Great days stalking

diverd · September 25, 2010

I enjoyed my day on Ben Loyal last month I had a real hankering to have another go at the reds, so called Simon Blackett factor of Invercauld and organised a day for myself, Invercauld is far closer to home and I am really keen to get out and stalk reds more regularly. He had a day available, a Thursday, and this meant changing quite a bit of my work round, (sorry of your waders were delayed) but I was so keen nothing was going to stop me.

I was to shoot the Baddoch beat, with stalker Colin and ghillie Davie. But the forecast was terrible, high winds, fog and rain all day. Even this however would not put me off, I packed the landy with spare clothes, double checked everything and then left Aberdeen at 0700, this would allow me to stop on upper Deeside at about 0830 and send a couple of emails and the like, the meet time was 0900, but crossing Aberdeen at that time of the morning it not the best and I wanted a relaxing run.

On arriving at the designated meeting point, I met Colin and Davie, and we hit it off straight away, they were both fun characters, and I knew I would be in for a good day. As usual we had a quick zero check, and the rifle was fine, 1 inch high at 100mtr, perhaps a tiny bit to the right, ¼ inch but not worth adjusting, Colin was happy so good enough for me! It was very windy but I will be checking it next week.

He headed of up the Baddoch, with the lads regaling me with stories of recent stalks, and the like, and I was amazed at how the pair of them were spotting the deer so easily. I am normally good at it but these two were in a different league, seeing many, many deer on the sheltered areas, as the wind was really going to affect things when we started on the hill. They had spotted two small groups of very shootable stags, in areas where a stalk would be possible in the conditions and then they discussed how we were to actually do the stalk, and it was decided to go over the hill, and come in from above them. We drove round the back of the hill and again there were loads of deer about, including a herd of some 100+. Colin’s plan was to head over the hill first, and if this did not work out well we could then work up higher still to look at this larger group.

Davie loaded us up into the Argo, and then drove us up the hill. I am always amazed by these vehicles, they are brilliant, really efficient. He took us perhaps a third of the way up the hill and then we carried on on foot, tough going as it was so steep, but we took a couple of rests and were soon on the top. I would like to report the stunning view, but the fog and drizzle spoilt it, and the wind was wild.

We slowly stalked over the hill top, and were discussing roe deer. Colin was telling me there were good numbers up there, and just as he said it a buck went charging off down the hill, in the general direction of our reds, this was not ideal I was informed! Colin radioed Davie, who was waiting at the bottom of the hill and he confirmed that the reds had moved off, not panicked but were moving, and he thought they may go right over to join the others on the other side of the hill. We headed along the ridge to see if we could intercept them and quickly found a small herd of hinds, so scanned the hill to see if there were any stags hanging around them. Alas there were only a couple of small stags and these were not what Colin had in mind for me, so it was back up the hill into the mist and rain to go for the big herd. Again it was tough going and now we were both totally soaked. I was quite happy, this was exciting and we were off on another stalk. But I felt for Colin, it was a days work for him and it must be tough in these conditions. We were chatting away and I was telling him I understood what it was like working in poor conditions, as a dive instructor years ago. He was however really quite happy he told me, and was still very confident we would take a stag. I must say I was impressed with his professionalism on such a poor day, and we laughed away as we worked up the mountain again. We slowed down at the top in very poor conditions and to get our bearings. It was difficult as the viz was only 50 mtrs.

Suddenly Colin stopped and signalled for me to very slowly bend down. A couple of hinds had spotted us, in the poor vis they were aware of something, but had not really seen us properly. We were pinned down in open ground, in the rain, and had to just stop and wait until they lost interest in us. This took perhaps 20 minutes. Colin radioed Davie, to see where the main herd was and they were just in front of us, down the hill. There was perhaps 300 of them including some royal stags and good numbers of shootable stags. Davie could see clearly down below us, but thankfully the mist became even thicker, and this allowed us to escape the hinds view, we dropped back into a burn, and then quickly ascended to above the herd. I was shocked at the strong smell of deer in the air, as we passed down wind of the herd, perhaps 100mtr behind them to get above them. It was really strong and distinctive. Colin, like all stalkers is really fit, and was pulling away from me, I guess the thrill of the hunt was kicking in and he had to wait for me to catch up. He then told me the plan, the deer were finally below us, heading into the wind and we were well above and slightly in front of them, but they would not wind us as we were well above them. Colin prepared the rifle, got it onto the bipod just as the first deer started to appear round a knoll below us. It was a huge herd, and I quickly got into position, with the scope zoomed into the first animals. Colin was describing the beast to shoot, 6-8 from the front, a real dark animal, head down browsing, could I see him. I said has he just raised his head and Colin said that’s him, shoot when you are ready. He said the shot was clear (I had ripped a couple of strands of grass away from in front of the rifle) and that no deer were behind it. He then said take it quickly, the hinds were onto us! I shot straight away, and saw the impact of the .243 hit the deer’s chest. The deer all ran down the hill, including my one, though it stopped after perhaps 30 yards and swayed for a second or two, before running down the hill another 20 yards or so. Colin said the shot was good, the deer was dead but he did not want to let it get to much further away, as the ground they were heading for would have been really difficult to recover it from. He quickly told me to shoot it again, to stop it. Luckily I was tracking it with the scope, as it was moving really slowly now, and as soon as he said shoot it I let another one fly. This time it went straight down.

I apologised to Colin for fluffing the shot, he offered out his hand, and said the shot was fine, he saw the impact, and was confident it was good. The herd now took off down the hill, hundreds of them, heading straight for the landrover and Argo, where Davie was waiting. They must have been within 20 yards of the landy when they stopped, confused as to what to do next. They then charged through the river and off up the other hill. Colin was pleased that were not leaving his beat, and told me they would be back in the same area tomorrow. It was an amazing sight, in what had suddenly turned into a sunny if windy afternoon, it was exactly 1300.

Colin again said it was a good clean shot, I thought to make me more happy, and I was really quite delighted, but wanted to see for myself. Colin thought we should take a range on the first and second shots. The first we reckoned was 140 – 160 mtr and the second 220 – 240. As we did this I saw Davie coming up the hill in the Argo, so off we went down the hill to recover the beast. On arrival I was stunned at the size and quality of the beast. It was huge, and had 9 points. Colin was delighted as it was quite switchy on one side, and he felt that it was an ideal animal to take, probably going back and past its best. He rolled the stag over and I was delighted to see the entry wounds of both my shots were just at the back of the foreleg, perhaps an inch high, and about 2 inches apart, both in line one above the other. Both were killing shots. Now I really was delighted! I could see what Colin meant about the animal moving much further, it was really steep and I would not have wanted to drag it through the land further down the hill.

It was a stunning day, I really enjoyed it and have to thank Simon, Colin and Davie for the day. I will certainly be back for more of that! The Stag was 14 stone in the larder and in superb condition, world class stalking!

weejohn · September 25, 2010

Now that was a great write up.

What rifle and ammo do you use?

diverd · September 25, 2010

Now that was a great write up.

What rifle and ammo do you use?

cheers weejohn

I use a CZ .243, with a harris bipod and T8 mod. The ammo is home load 100 g, made to be as close as possible to the PPU stuff i used to use. Seems to work fine.

Below is the Ben Loyal report. I did try to post it here, but for some reason it did not work? The latest stalk report makes more sense once you have read this.

This month started normally, however a phone call just a few days ago really changed it. Iain and I were pottering away repairing waders when I had a phone call from Bruce Sandison. Bruces work has always been a favourite of mine, and over the years I have enjoyed reading of his exploits on far away lochs. I first met him earlier this year, when he asked me to do a special dive for him. I had explained I retired from diving, but he was very keen for the dive to happen and for me to do it, so a plan was hatched and I visited the far north of Scotland to help him out. The dive went well however we had to get some additional footage and when Bruce asked for us to visit again later in the year we agreed happily, Bruce and his wife Anne are great company and very interesting to chat and spend an evening with. When he called he mentioned that it was stag season and he knew this would get my attention, and when he also mentioned the sea trout were running then that was it, we were coming up!

We arrived in the Altnahara hotel, way up north in time for a bite to eat and a drink, to chat with the ghillies and anglers in the bar and generally unwind after the 5 hour drive before bed time, Tomorrow were to go stalking!

Bruces daughter, the Altnahara manager is married to Ian Smart, head Stalker for the Ben Loyal estate, and we were to meet him at the lodge at 0900 for our shooting assessment. Although the set up was quite different to what we were used to as roe stalkers we both shot well, and were soon off up the mountain, we were to stalk Ben Loyal itself. With Ian and Malcolm the young ghillie in the front of the Argo, Iain and I in the back, clutching our rucksacks, rifles and binoculars we were amazed by the capabilities of the Argo, this thing could go anywhere! Now on be loyal there are a lot of deer, but when we saw for ourselves the numbers we were stunned.

A small herd of some 50 stags were spotted and we stopped, to start a long stalk into them. Ian is superbly fit, and politely stopped to point out points of interest to us, however we know he was letting us rest and get our breath back. His instructions were excellent, we were to go in as a team of four, and then when we got close to the herd he would take one of us in to take the shot. Iain and Malcolm were to wait as I was allowed to take the first beast.

The stalk was long and hard, really physical, working across very damp ground, peat hags and burns but in time Ian got me to a deep ravine of a burn, we worked along this rapidly until we were close enough to take the shot. Ian took my rifle, and crawled 5 mtr out ahead of me, onto a small knoll, and, after setting up the rifle beckoned me forward. He chose a suitable beast for me, and then told me to get ready but not to shoot until he was happy with the position of both my stag and the ofhers in the herd. This took some time, perhaps 15 minutes but this passed like seconds. The beast took a step forward, Iain told me that as soon as it takes another it will probably stop. If it does, and stays at the same angle shoot. It took a step, stopped exactly as predicted and I immediately shot. The moderated rifle bucked and I lost sight of the beast in the melee of running stags. However ian assured me the shot was good, that the Stag had just moved into a dip behind where it had been standing and we would go an dfind it in a couple of minutes. Sure enough, as he had described the beast was lying in the heather, quite dead, with a shot to the heart!

Ian expertly gralloched the deer and we then called the others over via phone. It was not my turn to join Malcolm, the ghillie and ian and Iain went for a stalk. Within an hour a shot rang out across the hill and we argoed across the moor to find two very happy Iains, and another stag. What a day!

The next morning we were met by Bruce Sandison and were booked onto beat 2 of loch Hope. This area is midge hell and bruce kindly supplied us with all the necessary hoods and replellents, before the boat trip to the middle of the loch left them far behind. Conditions were variable, we had sun and rain, we had wind and were becalmed, but the conditions were never really ideal. Iain was first off the mark, with a fine brownie, probably below a pound but in superb condition and expertly netted by our ghillie! We were delighted and as conditions had changed a little Bruce put up his dapping rod, and dempnstrated a technique I had never seen before, however as the demonstration was taking place I disturbed the expert at work with a rod bending run and high jump from an enthusiastic sea trout, splendid sport and then returned to run to the spawning grounds.

As Bruce had now passed as a ghillie, and as my back was still suffering from the previous days stalk I offered Bruce my rod, a smuggler which he had not tried before, and within a couple of casts the master showed us how it really should be done, with another fine sea trout, now it really was whisky time!

As usual we joined our new friends in the ghillies bar to regale them with our stories, and share theirs, and another splendid convivial evening was had.

Next morning however it was my turn to perform. I had to get some footage for Bruce and it was very specific, possibly quite short and had to be perfect. I had two cameras, a director in the boat, my safety crew and, as I entered the water perfect conditions. Immediately the filming went well, the most vital footage was collected in the first 5 minutes, but I spotted a very interesting species, a tiny nudibranch, a bonus and managed to get that as well. Finally I recorded another 20 minutes of Bruces required scenes and surfaced to a torrential downpour, and a surface crew shielding the monitors, batteries and the like from the worst Scotland could throw at them. But we got his footage.

So that was it, no waders repaired, a weekend off but stalking, fishing, diving with the best scenery company and sport Scotland can offer.

My sincere thanks to Bruce for organising this, the best yet!

www.wader-repair.co.uk