It’s been a stop-start year for BASC’s trophy measuring team and, while they may not have the quantity, the quality is still there. James Sutcliffe presents the best of the 2020 batch
Most of us will be very glad to be coming to the end of 2020. It has certainly been a very interesting and challenging year across the board. However, despite everything, it’s fantastic to see that so many of you have been able to get out and keep on top of your deer management, yielding some fantastic heads in the process.
Granted, we have seen far less heads come through the service than normal, but with events like the Game Fair, Northern Shooting Show and both the big Scottish Game Fairs not taking place and people being unable to travel any distance to visit our measuring team at home, this comes as no surprise.
An interesting observation is the numbers of the different species that were submitted, with medal muntjac, red deer, sika deer, CWD and feral goats being far lower than in previous years. Perhaps this is due to travel restrictions and lockdown periods preventing us from getting on the ground, or perhaps due to the fact that guided stalking has been unavailable for much of the year. Whatever the reason, I have every expectation that next year will be a busy one!
I hope that, as things slowly get back to normal, the BASC, BDS and Sporting Rifle measuring service will be able to attend game fairs and shows across the country in 2021. There's nothing like meeting you all face to face and getting hands on with the wonderful examples of heads that you bring us.
As always, I’d like to take the time to thank our excellent measuring team who, despite everything this year has thrown at us, have continued to provide an outstanding service where possible. A huge thanks must also go to everyone that submitted heads, it provides exc
