Hunting In The UK
In the early twilight we were scanning the countryside for Roe deer.
The global restrictions on travel had finally eased and Hannah had joined me on a long-awaited visit to my hometown in Dorset, England. A family wedding was the main impetus for the trip, but of course we'd made ample time to get out hunting.
Andy, a friend of mine from teenage years, had taken a week off work to be our guide. He lived an hour closer to the south coast and had access to three private blocks of farmland, where he was responsible for deer management and pest control. Hunting in the United Kingdom is very different to New Zealand - there are no public hunting areas, so permission from farmers is, as you can imagine, highly sought after. Subsequently, the approach that Andy takes to hunting is an interesting contrast to many of us Kiwi recreational hunters.
Andy is intentional about the animals he culls and it's something that he takes a lot of pride in. He is on-farm regularly to observe the Roe deer in order to gain a comprehensive understanding about the behaviour, movements and quality of the herd that live in the area.
Not only is gaining permission a lengthy and costly process, the firearms rules are
