Deer Stalking Workshop – Woodland Hunter £625
Come and learn the skills to follow, trail, sustainably shoot and butcher wild deer safely in our private woodlands, which are under our management for education and wildlife conservation.

Instructor
Phil is a level 3 tracker and trailer through CyberTracker Conservation, obtaining 97% in both disciplines, and has been training clients on Bushcraft courses and the Instructor Programme for a long time now in animal tracks & sign and trailing. This, coupled with his lineage of working with firearms in the military for a decade and as a deer stalker since leaving the military, makes this a unique course, bringing together a complete package of skills required for the deer stalker.
This course has been in my mind and under development for a long time now, so it’s very exciting to be finally able to offer this to our clients.

What’s it about
Some might ask, why learn to shoot a deer? Well, it’s not an easy thing to do and shouldn’t be taken lightly, but unfortunately our landscape needs deer management as we sadly no longer have any apex predators to bring balance to the woodlands. There’s never been so many deer in the countryside as there is now, and the consequences of this are damaged and over-browsed woods.

Another layer of complexity is that as deer age, their teeth can wear away through their coarse plant and bark diets. As the deer age, they starve to death over a period of seasons. This is where predators would come in — harsh, but the young and the old would be targeted. What’s even more distressing is seeing young deer starve in over-browsed woodlands and old deer who can’t feed.

All this means that if, like my family, you want to be away from the modern meat industry and its practices, then we can fulfil the role of the predator and as humanly as possible gain access to one of the leanest, healthiest meats available in the world.
This course offers a great insight and experience of sound practical training to enable you to start your journey into deer stalking. This is also a great way to up-skill and prepare for the DS1.

Experience
If you are a complete beginner in firearms or any of the areas covered, don’t worry. We cover everything you’ll need on our comprehensive look at firearms handling and firearms safety throughout the course, and there’s a handling test prior to range work and zeroing, and then again on the range itself. You’ll have to pass this test as part of the course to progress to actually stalking, understandably.
There are only two places available on this course at any one time to maximize the chances of success and training time. 

• Introduction to rifles

• Law and licensing

• Firearms safety & handling

• Ammunition covered and shot: .22, .303, .308

• Minute of angle

• Range introduction

• Range safety and ear defence

• Zeroing and marksmanship

• Shooting positions

• Optics, moderators and iron sights

• Rifle maintenance and cleaning

• Deer identification

• Behaviour and ecology

• Woodland stalking

• High seat work

• Gralloch and carcass inspection

• Extraction options

• Trailing and deer sign

• Deer butchery

Fees
The cost of this course is £625 per person. This includes all tuition, woodland camping, rifle use and ammunition.

Declarations
This course involves the use of firearms and is subject to the law with regards to who can possess and/or use a firearm. You will be asked to make declarations to this end and must ensure you are in a position to do so. This is further explained upon booking via joining instructions. You’ll have to make certain declarations and abide by our code of conduct under our terms and conditions.

Catering
This course is not catered, although drinking water and tea & coffee will always be available round the brew fire. Further details are found in the joining instructions.

Mentoring
We also provide a mentoring programme so once you’ve completed your workshop with us or DS1, you can come and gain crucial field experience. On top of the stalking, you’ll create a Deer Stalking & Ecology Log Book to use as evidence for your future applications to stalk and licence applications. We guide you through this process, and you’ll need to complete around 10 stalks; this can include the three to four stalks completed in the workshop.

Contents covered in the mentoring

• Stalking techniques and hunting strategies

• Deer ecology

• Safe rifle handling

• Ballistics and shooting techniques and training

• Rifle maintenance

• Track and sign

• Gralloching

• Carcass inspection

• Deer disease

• Butchery

• Aging deer

• Seasons

• Carcass handling and care

• Larder techniques

Testimonial from our Mentoring Scheme
Josh Smith
I began my journey of learning to safely and ethically stalk deer in early 2023 when I attended Phil's Woodland Hunter: Deer Stalking Workshop. This gave me a really solid foundation into all aspects of rifle handling, the law, deer ecology, and the stalk itself. I had to learn more, and so began a package of guided stalks with Phil as my mentor. Now two years on, I have completed enough stalks to get my own stalking permissions. I can’t thank Phil enough for his help and guidance through this journey. For anyone who has been looking into getting similar training, it may seem too difficult to find a mentor or prohibitively expensive. Phil makes learning these skills very accessible to anyone who wants to learn. I can’t recommend him enough! Massive thanks, Josh.

Course Size
2 max

Location
Near Heathfield, East Sussex

Details
The course is set entirely in the outdoors from our comfortable expedition-style camp. Appropriate warm outdoor clothing is required.

Camping
Woodland camping is included at no extra cost.

Upon booking you’ll receive in-depth joining instructions in the form of PDFs with a recommended kit list, directions, course information, and a medical form. Please do check your spam folder after booking as sometimes emails with attachments are filtered out of your inbox.

Social Media
A picture paints a thousand words, so please check out our social media to see pictures from the workshops:
https://www.instagram.com/philbrookelongbows/

This is an adult course only.

Reviews
We feel reviews help others make informed decisions on our courses and products. Please take a read of the genuine reviews from our clients on the review page.

For any further questions please feel free to contact us directly.

Dates & Times

April 2026

• Thu 2nd – Sun 5th (FULL)

• Thu 16th – Sun 19th (FULL)

October 2026 

• Sun 18th - Wed 21st (FULL) 

November 2026

• Thu 5th – Sun 8th (FULL)

• Tue 10th – Fri 13th (FULL)

April 2027

• Thu 8th – Sun 11th (FULL)

• Thu 15th – Sun 18th (Places Available)

November 2027

• Thu 4th – Sun 7th (Places Available)

• Tue 11th – Fri 14th (Places Available)

Booking
Select the workshop you’d like from the drop-down box below.

Duration
The course is run over 3 days, however you can arrive the night before to set up your tent/tarp at our hunting/expedition-style camp. Please arrive on the first day between 5–5:30 pm, where we’ll meet you at the woodland entrance. Please do not enter the woods before this time.

There is usually a waiting list for this course, so please email us to be added if there are no places available. Places are updated as soon as they’re booked. There are also other dates in the course calendar put aside, but we only advertise them as the dates fill.

If you’ve never been on a course with us before, it may be helpful/advisable to contact us prior to booking so we can advise you on its details. We do prefer to already know the clients on this particular course.

Reviews

James Richardson
I have just completed the three-day Deer Stalking – Woodland Hunter course and want to thank you, Phil, for a one-in-a-kind weekend! You were very welcoming and easy to be around, and your passion for all you do is really inspiring. I felt your knowledge was extensive but not overwhelming, and your hands-on, practical approach to learning was really immersive. You led Jim and I through expert (and patient!) tuition on firearms safety, range shooting, and several fully-focused stalks. And when we eventually took the life of that roe buck it felt like the furthest thing from 'blood sport'. The gralloching and butchery afterwards just affirmed the mindful and conscientious approach you take to deer management in your woodlands. As I drove home at the end of it all, with a bag of venison, I felt I had journeyed through an invaluable lesson in accountability as a meat-eater. It's good to know you're out there doing what you do!

Josh Smith
The stalking workshop was even better than I expected. The course delves into the intricacies of deer ecology, rifle zeroing, ballistics and maintenance, the gralloch, and my favourite part, the stalk. I have never felt such a profound feeling of presentness and connection to the natural world, as well as our ancestral past, than moving throughout the landscape to get close to quarry. Phil’s expert guidance has enabled me to witness the happenings of the woodland community to a degree I have never experienced before. I have learned so much about track and sign, as well as how local knowledge of deer behaviour is essential to a successful stalk. I can't recommend this course enough!