The Game licence required to take game costs betwen £2 & 6£ ($3:60 & $10:80 US) the low priced one lasts for 14 days, the next which costs £4 (7:20 US) last from November until the last day of July and the yearly one which runs from August to the end of July is the £6 one. You would need a visitors Permit to bring a rifle and ammunition in which need to be sorted out well in advance, give at least 4-6 months to be on the safe side and I believe some one this side needs to get that for you but I am not certain never having dealt with them before
The regulations in Scotland are even dafter as they also have a minimum velocity drafted in their rules which is 2450fps which has meant that the all time classic Scottish hill cartridge the 6.5x54MS cannot not now be used as it does not meet the velocity requirements :roll: unless you use light bullets like 120 grain and then if stopped you would have a real argument with some dumb official or Police man who more than likely has not got the foggiest about ballistics
:roll: However in Scotland you can use a .22 centrefire cartridge for the hunting of Roe Deer providing it uses a minimum bullet weight of 50 grains and produces a minimum muzzle energy of 1,000ftlbs and reaches the minimum velocity of yes you guessed it 2450fps.
So in Scotland the .303 British cartridge is extremely borderline and can only be used with 150 grain bullets as the 180grain ones are not fast enough :roll: cartridges like the 35 Remington and 32 Winchester Special are illegal for deer and they are not powerful enough according to some pen pusher who has probably never hunted or shot in their lives :evil: The trouble for visitors is that there is no public land hunting here in the UK therefore you have to pay to use some ones land or lease. Even the Forrestry Commision which is a government department charges to use their (our) land and you have to be accompanied by one of their rangers. The next thing although the licence is cheap the costs of outings are certainly not and due to the European influence trophy fees are applied. The estate I was stalking on charges £75 ($135 US) for a Roe Buck, medal winning heads cost much more up to around £600 ($1080 US) and then if you want the meat you have to pay for the carcase otherwise it's sold to the Game Dealer and the money goes to the estate and that's all on top of the fees to the stalker who holds the lease. Land owners want to make the most they can it's part of their income.
Now some like the land lord where I was stalking actually do care for the land and it's wildlife and maintain the natural fauna to help the wildlife so at least some of my money actually helps to keep the woods and such so the deer have natural cover and fodder. His prices are reasonable but someplaces are a rip off. For example I wnet to one place in Scotland whilst holidaying there several years ago and they charge ridiculas amounts for Roe Bucks. A normal 6 pt Buck would cost over £500 ($900 US) a Gold meadl head would cost around $1800 US to shoot and that's on top of the stalker fees which was £60 per outing if I remember correctly. They are priced for the wealthy Europeans who are Roe mad :roll:
I am trying to find some land over which I can get permission to hunt near to where I now live but it looks like I will have to pay for that right. I did get verbal permission to shoot Pigeon ( Woodpigeon a large Dove) which is a pest to farmers here right close to home but I want a not in writing first just in case someone asks me what I am doing on that land, a note is better than just telling someone you have permission but I don't think that htere is any Deer on that property although some have been seen passing through I am told so perhaps there is hope for a few years down the line.
It's a bit like when I hunted in Missouri, the land was leased by a Hunt Club and I ahd to pay a tresspass fee which was $531 then there was the Non Resident licence which was $148 after than Antlerless tags were $7 each. On my trip in 2003 I shot a 9 point Buck and two antlerless deer, a big Doe and a Button buck. The 9 point has been mounted as ahoulder mount and my friends had the meat we couldn't eat in camp.
Hope that helps a litte.
