards and not just expose bad practitioners but also reccommend good ones? http://www.deertalking.com/cgi...BB.pl?num=1231322804 Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened. Sir Winston Churchill | |||
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one of us |
Hand on heart question to the agrieved stalker... Are you unhappy because the AW didn't /hasn't yet done the paperwork or because he gave you a bill for shooting 9 of his deer? How many of the deer did the candidate gralloch by himself under dsc conditions? ie by the book explaining and answering the AW's questions. Or was it considered a less productive exercise (by both parties) than seeking the next target? On what basis was your friend recommended this estate by RRj.? Was the primary purpose to sort a DSC2 quick or too shoot a truckload of deer in a weekend? Hope I don't annoy too many but I really think this we're being too quick to blame the AW/estate in a communication cock-up. | |||
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one of us |
here is part of an e-mail that my friend has recieved, I have removed his name and e-mail address. Please bear in mind that the contract was for 2 days accredited witness stalk,,, "Sadly there is nothing I can sign off as you did not complete any of the criteria on your own. I will if you think it would help, give you a letter saying that you carried out my instructions and that you handled your firearm safely while we were out stalking." your opinions please. regards griff | |||
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one of us |
Dumb questions from across the pond.... What's "gralloching"? What's an "assessment"? What's a "level 2"? Don't let so much reality into your life that there's no room left for dreaming. | |||
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one of us |
OK, I managed to ascertain what "gralloching" is. Don't let so much reality into your life that there's no room left for dreaming. | |||
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One of Us |
Griff the section in bold changes everything. Our absent friend needs to provide his version of events, as transpond rightly points out there will be no redress with the DMQ if the version posted above is accurate. Sorry mate but this why he needs his own legal advice, he needs to tell somebody, anybody, everything £900 for 9 deer, in the face of quotes and receipts as evidence from some other estates, may be considered "not that bad" in a court for example; My understanding of the contention here is that "bertie" did not properly perform his duties as a witness and hence the £75 per diem fee should be reviewed and/or the fee for the nice buck shot by mistake, not that the fees for the stalks were, in themselves, unfair. Regards, Amir | |||
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One of Us |
Short answer is click on this link British deer society Click on "training" and enjoy! Please note their is no legal obligation to do such an assesment, only moral, practical and reputational reasons to do so. I'd don't even know if "reputational" is a word but there you go. Regards, Amir | |||
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One of Us |
An "assessment" is somebody else certifying that you know "all about deer" to a level of knowledge above that deemed as a first level (Level 1) by the people that promote their Scheme. This whole nonsense has now been hijacked being pushed forward as a make rich scheme by many with a hidden agenda. It may have started with the best of intentions but that isn't where its is going. For most "rifles" it is not even necessary. Not even "Level 1". You go out with a "stalker" and are told what to shoot - a "trophy head" if you've booked that or a lesser beast or a hind if you just want an outing and to shoot your own venison- and if the animal is being kept by the estate the "stalker" does the gralloch. How would this work if applied to feathered game? Do I really need to know the diseases of game birds, their breeding cycle, their habit etc., etc., how to pluck and gut them and what a black grouse and a grey hen looks like and the seasons for capercaillie if I live in Northamptonshire and want to book a driven pheasant day? Back to cloven game. If I am still in Northamptonshire and am just shooting over land that holds only muntjac and only ever want to shoot muntjac and am happy to let pass anything that isn't a muntjac then why on earth should it be of any relevance to learn about red deer or fallow deer? If I'm after muntjac only what earthly relevance is it that I do know or don't know the legal seasons for roe deer and what a sika hind looks like? Please enlighten me. The cleaning and checking for disease can be taught in a classroom. From photographs or film. Indeed it has to be. It's a nonsense to think that real live examples of deer with F and M can be provided. Or fresh specimens of a diseased liver to palpitate. Sadly, since we lost the Empire, "jobsworths", "little Hitlers", "petit Napoleon" and others. So full of their own self importance that that's the only thing that stops them disappearing up their own arseholes have sought to recreate it. It's why own shooting organisations are few and weak and not one and strong. Everybody wants to be their own "big fish" in their own "little pond". Nobody is prepared to swim as one in the same water for common cause and in doing so give up their little self-created empire. The worst example? Probably the British NRA that lost us our self-loading and pump action rifles by their craven attitude (with the BDS) and very nearly lost us ALL magazine fed rifles as well. These are people who think that no one should shoot (or hunt as you might call it in the USA) unless they do it in the same way they do, using the same sort of weapons that they do and then only under the strictest of controls. Fortunately in America you got rid of all these "jumped up" arseholes when you kicked us out in 1776. It's just a pity you didn't kick them so hard and so far that they they never landed back again in Great Britain. Your gain and our loss! The BDS? The body that said that my late friend, wounded in his right wrist in WWII couldn't have a pump action rifle as "it wasn't the sort of thing that was necessary in Britain to shoot deer with". Gutless and spineless little men who should hang their heads in collective shame to so disrespect a man who was wounded fighting Fascism. | |||
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One of Us |
What he said. Regards, Amir | |||
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one of us |
No ES, the BDS is the only organisation that fought for the retaining of Pump or Semi auto centrefires for disabled shooters. Please do stop firing from the hip about the BDS as you clearly have some agenda, but sadly not the facts. Deer Management Training, Mentoring & DSC 2 Witnessing Please PM or deermanagementservices@gmail.com for details Dama International: The Fallow Deer Project | |||
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One of Us |
Just a little typo E.S., I'ts palpate, palpitate is something I take tablets to control! Steve, D.S.C. L1. | |||
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One of Us |
Really? I was there, in the House of Lords, twenty years ago in July 1988 for the debate. Not hearsay, not gossip, but there to hear it from Earl Ferrers. In response to a letter that had been sent to Members of the Lords (and Commons) in relation to disabled stalkers and self-loading or pump action rifles. HL Deb 18 July 1988: "Clifford Owen has held a firearms certificate since 1937. He was wounded in the spine and wrist at Normandy. He shoots roe deer and red deer in this country and red deer and wild boar in Poland. He uses a rifle that can shoot from either shoulder. He chose a Remington pump-action rifle. He spent much time and effort modifying it to meet his special needs. It has a capacity of four rounds only. It will be banned by the Bill". And other friends were there at the House of Commons Committee Stage in May 1988 to hear this from Douglas Hogg on the same subject before they Bill went to the House of Lords: "My hon. Friend the Member for Tayside, North (Mr. Walker) argued that it is necessary to have a small capacity self-loading rifle to deal with vermin. Within the definition of the word "vermin", he includes deer. I do not agree with him. I have before me, for example, a letter from the chairman of the British Deer Society, on which I addressed the Committee. The chairman of that society wrote to my hon. Friend the member for Dumfries (Sir H. Monro) and dealt in some detail with my hon. Friend's assertion that a self-loading rifle is necessary for the killing of deer. He wrote: I have taken great trouble to find out the extent to which these rifles"— that is to say, self-loading rifles— are used for deer management. I have spoken to the chairman of the Forestry Commission and the chairman of the Red Deer Commission, both of whom are happy with the British Deer Society position, which is that there is no heavyweight argument for these weapons to be used for deer management. He continues: As far as I can discover, it is simply not true that many roe stalkers throughout the United Kingdom use five shot, self-loading rifles. Even if they do the society would argue that the art of deer management is to stalk into the beast that you wish to kill and place one well-aimed shot to kill that animal immediately. People who have studied this matter at some length and who represent the interests of those who act in this sport do not believe—I repeat, do not believe—that a self-loading rifle is necessary, or even desirable, for the purposes to which my hon. Friend referred". It goes on. Douglas Hogg again: "I do not suppose that my hon. Friend the Member for Tayside, North would like the cavalier way in which his hon. Friend has described his argument. I was taking that argument seriously, as my hon. Friend the Member for Tayside, North expected me to. Incidentally, it is extremely similar to the argument put by my hon. Friend the Member for Norfolk, North-West, and identical to that put earlier this evening by my right hon. Friend the Member for Kincardine and Deeside (Mr. Buchanan-Smith). The latter made the point very plainly that he needs his guns for deer shooting. He is not—and this is the point that I am making—supported by the Chairman of the British Deer Society". Maybe the BDS are now so ashamed they seek to deny this letter? | |||
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One of Us |
Not sure wether you mean it was someone elses speech, E.S., But next time you see your medic type, ask what "To Palpate " means, Steve, | |||
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Moderator |
I agree, unless he really didn't complete any? If the AW thought he was not up to standard, , I'd have thought the AW would have stopped the assessment and perhaps offered to coached him instead...
I'm not insinuating her tried to buy it at all, but do it quickly by chucking cash at it, sort of like the weeks intenstive driving lessons some people take before doing their driving test. Don't get me wrong, completing three ICR's over a couple of days is not actually against any of the rules, but it is frowned on, with the idea being that the three assessed stalks represent just part of an accumulation of expirience the Candidate has gained...That is why the DMQ ask you to attach cull data and other supporting evidence.. Anyway, I hope your friend gets some satisfaction as based on his version of events, it does sound as if he's been treated very poorly indeed. Regards, Peter | |||
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one of us |
Griff, Does he have any of his own ground to stalk on? Deer Management Training, Mentoring & DSC 2 Witnessing Please PM or deermanagementservices@gmail.com for details Dama International: The Fallow Deer Project | |||
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One of Us |
Oops! The extra "IT"! I meant palpate! | |||
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