Professional hunters in the UK?

[dreamer]

Well, hello, I'm new here - so it's going to be my first post here. In addition, it's going to be my first post in a foreign language because I am from Germany.  :embarassed:

I am 16 years old, and I still go to school. My aim is to leave school with "Abitur" in 2015. My advanced courses are German, Physics and Biology but I'm doing rather bad in Physics. After graduating, I'd like to become a professional hunter which is an officially recognized training in Germany.
What I would like to find out is, if is there exists a similar training and a similar job in the UK? I didn't find anything on the internet until now, and that's why I signed in here hoping to get some information... What does a hunter in the UK do? What about the training? What about it's payment? It isn't a top-earning job in Germany so I don't expect it to be in the UK.  ;)

Hoping for some useful answers and additional answers,
dreamer

[beenthere]

dreamer
Welcome to the Forestry Forum.

I'll be interested in some responses to your question, as I'm not aware of what game there is to hunt in the UK.
Some deer, I suspect.

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Welcome to the Forum. 

[GrahamW]

Dreamer

I think the term you need to be looking for is gamekeeper.  I know it is a strange word o use for a person that hunts the game but such is the English language.

Regards

[Ernie]

I don't know about the UK but here in New Zealand, the Department of Conservation employs professional cullers/hunters  and trappers to control a variety of pest animals such as deer, possums, stoats and ferrets.  These links may be of interest to you.

http://www.nzhuntinginfo.com/hunts-jargon.html

http://search.doc.govt.nz/query.html?rq=0&col=Internet&qt=professional+hunters+employed+&charset=iso-8859-1

For an interesting historical look at NZ's deer culling history, this is a good site

http://www.nzdeercullers.org.nz/index.aspx

Good luck in your quest

[terry f]

  Do you mean guide?

[gfadvm]

Ernie, What is a "stoat"? Pretty sure we don't have those in Oklahoma!

[Ianab]

Stoat is a type of weasel, I think you call them ermine in the US?

They are an introduced pest here and wreak havoc with the native birds.

[gfadvm]

Thanks Ianab, Always good to learn something new.

[Ernie]

  Do you mean guide?

Totally different thing, the department contracts hunters to thin out or eliminate pest species such as deer.  Guiding for deer hunting and trout fishing is also a good business here as is helicopter hunting with net guns to capture deer for farming for venison and velvet.

http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/15804/live-capture-by-net-gun

This is actually a beautiful and very unique country 8) 8)

[curdog]

Not sure about the UK, but I have a few of my friends that are government trappers for the USDA wildlife services. We majored in wildlife management ( I fell back on my forestry degree) but they got a job trapping. Here in nc they do damage control trapping beaver. I've gone out with them a few times, and it's day in and day out beaver killing. Trapping, shooting, and blowing up dams. One of the guys gets a trip every year to NY to shoot sea gulls around an airport. Those are the days I'm definitely jealous of him. I think it depends on the state and the wildlife causing damage depends on their main targets. Coyotes in some places hogs and beavers in others. One guy kills starlings and pigeons around an oil refinery. That may be something you are interested in. But good luck with your journey.

[dreamer]

Thank you for all your replies!

-Is this an American forum? I wasn't aware of it, I thought it was British... (anyone who knows a British forestry forum (or a British forum for hunters)? I'd be pleased if you could tell me!)  :

Hunters in Germany do not only shoot game (-> including the control of pest animals) but nurture it (feeding in winter, hunting & selling the meat, deal with illnesses etc.). They have to preserve the game, biotopes and hunting facilities such as tree stands and fences. And of course they have to organise shootings not only for themselves but for other groups, and they have to lead the shooting guests during the shooting.
I'd be interested in New Zealand too, I guess, but I rather prefer to stay in Europe...

@ GrahamW
Thank you very much for your tip!
First, I looked it up on wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamekeeper) but I also found this webpage (http://www.nationalgamekeepers.org.uk/), and it seems to be just what I was looking for!  8)

[Shotgun]

Dreamer,  I think this forum would be classified as a N. American forum for the most part, however we have members all over the world.  Current registration is 16652 members, however not all of those are currently active.  We do have members in the UK and Europe.  You might want to check the Member Map near the top of most pages, roughly center to get more specific info on members in your area.  Don't give up on the Forestry Forum though.  It could easily be said that it's the best forum on the Internet.  You never know when someone will chime in and give you the answer that you're looking for.  The world headquarters for the Forestry Forum is Harrison, Michigan, USA.  It has been active, very active, for 13+ years.

Good luck in your search and in finding just the contact that you're looking for.

Norm

Michigan / Florida (USA)

[clww]

Welcome to the Forestry Forum.

[dreamer]

Thanks, Shotgun, your answer sounds very reasonable!

-And by the way: thank you all very much for your welcome wishes & a happy New Year to everybody and everybody's friends and families!  :new_year:

[WildDog]

Hi Dreamer, welcome to the forum. Not the UK but down here in Australia there is a number of vertebrate pests that require culling. Professional guys target pigs, roo's, deer and rabbits for either the pet food and/or human consumption market, little call for fox skins these days.

The Govt agency I work for is involved with regulating vertebrate pest control and biosecurity, we employ contract Wild dog/Dingo trappers but these specialists live and breath the pest. The majority of our work is advisory and involves trapping and 1080 poisoning. We quite often have work experience students tag along for a couple of weeks, more than not they prefer their time spent with the trappers.