Professional hunters, guides, and outfitters exist even in countries that are not usually associated with hunting tourism. Today we’re talking with David Kennedy, who guides hunters through the hills and dales of Ireland.

Could you please introduce yourself. What is your name, where do you operate, and what animals do you mostly guide for?

My name is David Kennedy, and the name of my operation is Killeagh Hunting Trips. We’re situated in the Midwest of Ireland. A lot of the terrain where we hunt on would be hills, moor and agricultural land, and we also have some leases from Coillte – that’s the Irish state body for forestry, which produces commercial timber. It’s actually a little bit of anything, if the client wants to hunt on  an open hill or do a stalk on the moor, or in the woods, we can cater for him or her. We hunt mostly the red, sika, fallow deer and goats. 

How did you start out as a hunter? What were your first hunting experiences? What do you hunt for yourself? 

I started hunting about twenty years ago, when I was still very young. I went out with my uncle, he taught me everything I know about hunting. He passed away a few years ago, and I miss him a lot. I started on rabbits, then foxes, and from foxes I progressed to the deer. I guess moving to deer was the worst thing, because at that point I got addicted to hunting deer, and mostly it’s about deer and scouting for stags and bucks. I would shoot an occasional fox for vermin control purposes, as a matter of fact in the summer months, when I’m not busy with clients, I shoot a lot of foxes to try and help game and ground nesting birds have a successful breeding season. But it’s deer stalking that’s my passion, and now it’s also my job. 

How did you get to be an outfitter?  

Actually, outfitting is a side job, I have a full time job making corrugated boxes for the food industry. But I love guiding more. It all started five or six years ago, when I was approached by someone I know, who asked me if I would take out some people, and I said I would. I liked the experience, and for a couple of years I was wondering if I wanted to do this for a living.

Because it’s quite a lot of work, guiding. Taking a hunter out and killing the animal is the easy part. The hard stuff is what comes after – field-dressing the carcass, getting it to the butcher, skinning, preparing the trophies for the taxidermist and dropping off the cape. Especially with goats,  they’re hard to skin because they’re so hairy, and to boil the skulls, you need to remove the horns first, and that’s easier said than done. 

You know Jim Shockey’s show “Yukon”? Of course you do, he’s the co-founder of BookYourHunt.com. In the intro to one of the episodes there was a segment where he says “So you want to be a guide?” Then he goes into every detail of what it takes to be a guide, what a guide does – and when I watched this I immediately said, hey, that’s me! From there on I started thinking about my own guiding business. I researched the best practices and everything there is to do with outfitting hunts. I made a business plan, I studied how to achieve customer satisfaction, how to gain the trust of potential clients. I had to learn not only trophy preparation, but also logistics laws, custom clearance, and lots of other things. And, here I am. 

What do you like most about being an outfitter? 

The best part of it is meeting new people. I like meeting new people seen how the hunt and see their hunting cultures also chatting with people from every part of the world. But most of all, I love the outdoors. I eat, sleep, and breathe the outdoors. It’s not about the hunt or kill, it’s about just being out there, stalking deer. If I don’t shoot anything, I don’t care, it’s being out that counts. 

I suppose most readers of this blog don’t know much about hunting in Ireland, so let’s talk about that. What does it take to be a hunter in Ireland? 

Hunting in Ireland is surprisingly relaxed, but to get involved can be a long process. If you want to go into wing and vermin shooting, you join a local Gun Club.  Basically, a gun club is a group of fellow hunters all interested in the involvement of shooting and fair chase of wild game. It also provides insurance coverage, which is a massive benefit to you and landowners. 

Deer stalking is a bit more complicated. First, you need to do a deer management course. Once completed, you apply for a deer culling license to the NWPS (National Wildlife Parks and Service). Once your deer license is granted, you can then submit an application for a suitable deer caliber rifle (which is from .243 right up to a .30-06). Gardai, the Irish police, are very strict on certain calibers, so you need to justify owning such a weapon, and your deer license goes as justification. Once the Gardai are satisfied that you’re not a threat to the public, and meet all safe storage laws, they’ll grant you a permit. It’s good for 3 years and costs €80. Then you’re free to go hunting. 

Ireland is a fairly small country, we don’t have so much game here. We only have three species of deer, and feral goats. But for these animals we have, we can offer hunting that’s as good as anywhere else in the world. It’s our terrain and breathtaking scenery that makes hunters return to Ireland. Generally overall moderate fitness is required but not necessary. Some terrain can be very harsh but we can tailor any hunt to suit the clients needs and fitness levels.  

What about hunters from other countries? What do they need to go hunting with you? 

Any potential client that wishes to hunt deer in Ireland will also have to apply for a deer license. For that, you must state and prove that you hunt deer back home. As a rule, this requires a deer management certification, or Trained Hunter certification, or some equivalent that proves you’re a skilled hunter. If you have that, you won’t have a problem obtaining a deer license in Ireland as a foreign national. 

If you would like to bring your own gun, you will need to apply for the Non-Resident Irish Firearms Certificate. Hunters from EU countries would also need a European firearms visitors permit, Americans only the Non-Resident Irish Firearms Certificate. 

What is the attitude to hunting in Ireland in general, how do people take the fact that you hunt?

People in the countryside, they generally have nothing against hunting. People in the cities mostly don’t care one way or another about hunting. Most of them don’t even know it’s taking place. Of course there are some people who are very seriously against it, and can get very aggressive. So most hunters in Ireland, I think, try to keep a low profile. We don’t talk much about what we do. 

My family is fully understanding. In fact, they encourage me to go outdoors, I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I spend a lot of time with my family. But a person needs this time to be alone, for me it is the outdoors. I need to be out there, hunting and fishing. That’s the only way I have to release pressure from work. 

Do you like fishing, too? 

Yes, I like pike fishing. Nothing beats a hard fighting double figure pike trashing around, they are a great fish to catch. 

Who are your clients? How do they choose to hunt in your particular area for that particular animal/s?

The majority of my clients would come from the United States. A lot of them are referred to by my former clients, they speak about me, and then their friends come. Or they find my website, and then connect with me. They don’t usually come to Ireland just for hunting, but when they’re on a holiday, or a business trip, and have a couple of days left, then they want to do some hunting.

I also guide clients from Europe and further afield. They typically come here for the hunting experience of the deer rut. The hunters from the UK and from Europe often come after trophy goats. We have feral goats here that have really impressive horns.

I’d say most of my clients are after the experience, not the trophies. I once had a client from New Zealand, who wanted to hunt a red stag, and I just had to ask him: “Why do you want to hunt deer in Ireland, when you have the biggest stags in the world at home?” And he told me he wanted to experience red stag hunting in Ireland in the animal’s natural environment. 

Many Americans have Irish ancestry, and they come to Ireland to sort of rediscover their roots, and if they are hunters, then of course they want to experience what hunting in Ireland feels like. It’s very important for them that the hunt is not in a fenced area, that it’s free range, and we offer just that, non-fenced hunting.

How about gear? What does a hunter need to have to go on a hunt with you?

The most important thing the client has to bring is boots. I always stress that you need a pair of good boots, waterproof and with good ankle support. Ireland looks so plush and cozy, but the terrain can be incredibly tough here, especially in the hills. If your footwear doesn’t give you proper ankle support, your ankles are going to get sore after climbing all those hills. 

Nine times out of ten clients listen and come with good proper boots, but there would always be that one client that turns up in running shoes or non waterproof boots. Then they will have their legs wet, and you can always count on getting wet, and there’s nothing like wet feet to ruin your hunt! I always bring a spare pair of rubber boots for the occasion, and I would lend them hunting boots. 

In summer you may need lighter layers of clothing, but in other times of the year you should bring proper rain wear, something that is really meant for wet, rainy, or simply damp weather. Lots of American hunters pack their Kuiu, Sitka, Deerhunter, Europeans – Harkila, but the camo pattern doesn’t really matter here. Mostly during the season the vegetation is dead anyway, so patterns don’t make much difference. So just a solid dark olive or dark brown will be alright, that’s what I wear. 

Binoculars – if you have them, bring them along, if you don’t, it’s alright. It’s our job to find the animals and we’ve got what it takes to do it. As for rifles. I use a custom .243 that I had built a couple of years ago, this is my only rifle and it is adequate for anything that we have here. But if the client wishes to bring his or her own rifle, we can help them with their application for an Irish visitors permit. Bowhunting is not allowed in Ireland. 

If your child comes to you and says “Dad, I want to be an outfitter, like you” – what would you tell him or her? 

Of course I will encourage that. But the first thing I’d say is, make sure you have the knowledge. Make sure you know what you’re signing up for. Because, some people think guiding is only about going out with the client and chasing the animals. There’s so much more in that, even before you pull the trigger. You must entertain the client, you must make sure they are having a good time. And then there’s a lot of work that comes after the shot. You would have to be sure you are alight with that.

Is there a hunting story that just won’t let you go? A big success or the one that got away?

A big one for me would be, one day I just finished my evening meal, and I got a text from a friend who wanted to go hunting that evening, and I thought why not. My friend is a farmer, and he needed to feed his cattle, and while he was at it, I went out for a walk. I approached a little forest and a couple of hinds came out and I thought “There might be a stag here, too”. I waited for a few moments, and indeed a stag came out and joined them. And he was a big stag. 

I never had what they call “buck fever”, but at that moment I had it very bad. I was shaking all over. My rifle was literally rattling on the sticks. But then I got hold of myself, I let the stag do its thing for about ten minutes. Then the stag looked at me, I shot him and to my delightment he was on the ground. 

As I approached the stag, I said: “What in the  name of God did I just shoot?” Because it was the biggest stag I ever shot, by body mass. I couldn’t even move him by myself, and when I got him to my game dealer, he tipped 250 Kg. on the scales. The antlers were great, too. Silver medal, 208  CIC points, just 2 points short of gold. 

And then there’s the one that got away. I didn’t actually even see that fallow buck, I just saw the palms of his antlers above the vegetation, and they were really big. High bronze, perhaps even silver. And when he went out on the clearing I took the shot, in the heart-lung area, and he went down. But then, to my disgust and disbelief, he got up and he galloped off, and I never could find him. I spent days looking for him, but no matter how hard I looked, I could never find him. I can still see this buck, and it makes me cry that I couldn’t find him. 

Can you think of a funny moment from your experience – a hunt gone hilariously wrong, an animal humorously outsmarted you, unexpected or funny wildlife encounters? 

Once I was doing fox control, and suddenly something grabbed my head and pulled it up. My hat flew up off my head, and I was like what the … was that? I looked up, and it was an owl doing circles around me. It dropped my hat, and I left it lying on the ground, because there was that fox about two hundred yards away, and I wanted to keep working on it to make it come into range. And then I kept calling, and I felt something grab the tips of my hair and pull. It was that owl again, it didn’t grab my head, it only pulled my hair and let go, and was doing circles above me. I had to let that fox go and move on. Owls occasionally mess around with fox control. Once I put an electric call on top of a fence post, went fifty yards behind the caller, switched the call on and an owl flew and knocked it right off the fencepost! 

Another time I shot a deer, and hit it low in the chest. When I approached the body, I did the eyeball test, to see if there were any reflexes or movement. I do this check every time, with the shooting sticks, to make sure the deer or goat is dead. There was no response. I picked up the head, and tried to bleed the body, and then – I don’t know if it counts as funny or tragic – the deer went up and hit me with the top of its head right in the chest. And it knocked me out! It hit me so hard that I couldn’t move for a while. I lay on my back for maybe twenty seconds, and when I did get up, the deer was lying dead beside me. Talk about close calls – you can have them even in Ireland!

What are some of the typical rookie mistakes in your practice, including bad choice of gear?

There are certain spots in my area, where I always have to tell the clients: Don’t show yourself over the edge of the hill, because the deer would be over there at the bottom, and would make you out against the skyline. And when we approach that spot, as often as not, I look around and where is my client? Popping his head, looking over the top of the hill!

Another time my client and I were sitting up waiting for a stag during the rut and a big stag approached us. The stag was bellowing in the forest, and we were sitting in a ditch at the edge of the wood. Suddenly I heard footsteps behind us, and I saw the stag, literally five feet away, right behind us. So I tell the client: “Don’t move, the stag is right behind us.” 

The stag flanked us, he spotted us, and I looked at him, and the client started to turn towards him, but when he saw the deer so close, he was startled and went like “Hey!, and of course the stag was gone in a second. Can’t blame the client really, a stag can look pretty mean and intimidating up close, and that one sure did! The client still speaks to me often and we talk about that situation occasionally. We didn’t get that stag, but it was really good to experience him so close and personal.

What are some of the things that many of your clients don’t know, but you wish they knew?

When I’m not guiding, I’m a family man and passionate about my family life. I’m the very same as you ordinary and down to earth person.

Next in ‘Conversation with an Outfitter’

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