Questions
The questions candidates ask before booking, answered directly. If yours is not here, send it and it will be answered by a person who runs the assessment rather than from a script. Common answers are added to this page as they come up.
The qualification
What is DSC1?
DSC1 is the Deer Stalking Certificate Level 1: an assessment of deer knowledge, game meat hygiene, identification, safety and marksmanship. It is awarded by Deer Management Qualifications. Passing it shows a landowner that you handle a rifle safely and bring a carcase into the food chain properly.
Is the certificate I get in the Netherlands the same as one earned in the UK?
Yes. DSC1 is awarded by Deer Management Qualifications and delivered here under the British Association for Shooting and Conservation. It is the same certificate issued in the United Kingdom, with the same standard and the same recognition by landowners.
What is the difference between DMQ and DSC?
Deer Management Qualifications is the awarding body. DSC1 and DSC2 are the qualifications it awards. Older pages on this site called them DMQ1 and DMQ2, which named the body rather than the certificate. If you were certified as DMQ1, you hold DSC1.
Do I need DSC1 to stalk in Scotland or England?
It is not required by law. It is required in practice by most landowners, including the Forestry Commission, before they will let you cull deer on their ground. DSC1 is what you need in order to stalk. DSC2 is the step beyond it: it is the standard required of the leaseholder, and of anyone named on the licence as an authorised controller, when you take on ground in your own name rather than stalking on someone else's.
Does DSC1 make me a trained hunter for meat hygiene purposes?
DSC1 includes the large game meat hygiene module, which is what evidences trained hunter status. That status lets you declare a carcase fit and place it into the human food chain. Confirm the exact requirement with the authority in the country where you will sell.
Does DSC1 expire?
The certificate itself does not carry an expiry date. Some landowners and syndicates ask for evidence of recent stalking activity alongside it. Keep your cull records.
The assessment
What are the five DSC1 modules?
Written, game meat hygiene, visual, safety and shooting. The written and game meat hygiene modules are multiple-choice papers. The visual module identifies deer from images. The safety module is a walk of the premises with an accredited witness. The shooting module is fired on the range.
How long does the assessment take?
An evening and a day, not two full days. You arrive the evening before for dinner, a briefing and visual training, stay overnight at the hotel, and are assessed through the following day from the morning onwards. Most candidates travel home that evening. The assessment-day page gives the hours.
What happens if I fail one module?
You retake only the module you failed, on another assessment day of your choice. The modules you passed stand. Most retakes are the visual, which is the module candidates find hardest.
Is the assessment in English?
Yes. The papers, the briefing and the safety questions are in English, and so is the certificate. That is a deliberate part of what you are being assessed on, since the ground you will stalk is in Britain.
Who runs the assessment day?
The day is overseen by the Head of the BASC Deer Assessment Centre, acting as Senior Internal Verifier. Safety and shooting are assessed by accredited witnesses working in pairs, taking each candidate individually.
Why is the visual module the hard one?
Because summer sika and fallow look alike, and winter sika and red look alike. Every image asks for species and sex, not species alone, so a right animal with the wrong sex is still wrong. The evening training session before the assessment is where most of that ground is made up.
What are the deer decoys for?
They are placed around the Berkenhorst premises during the safety walk. You must say which may safely be shot and which may not, and give the reason. Backstop and the position of other people decide it.
Preparing
What rifle should I bring?
Your own, zeroed before you arrive, preferably of .243 calibre or higher. A heavy magnum is a poor choice for a day of assessment shooting: recoil costs you accuracy and nothing is gained. A gunsmith is on site for serious rifle or optic faults.
How much ammunition should I bring?
Fifty rounds is the recommendation. That covers the zero, the assessed shots and a margin for a rezero if travel has knocked your scope.
Can I hire a rifle?
Yes. A rifle can be hired for the assessment, which avoids moving a firearm across a border and the paperwork that goes with it. Say so when you enquire and it is arranged with your booking. If you do bring your own, bring it zeroed — familiarity with your own rifle is worth a lot under assessment stress.
Do I need shooting sticks?
Bring your own if you have them. Sticks are available at the range if you do not. You will want them for the standing and sitting shots.
How should I revise?
Work through the DMQ manual, the revision questions and the safety questions you are sent in advance. The written questions are drawn from a published bank, so the reading is finite. Spend your last week on deer identification.
Do I need to bring my firearms licence?
Bring your licence and any permit needed to move a rifle across a border. Check the current requirements for taking a rifle out of your own country and into the Netherlands well before you travel; they change.
DSC2
What does DSC2 require?
DSC2 is built from a single witnessed stalk. You select the animal, take it safely and humanely, gralloch it, inspect the carcase and green offal, and deliver it to the larder. An accredited witness signs the Individual Cull Record. Anything that cannot be shown on the day can be completed on another occasion.
Where can I do the DSC2 stalks?
Anywhere in the world, provided the animal is one of the six UK deer species and an accredited witness is present for the whole process. A roe in Denmark or a fallow in South Africa both count.
Can I take the DSC2 animal from a high seat?
Yes, but not on its own. You must also demonstrate that you can stalk, and a high seat will not evidence that. Anything the day does not show is completed on another occasion and witnessed then.
How do I find an accredited witness?
Witnessing is arranged for you as part of a DSC2 booking, on the continent or in the United Kingdom. You may also approach an accredited witness directly if you already stalk with one.
What happens to my DSC2 portfolio?
It goes to the BASC Deer Assessment Centre, where an assessor checks the evidence is complete and authentic and may telephone you or your witness. An internal verifier then double-checks the assessor. The certificate is issued by DMQ.
Do I need DSC1 before DSC2?
Yes. DSC2 evidences in the field what DSC1 assessed in the classroom and on the range. You apply for the DSC2 portfolio after passing DSC1.
Practical
Where do I stay?
At Hotel Landgoed Stakenberg, three kilometres from the Berkenhorst facility. Candidates get a rate negotiated for them. Dinner the evening before is part of the assessment, not an optional extra.
Where exactly is the assessment held?
At the Berkenhorst facility in the Netherlands, which has the range, the classroom and the ground used for the safety walk. Travel details go out with your joining instructions.
How do I book?
Send an enquiry with the dates you prefer and we reply with the information pack, the joining instructions and what it costs. Booking is confirmed on payment; the syllabus follows.
What does it cost?
The DSC1 fee is published on the fees page, and covers the assessment all in. DSC2 is quoted per booking instead, because it depends on how many animals and which species you need and where you stay, so a single figure would mislead. You are told what your booking costs, in writing, before you commit to anything.
How often does the assessment run?
Twice a year, a fortnight apart: the main sitting each March, run in overlapping groups, and a second date after it whose places come off the waiting list. Both are small and places are offered in the order enquiries arrive, so ask early — missing both costs you twelve months rather than a few weeks.
Can I bring a partner or a non-candidate?
The hotel and dinner can usually accommodate a companion. They cannot be on the range or the safety walk during assessment. Say so when you enquire so the hotel booking is right.
What language is the paperwork in?
English. The certificate, the portfolio and the game dealer declaration are all English documents, which is what makes them usable with a British landowner or dealer.
What do I get when I pass?
Your DSC1 certificate from Deer Management Qualifications, and the ability to apply for the DSC2 portfolio. Most candidates go straight on to arranging their witnessed stalk.
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