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Central Scotland
February 2010 - Central Scotland Branch Forthcoming Events DATES FOR YOUR DIARY Deer Vehicle Collisions.
Balmanno Activity Day—Friday 19 March 2010 Is being held for the benefit of Wildlife Crime Officers and Procurator Fiscal staff, however there will be limited places available and anyone interested in attending this week day event should contact John Bruce on: Glenalmond Activity Day - Sunday 21 March 2010 To be held at Glenalmond Estate, Buchanty, Perth, courtesy of Mr Astrup Fearnley, and Head Keeper, Brain Dickson. The three training elements will be
It is aimed at those planning to take Level II, to give them an insight into what is required of candidates to complete this successfully. Signing-on will be from 09.00 for a prompt 09.30 start. Coffee / tea will be available on arrival. Bring your own lunch. Please contact Iain Semple on 01786-815235 to register. The estate is on OS Map 52 (Pitlochry & Crieff) at M.R. 932290. For SatNav users the Post Code is PH1 3JS and the estate will be signposted off the B8063. Branch Range Day - Sunday 25th April 2010 The Branch zero and practise day to be held at the Jubilee Range, Glen Tilt. Members should meet in the car park below the 100 yard firing point at 9.30 a.m. for a 10 a.m. start. Please contact Iain Semple on 01786-815235 to register. Any assistance in setting up would be appreciated. Inter Organisation Shoot - Saturday 19 June 2010 Following last year's successful day, various groups involved in the Deer Industry will be invited to field a team to participate in this cordial shoot, to be held at a venue near Stirling. The event will be followed by the Branch BBQ (see below) at nearby Howietoun. Please contact Iain Semple on 01786-815235 for further information. Annual Branch Barbeque - Saturday 19 June 2010 To be held at Howietoun near Stirling, starting at 6.30 p.m. and immediately following the Inter Organisational Shoot (see above event). Please bring a Raffle Prize and your own refreshments. For further information please contact Iain Semple on 01786-815235. All welcome. The Scone Game Fair - 2, 3 & 4 July 2010 The Society will again be represented at this year's Fair, so please call in at the tent for a chat and to meet other members of BDS staff. If there is anyone willing to take a stint on the stand or sell tickets on a commission basis please call Colin Johnstone on 01334-655922. Perth Agricultural Show - 6th & 7th August 2010 The Branch will have a presence at this popular show; please come along and visit the stand. It is the ideal venue for youngsters to come and ask all sorts of questions about deer. Branch Range Day - Sunday 1st August 2010 The Branch Competition will be held at the Jubilee Range, Glen Tilt. Please be aware that only non expanding ammunition can be used on the range during this event. As in past years this is the selection shoot, with the six highest scorers forming a Team to represent the Branch at the Scottish Inter-Branch Shoot on Sunday 29 August at Glen Tilt. As usual, could members meet in the car park below the 100 yard firing point at 9.30 a.m. for a 10 a.m. start. Please contact Iain Semple on 01786-815235 to register. Autumn Dinner (provisionally) 30 October 2010 in Perth The Branch is keen to re-instate the Autumn Dinner, last held in the late seventies. The evening would consist of dinner, a speaker, Trophy Measuring and other deer stalking related topics. Range Conducting Officer Training The Branch is considering arranging NRA training if there are sufficient members willing to become Branch RO's. Notes of interest please to Iain Semple Event Feed Back Game Cookery Evening 25 November 2009 It goes without saying that the evening was a success. It continues to be one of the best supported events in the Branch Calendar - there are no others where places are booked over a year in advance! A full house of 40 plus members and friends met in one of the receptions rooms where aperitifs and canapés were served by hospitality students, before heading upstairs to the training kitchen. This has been newly refurbished and everyone was able to watch lecturers Willie Balfour and Mark Lutti demonstrate the preparation of pheasant terrine and a raised game pie before moving through to the restaurant. Here previously prepared terrines and pies formed part of an impressive array of starters - it was difficult to resist having too much at this stage. However, a choice of ten main courses, prepared by the students, proved a seriously belt-stretching challenge with dishes ranging from Green Thai Curried Fallow to Pan-fried Haunch of Roe. Mystery Spring Rolls were enjoyed by many - even after it was revealed that they contained shredded meat of squirrel!!! A selection of French wines was served to accompany the meal. All venison , game and fish were generously donated by members. Elmwood looks forward to this event each year as much as we do as it gives students the opportunity to work with whole carcasses and game in feather before preparing an imaginative range of dishes. The quality of the meal and its presentation is a credit to the College. Once again there was nothing but praise for the evening and, of course, places have already been reserved for next year! The date will be announced as soon as it is confirmed. This report by Ron Smith. Branch AGM Tuesday 26 January 2010 Chairman Ron Smith welcomed some 20 plus members to the Salutation Hotel, Perth. In his report he stated that the committee had been extremely busy providing several "multi-activity days", a barbeque, game cookery evening, a hand loading presentation, and the Inter-Organisational Shoot and branch range days. All events were very enjoyable and well attended. In addition, the branch represented BDS at both the Scottish Fair at Scone and Perth Show . The chairman paid tribute to all of the committee who gave up so much of their free time to making these events so successful and the generosity of estate owners and their staff. Without their help holding these events would be impossible. We greatly appreciate the kindness shown in furthering the aims of the Society. As part of its charitable activities during 2009 the branch awarded 2 bursaries (DSC Level 2 enrolment) to very deserving Elmwood students. This "tradition", initiated by Central Branch, has now been followed by both South West and Highland Branches for Borders and Highland Colleges respectively. The chairman was very pleased to report that Central Branch, ably captained by Colin Johnstone, had again won the team award at the highly competitive Scottish Inter-Branch Shoot at Glen Tilt. Our own branch shoot was won this year by Colin Johnston, with Kevin Grant 2nd and Graham Hadley 3rd. In conclusion it was noted by the BDS Scottish Council Chairman that there had been recognition by the Environment Minister (Roseanna Cunningham) that Central Branch had an enviable reputation for engaging with others in the deer industry. Under AOB, John Bruce gave a brief resume of his work as Chairman of Scottish Council and noted that the future looks challenging. Recent input by the Society and its members to the Wildlife & Natural Environment Consultation had been very well received. BDS had presented a robust, well reasoned response that had been appreciated by the Minister. Competence will now be very much on the agenda and our multi-activity days had demonstrated to both government officials and the police how knowledgeable and exacting BDS was as a training organisation. The Branch Accounts, were presented, shown to be in good order and adopted by the meeting. Sadly, both Paul Crehan and John Carson felt unable to commit to serve as committee members in 2010. We are greatly indebted to Paul who has raised the standard in training (especially range work) to an extremely high standard. Committee members were thanked for their considerable efforts throughout the year. The election of office bearers and committee members were:- Chairman: Ron Smith After a short coffee break the 2010 AGM Custom Knife Raffle was drawn and the lucky winner was Vernon Waters. Sadly our scheduled guest speaker, Mr Richard Price (Ecodart), was unable to attend due to extenuating circumstances. We will have the pleasure of his company later this year when a full demonstration of equipment will be provided. We were fortunate that our "tame" riflesmith Jock Gellatly was able to provide an illustrated talk on firearm and moderator maintenance at very short notice. After a very interesting and stimulating talk the chairman closed the meeting with a well deserved vote of thanks to Jock at 10pm. This report by Iain Semple. |
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