Joe Murphy, Irish Trophy Commission (left), photographed with George Gossip at Birr

(click to enlarge)

Well-known countryman and all-round game-shooter George Gossip, Galway, joins the elite ranks of Irish stalkers whose trophies have achieved Gold Medal status with a fine Red deer shot in the 2012-2013 Season in Co. Meath. George is seen here with Joe Murphy of the Irish Trophy Commission, who measured the head as an accredited ITC measurer at the recent Game Fair at Birr Castle, Co. Offaly. The Irish Trophy Commission, whose directors include Liam Nolan (who also administers the Deer Alliance Hunter Competence Assessment Programme), Liam McGarry (currently President of the Irish Deer Society) and Joe Murphy (currently Chairman of the Wild Deer Association of Ireland),  was established in 2012 and measures trophy heads principally for the three Irish deer species, Red, Fallow and Sika, and awards certificates and medals based on the CIC (Conseil International de la Chasse et de la Conservation du Gibier) International Council for Game & Wildlife Conservation and Rowland Ward measurement criteria, further developed by the ITC to take account of needed refinements. Joe Murphy is one of a number of trained and fully-accredited measurers in Ireland. All ITC measurers are fully trained, accredited and experienced in the task of measuring trophy heads. Trophy measurement is utilised to track the quality, including the genetic quality, and outcome of selective deer management and as part of the ITC contribution to education and research in the matter of wild deer in Ireland.