ive just been for a couple of days stalking with colin(solway stalker) on one of the package deals he advertised a short while ago and thought id let you know how it went. first of all i must say a huge thank you to the man himself and ian. both of these guys obviously know the ground well and worked bloody hard in order to get us a shot. on the morning of day 1 we went for a stalk in search of a buck, we didnt manage to spot a buck but it was a fantastic start to the day seeing the local area and getting to know our guide. we were out that evening to look for a boar and find them we did, my friend managed to connect with a young boar which he is still grinning like a silly bugger about. i wasnt so lucky but the boar was guys main reason for wanting to come along so this really made his trip. on the morning of day 2 we were out the door and heading off to the ground that the reds call home. we went our seperate ways, guy with colin and myself with ian. within minutes i could hear the stags roaring and we began the search. after sneaking across the dead ground and along the tree line and hearing the stag roar a few more times we knew we were close and my smile started to get even bigger and my heart rate rose. edging closer to a vantage point and keeping as low as possible i somehow managed to end up upto my knees in cold, smelly water(i must buy some highleg boots and gaitors) with ever so slightly wet feet. ian called me a bit further forward so i could see the stag and he looked an impressive beast but he was a bit too far to shoot, on the plus side he was heading our way so i was making myself ready when all of a sudden a hind called out and he fled with her. onwards and upwards we went but to no avail. on our way back to meet up with the others ian spotted a nice royal which we started stalking in to but then the wind swirled and he was off never to be seen again. two close calls and i was loving it even without getting a shot. in the afternoon colin would take guy and myself to look for goats and possibly a stag if one presented me with a shot. an hour later it would be smiles all round as we both managed to take a goat. we had quite a lot of time left so colin very kindly said we would go in search of a stag. we were walking along a track near some young trees when guy started getting rather excited and almost shouting about a stag we had walked past! quite how we hadnt seen it is beyond me but there he was, standing broadside at around 160 metres staring right at us, i still couldnt see him!! colin and guy were both trying to tell me where he was but i was being as blind as a bat. all of a sudeen i spotted his antlers, that was it, i was down on the ground with the rifle on the bipod and taking aim, safety off and the trigger squeezed.........the shot was good. he went around 30 yards i would guess before succumbing to the shot. i was ecstatic, my first wild red stag!! i didnt actually realise how good he was until we went over to him im still grinning like a silly sod now. a fantastic 2 days with colin and ill definitely be asking him for some more outings. colin if you read this then thank you so much mate, youve no idea just how much i enjoyed it. apologies for the naff write up but im knackered out and have all my kit to sort out. cheers guys