November 2011 - Central Scotland Branch, Webpage Update.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Head Measuring Evening.

We regret that this has event has been postponed and will now take place at the AGM.

Branch AGM 2012

Please accept this as formal notification that the Branch AGM will be held on the evening of Tuesday 24 January 2012, in the Salutation Hotel, South Street, Perth, with the Chairman opening the meeting at 7.30 p.m.

The existing Committee and Office Bearers have indicted their willingness to stand for re-election and may be elected 'en block'.

The nomination of New Committee Members; in accordance with the Branch constitution, prospective candidates seeking election to the Committee should notify the Branch Secretary, twenty one days before the Meeting, of their willingness to be elected.  This should consist of "a written notice confirming their willingness to be elected,  signed by two Branch Members qualified to attend and vote at the AGM nominating such a person for election," along with a brief CV of the candidates interests and of how they see themselves best serving the Society.  Letters and C.V's to; Iain Semple, Sauchiemill Cottages, Sauchieburn, Stirling, FK7 9QH.

In addition and in order to comply with Charity Law committee members will now be obliged to complete a Register of Members Interests.

This year's talk will be on Head Measuring.  Rather than just watching someone measuring heads, it is intended to give the stalker an appreciation of how heads are evaluated and measured, as well as affording them the opportunity of a question and answer session on the process, with the measurer. 

Distribution of Newsletters by E-mail.

Given the widespread use of e-mail and access to the Internet your Committee has been considering the advantages of communicating with Branch members electronically, the primary benefits are considerably reduced costs, less work for those involved and the ability to instantly contact members with updates or reminders about events.

In addition to Newsletters being delivered by e-mail, Branch information will continue to be available on the BDS web site (www.bds.org.uk/central_scotland.html) and in the Deer Journal under Reports from Scottish Branches.

There are two exceptions to electronic distribution of Newsletters.  Firstly it is appreciated that not everyone is 'on-line' or has broadband and would prefer to receive a paper copy of the Newsletter, if so please advise Douglas Bell, contact details on the bottom right hand of this page.  Secondly the Branch constitution requires that members be informed in writing of the arrangements for the Branch AGM, this notice will be contained in the December Newsletter posted to members.

It is intended to start the process by sending out the Spring 2012 Newsletter by e-mail, in the meantime if you have not already done so, please advise the BDS Membership Secretary of your current e-mail address.  Contact details are: Annie Nadin

Regeneration of a Sporting Estate: 

A visit has been arranged to Dunira Estate, Comrie for Sunday March 4th 2012, an estate which has seen substantial regeneration of its sporting facilities over the past few years.  

As places may be limited please contact Ron Smith 01334-653269 or Ian Semple 01786-815235 to register your interest and for more information. 

Further details will appear on the web site nearer the time.

EVENT FEEDBACK

Glenfalloch Multi Activity Day.

Great weather accompanied members to Glenfalloch on Sunday 23 October; the morning started with refreshments at the Bein Glass Cafe and was followed by presentation for Wendy Fox Chair of Bada-UK who kindly found time to speak to us while attending meetings in Scotland.  Her talk was relevant, comprehensive, concise and informative focusing on prevention as well as other aspects of Tick bourn deceases.  Wendy displayed an encyclopaedic knowledge of the subject during the Q&A session that followed thank you Wendy.

Our thanks also to the Lowe Family for providing the venue on our second visit of their Estate and to Falcon Frost Head Stalker for his efforts in getting beasts for the demonstration in the preceding day's rain.

Game Cookery Evening 2011

The past few years have seen a very successful partnership develop between Central Branch and the Hospitality Department of Elmwood College in Cupar.  Since 2003 the College has hosted our very popular Game Cookery Evenings and this year was as good as ever!

The College welcomes the opportunity provided for students to prepare and cook a broad range of game, fur and feather, much broader in type and volume than they might otherwise be able to access.  BDS members welcome the social and gastronomic experience, one for which we have to prepare well in advance to be sure of being able to eat and enjoy the amazing range of dishes on offer.

Under the guidance of College staff students have a chance to learn and practice many of the skills needed to butcher and prepare game for the table.  Front of house students, who serve the wines and provide other table service, have a chance to be assessed against strict training criteria.  The students were, as always, a credit to themselves and to the College.

This year, with the theme being French cuisine, lecturer and chef Martin Luti demonstrated how to prepare and cook Braised Game & Black Pudding Crepinettes!  He made it look so simple and the result, served up as part of the buffet later, was mouth-wateringly good.  He assured us that most butchers would be able to supply pig's caul!

In spite of good intentions, once we were faced with the buffet spread, most folk found it impossible to decide which dishes would not be sampled.  As a result plates overflowed and conversation was reduced as we enjoyed what must surely be one of the best buffets available anywhere in Fife, if not beyond.  Here is just a sample of what you missed if you weren't there:

Starters included: Game Terrine; Mini game pies; Venison Pasties; Rabbit stuffed with prunes soaked in Armagnac; Haggis and Game mousse balls; Black Pudding and Game mousse sausage.

Main courses included:  Duck leg confit cassoulet, roast partridge with braised lettuce; shoulder of red deer slow braised with port and beetroot; pheasant breast wrapped in bacon and cooked in a creamy, herby sauce.

All served with potato & beetroot dauphinoise, honey roasted root vegetables and / or puy lentils cooked in red wine, rosemary and much more!

As usual folk have already said they want to book for next year.  If you want to join in the fun sometime in the second half of November maybe you had better hope that someone, like many of the characters in '1066 and all that' succumbs to a surfeit of game!

Branch BBQ.

A good number of Members and their friends gathered on the 18 June to enjoy a relaxed evening at Balmanno, sadly the weather was a little unkind.  Our grateful thanks go to our hosts John and Caroline Bruce and the hard working committee members who made the evening such a success.

The Scone Game Fair.

The stand appeared more welcoming than in previous years, the new display material around the perimeter of the tent was of particular interest and opened up the centre of the tent for people to circulate or just stop and chat, the smiling faces behind the counter and selling raffle tickets all contributed to the friendly atmosphere.

Branch member's family and friends again assisted with manning the Society Stand during the full three days of the fair.   Particular thanks go to Colin Johnston, Ron Smith and Andrew Souter.

Jim Taylor-Page Award

It gives us much pleasure to record that the 2011 award was given to Central Branch stalwart Willie Perrie; the presentation was made at the Scone Fair on Saturday 2 July by Mark Nicolson, the ceremony was attended by Willie, his wife Janet as well as friends from the branch.

Willie has been a longstanding committee member until recently and has unstintingly supported the branch activities over many years.

Congratulations and well done Willie!

Branch Competition

Twelve members attended the recent branch practice/competition shoot at Jubilee Range, Glen Tilt on Sunday 7th August, with only 10 members shooting the competition.

The weather was atrocious with continual rain all morning and no breeze to keep the midges away. No-one desired to linger longer than it took to check zero and shoot the competition.

The course of fire followed the rules for Scottish Inter-Branch Shoot.  While the relentless onslaught from the midges sapped the concentration, the score were high and the event was won by Iain Semple, Graeme Hadley second and Colin Johnston third.

I. Semple, G. Hadley, C. Johnston, C. Brown, K. Tappin and M. Ritchie will represent the Branch at the Scottish Inter-branch Shoot on Sunday 28th August, with A. Souter as reserve.

We are greatly appreciative of our stalwart range officers Andrew Souter and Scott Harrison and all who helped set up and dismantle the range furniture.

Scottish Inter-Branch Shoot - Sunday 28 August 2011.

The Central Branch team felt that with fifth place at the recent Inter-Branch Competition they had underperformed and let their equipment down, they have resolved to practice more as a team.

On a positive note the inserts developed by Iain Semple and Mike Ritchie for the new silhouette Roe targets, appear to have been accepted by all Branches and are likely to be used for the entire competition next year.  The scoring rings have the advantage of being anatomically correct, centred on the heart lung junction, and are unlikely to be seen even with high magnification scopes.