H.C.A.P 20th April Cahir

marcp

Well lads just wondering is anyone on here doing the h.c.a.p in Cahir Saturday week.

td5

Does anyone know how D S C 1 went this weekend in Armagh ? I heard that there was a few N A R G C guys doing it.

landyman

yeah ill be doing it are you doing the workshop on the 16th?

marcp

landyman wrote: »

yeah ill be doing it are you doing the workshop on the 16th?

I haven't heard that now. Just applied and told to be in Cahir on the 20th. By workshop you mean rifle range yea.

Fallow01

Wild Deer Assoc are running the preparatory workshop, here is a link to all the details....... http://www.wilddeerireland.com/events.html

Why would someone be attending the DSC1 and paying that kind of money? Its not recognised in Ireland and is the same as the HCAP!

I hear there is a HCAP 2 on the way for those who want to learn a bit more..... its great to have our own Irish courses no offence to the others

td5

Having Irish courses are great. Only problem being that they are only valid in Ireland.
D S C 1 or 2 are Lantra recognised and accepted anywhere !

Fallow01

I've stalked and hunted in the UK, Poland, Hungary, Germany, America and a few others and never been asked for the DSC

The vast majority of people stalk in Ireland only or if there lucky the UK, where if you shoot on an estate or with a guide the DSC is irrelevant. HCAP is the only recognised course here.

If you have the money and feel you need to improve your knowledge, courses are good but you can't beat someone showing you in person or attending a seminar. I attended the WDAI blood tracking event and their carcass handling seminar recently and it didn't cost me a penny, only way to go I reckon!

marcp

landyman wrote: »

yeah ill be doing it are you doing the workshop on the 16th?

I see what you mean now about the workshop. It's only like a prep course for the hcap. Its not mandatory. I'm just studying the book, the Internet and listening to people who have done the course before and hopefully it will be enough.

lb1981

the main gripe i have with this is you pay 35 for the manual ,then another 100 for the test an there is no book of sample questions,yes they put a small few on the website but in reality it is the only exam i have ever done were a book of a couple of hundred sample questions is not provided.How can you study for something when you have no idea of whats going to be asked and what style the questions are asked.
When you have questions you can go over the manual and highlight the answer this way the question and answer sink in and you actually learn it for life,you can read a book over and over again and things will not sink in

Fallow01

That's what the workshop is about http://www.wilddeerireland.com/events.html

lb1981

Fallow01 wrote: »

That's what the workshop is about http://www.wilddeerireland.com/events.html

its good of the wild deer ass to put that on but its only four days before the exam but the deer aliance should be sending out a book of sample questions with the manual.

tfox

Fallow01 wrote: »

Wild Deer Assoc are running the preparatory workshop, here is a link to all the details....... http://www.wilddeerireland.com/events.html

Why would someone be attending the DSC1 and paying that kind of money? Its not recognised in Ireland and is the same as the HCAP!

I hear there is a HCAP 2 on the way for those who want to learn a bit more..... its great to have our own Irish courses no offence to the others

The DSC is far better than the HCAP. The HCAP only tests you with what I found to be deliberately misleadeing questions hoping to trick you out so they get another test out of you, and as already mentioned the manual has no list of sample questions.

The 4 day DSC is a classroom course where you are taught everything you are going to be tested on, with lots of demos over the 2 wends and run by very helpful and knowledgeable people. The manual covers absolutely everything and had a comprehensive list of sample answers in the back which we all went through and if anyone wasnt sure we asked the instructor and he explained it to all of us. When I did there were 2 of us out of 25 who had shot deer before, the rest were beginners. one girl haad only fired a .22 for the first time the wend before and was in the top 5 on the range with a .308 :rolleyes: I had been stalking for 6 yrs and found it all very informative and was worth every penny in my opinion.

But alas our Coilte does not recognise the DSC unless you are a visitor from out of state, even though I think it far outranks the level of the HCAP.

lb1981

Fuming lads, just checked yesterdays post and it had my application and postal order sent back to me from the address i sent it to as it was not collected ,it was sent over 3 weeks ago by registered post, i am now going to miss out on that exam:mad:

marcp

The new address is P.O box 1 borris co Carlow

lb1981

marcp wrote: »

The new address is P.O box 1 borris co Carlow

The form says bray ,***** would want to update the form

Fallow01

My experience and talking to other lads is that if you have read the book beforehand, the 4 days is plenty, any sooner melts your head with too much info - best of luck with it and remember its only a basic exam

Fallow01

Yes DSC courses are good as well but what you are describing is the DSC 2 not DSC 1 which is over 2 days like the HCAP.

Other than two written exams instead of one, everything else was the same when I sat the exams but a big difference in the price HCAP €100 DSC 1 over €250 for the same thing. Charging this kind of money is a non runner for most these days

Agree Coillte should accept both

Fallow01

If your name is on this blog page your good to go for the 20th http://www.deeralliance.blogspot.ie/

I heard someone talk about the same thing and when they checked it up,both addresses are used and checked.....

tfox

Fallow01 wrote: »

Yes DSC courses are good as well but what you are describing is the DSC 2 not DSC 1 which is over 2 days like the HCAP.

Other than two written exams instead of one, everything else was the same when I sat the exams but a big difference in the price HCAP €100 DSC 1 over €250 for the same thing. Charging this kind of money is a non runner for most these days

Agree Coillte should accept both

When I sat the DSC level 1 it was 4 days split over 2 weekend, there was an option of remote learning without the class lessons where you just turned up for assessment and range test. The point I was trying to make was that where the HCAP just tests you out, the DSC actually teaches you all aspects of deer and stalking. If I had the choice between the 2 I'd pick the DSC any day and I'd rate it as a better qualification.

Anyway Im digressing from the original topic, as agreed Coilte should accept both !!