Another stunning day spent out on the moors. The object of the day was to try and get a stag (the first for the guest) out on Mark’s beat – which incidentally borders on Balmoral, the Queens estate. Mark and I and the young lad headed out in the Landy along with Kevin and Gus who were on hand to help load the stag in the event we were lucky enough to get one. With many of the animals being far away from roads and owing to the rugged, boggy nature of the terrain, many of the animals would be extremely difficult to recover were it not for the “back-up” team. Using a vehicle known as an Argo – a small, eight wheeled all terrain unit – the stag is taken to the nearest good access road where the Landrover would be waiting after which it gets taken down to the larder for processing.

Mark is excellent at his stalking (as are all the keepers!) and really keeps his guest up to speed with what is going on. I know from trails back in South Africa that it makes a guests experience so much more rewarding if they are kept well informed about what is taking place while on trail and the same can be said while out stalking deer. Mark did just this and thereby kept the guests interest and keenness going regardless of the freezing wind that was trying to rake us off the hillside. After a couple of hours and testing various herds that kept shifting we were finally in a commanding position for a good stalk. I was asked to wait while Mark and the guest slowly crawled over the heather towards the unsuspecting herd. In the meantime I waited further back and did my best to stay alive – I had given my extra jacket to the guest as he had only brought one thin raincoat along. Needless to say it was a little cool and I was rather pleased when I finally heard the tell tale shot an hour and a half later. There were big smiles all around for the stag was a good one and Mark and the guest had done brilliantly to attain a position from where they could get the shot this owing to the fact that the herd had been lying in a position that made a stalk very challenging.

Again, another splendid day with lots of exercise, good company and amazing scenery!