What is the hunting/stalking scene like in Northern Yorkshire?

Applied for a position there, and got a notification that I was being considered a minute ago.

Looks very rural, and that is generally a good thing being a hunter.

A cursory search shows; roe, pheasants and fallow.

Long way from me but Grouse, Pheasant, Hares, Roe and some Reds and Fallow

Here's hoping it works out.

OP you just won the Sporting Lottery!

North Yorkshire is a beautiful place to live and there are lots of opportunities for sport. Deer is mainly Roe, which can be stalked most of the year. There are some amazing bird shoots, Mainly Pheaseant and partridge, or grouse if you have deep pockets. The rough shooting is also excellent; rabbits, pigeons, etc.
Plus some of the best brown trout and grayling fishing in the UK.
All shooting in UK is on private land, so you'll end up paying for it one way or another.

Will you be at Menwith Hill? That is close to where I grew up. Sadly I live a long way away now, so I'm slightly jealous.

If I get the job I will be.

Probably know something in a month or two and move in November or December.

That'll give me time to get a the deer certificates and buy a 6.5x55 Tikka and get set up for mid-summer roe and highland stalking in the fall.

Of course they have to hire me.

Spent 4 years of my youth and a year of my adult life in England, all military related. It's a wonderful country. Pubs with very low ceilings...because they are hundreds of years old. Amazing beer and so-so pub food. Don't let anyone tell you different, the Brits are warm and welcoming people and the country is beautiful.

Yorkshire is a very very big county and there are plenty who spend a lifetime and never go beyond its borders. Yorkshiremen consider it to be its own country.

The land is very mixed. The Dales, Moors and Wolds are rolling hills often covered in heather and home to Red Grouse and some of the finest (and most expensive) Grouse Moors in the country.

On the lowlands there is a lot of good rich mixed farmland and most shooting will be phaesant shooting - everything from small family/ syndicate shoots and with a mix of driven / walked up type shooting, to large driven shoots, many of which will be commercially run.

Deer stalking again is mostly Roe, but some Red and Fallow. There are a number of professional guides and estates that let stalking and there will also be plenty of stalking which ranges from informal arrangement with landowner to commercial leases for stalking.

There will be plenty of opportunities but given all shooting and stalking is private, it will be a question of either paying for it or getting to know people or a mix of both.

And also note UK gun laws are pretty strict. As a visitor you can get a visiting permit to bring in a gun or two, but you need a sponsor. If you are resident you then to apply for a shotgun certificate for shotguns (defined as min of 24" barrel smooth bore and either single / double barrel or a semiauto or pump with max of 2 shot magazine, and magazine cannot easily converted to more shell - tube is usually nurled or welded). With a rifle you need a Firearms Certificate and need to demonstrate good reason for each rifle. Deer stalking is a perfectly valid reason, but you will need to demonstrate that you have access to stalking - paid for guided qualifies. You will also need to demonstrate you are competent etc, so supporting docs such a German Jagdshein or US competent hunter tickets all help.

Thanks Matt,

thanks Heym SR20,

I'll be there 5 years (in theory), I know of several military folks who were there and able to navigate the certificates for firearms.

I doubt it is possible to import my own guns or not worth it.

Had hoped as much on the stalking and shooting. I am happy to pay for the stalking days and game days, as long as it is Brit prices and not American ones.

Isn`t UK prices higher than in US?

2000£ for a day of grouse shooting.

Yep!

If I shoot grouse once or twice in my life I'll probably be good.

I reckon I'd be happier with a walked up day.

Not much of a social butterfly.

Watch videos regularly of grouse hunting in Scandinavia, much more enticing option. Ski's, barking dog and a 22 hornet.

BWW

I am in North York’s and about 25 miles from Menwith Hill and Harrogate. If you want any detail on shooting and firearm possession here in England just drop me a pm. Ex UK military and now UK police.

Jonathan

quote:

Originally posted by Nordic2:
Isn`t UK prices higher than in US?

2000£ for a day of grouse shooting.

A good moor charges £170+ vat per brace and does 200 brace day. £40k divided by nine guns £4450

And don't forget to learn the local lingo!

So long as he keeps out of either Thieferpool (Liverpool) the Black Country or Newcastle he should be ok with most of the other dialects.
And all he has to do to fit in up't north is to start each sentence with "Aye Up" or Na Then" and he'll be champion!!

"Watch videos regularly of grouse hunting in Scandinavia, much more enticing option. Ski's, barking dog and a 22 hornet."

Yes i do grouse hunting on skiis both black in forest and mountain in the Scandinavian alps. 20£ /day

"A good moor charges £170+ vat per brace and does 200 brace day. £40k divided by nine guns £4450"

Crazy prices

I didn't get the job.

It happens. I have never been an Air Force civilian, and I never served in the Air Force so it would not be normal for them to hire someone for such a high position on a foreign base. Even though it is not a promotion for me.

We were looking forward to it.

There will be other adventures that is for sure.

My wife is already getting ants in her pants. We have been stateside for 18 months and she is already asking me to find something else.

Ideally we will go back to Europe, to back to Alaska or back to the Northern Rockies next. If I get a promotion, we'd probably move about anywhere but a big city.

Thanks to all of you for your help and information.

Than