£7,000 to bag a rare deer … how trophy hunting came to the home counties

Animal rights groups are outraged as overseas tour companies offer expensive shooting packages in UK conservation parks

Many Britons probably think that trophy hunting is something that happens abroad. But anyone looking to bag an animal's head to grace that empty spot on their wall needs only to head to deepest, darkest Bedfordshire where they can shoot rare deer, or, for the financially stretched, wallabies and sheep.

A small number of overseas firms are offering trophy-shooting packages in the county, which boasts several impressive deer parks. A 'grade A' red deer stag, highly prized by hunters because of its magnificent antlers, can be shot for a 9,000 trophy fee, according to an online price list dated 2018 and distributed by a Danish travel company called Limpopo & Diana Hunting Tours.