A Good New Year All
Yes…… It’s that time of the year again when we all look back at the year past and hope that the new year will be much better, and I am sure there will be many SD members thinking exactly that. Well, for me, now retired and in my mid-sixties, I rather gather that there will be fewer “New Year’s” to be looking forward to. As an all-around field sports enthusiast, I now find the hills seem to be getting even steeper when stalking, the pheasants seem to fly ever faster and that the salmon tend to lie a little further out in the river than I can reach with my casting. However, in compensation, I have nearly fifty years to look back on living in Scotland offering some of the finest and diverse sport to be had. And my record book and journal, which I have kept for decades, is a source to rekindle fond memories of the excellent sport I have been fortunate enough to have enjoyed over the years.
My sporting adventures this past year has no complaints. Although my few days wild boar hunting before Christmas with my late German friend on his shoot on the banks of the river Mozell near Koblenz, a holiday I enjoyed for twenty years up until his death a few years ago used to be the cream of my sporting year, I have not missed it. Turning the pages of my journal, this last year offers much to reflect upon. January and February, the height of winter what could be better than rough shooting below those Pearl grey skies and the hard frost at dawn when stalking that bites the end of one’s nose. I had three days shooting at the end of the game season in Strath Don, walking in line through game crops and marsh with my friends of long standing. We all enjoyed the excellent sport with a mixed bag of pheasant, partridges and woodcock. There was always Crow Lodge Pond, my little flight pond that I have close to home that I feed on one of my stalking grounds. This produced the odd mallard to add to a mixed bag. Many a happy hour was spent as the light faded sitting in a blind with Pluto, my spaniel. Some flights successful some not. And when the shotgun is put away at the end of January the Mannlicher is brought out for the last few outings at my roe doe cull. I am fortunate to lease the stalking on two estates close to Aberdeen and have done so for over thirty years. One at Dunecht and the other close to Alford. In February I also enjoyed an outing or two with a chum on his stalking ground further up the glen from Alford. His ground is similar to mine, undulating and rather steep in places. At the end of the pheasants the Riccarton Hunt, the local hunt is invited to many of the estates and to bring the hounds which flush out the coverts for any resident foxes to the standing guns. I joined in on two occasions and although I didn’t shoot a fox, I did see one flushed and shot.
Come March and the beginning of Spring there was much to entertain me with both rod and rifle. I am also a keen gardener too and with two greenhouses and a rather large vegetable patch that keeps me well entertained when not stalking or fishing. My garden this year gave me an excellent show of lilies and dahlias and an excellent crop of vegetables. My first days fishing for salmon was on the Dee at Ballogie and although I only caught three kelts I would have been well pleased if I didn’t have a leek in my waders and having to endure the day with a cold wet foot. I was back on the Dee once more in April this time on the Dinnet beat. It was when the beast from the east paid us a visit. I had never been so cold and I think it the first time I stopped fishing because of the cold finding warmth by the stove in the hut and a wee dram to warm the inner me. I fished the river Don also in March for Salmon and again like on the Dee drew a blank. Sadly, spring salmon fishing is just a shadow of what it used to be decades ago. I recall a day when myself and a chum had eleven salmon in one day at Lower Crathes, and all on the fly too. As the Spring opens out into late April, May and June the days begin to stretch out and the air warms encouraging the March Browns and Dark Olives to hatch offering a feeding frenzy for trout. The river Don is a mecca for trout fishing and being a member of the Aberdeen and District Angling Association I have access to over forty miles of river. I had some excellent baskets of trout this past season and not just on our associations beats but also fishing Littlewood and Brux on the upper reaches of the Don. I had a two-pound brown trout on a dry fly at Brux on one outing. Catching that on a highland river was a knee trembler I can assure you.
Enjoying the trout fishing in May soon takes second place against my roebuck stalking. I had enjoyed many a dawn chorus then listening to a cacophony of birdsong - blackbirds, woodpeckers, chaffinches and pigeons to name but few. To me, there is nothing better than to watch and listen to the dawn of a new day. I was lucky to this year on my first outing near to Alford I grassed a cull buck just clean of velvet. There were many deer to be seen on that outing but when the cover begins to grow stalking became more testing. I had seven bucks up to the end of June though there were a number of outings that would have been successful should I have exercised more caution whilst stalking. Sadly, come July and August the rut I experienced was very dour, in fact, the only beast that showed interest in the Butillo was a fox, and that paid the ultimate price in doing so. However, I did manage one buck during this period and after a very long and testing stalk at that. I do recall that I was practically eaten alive by midges in the process. The hot and dry weather this summer as many will have heard, had a detrimental effect on the grouse population with many estates in the Angus glens cutting back on their shooting programmes. Sadly, my one day at Fasque this season was to be one of them. Actually, I find tramping through heather for a full day now quite taxing and wonder when it will become too much for me to continue. Gone are the days in the 90s when as a member of a syndicate that leased the shooting at Clashendarach, Forestry Commission ground before it was planted, when we shot bags of over thirty brace walking up. At the end of May I had a day’s salmon fishing on the river Spey at Arndilly and again caught nothing.
At the end of August, the rains came and the rivers once more became full encouraging salmon, what few there are now, to run. On a stretch of the Dee that the association now controls, the Culter beat, I was lucky on a number of occasions landing 4 salmon but sadly, losing a few in the process. The beat offers some excellent fly fishing with one of the pools, I note from the returns, producing over half the seasons catch for the beat. I also enjoyed a couple of outings stocky bashing on one of the local put and take fisheries for rainbows that we have in the area. It was not all game fishing, as I had two outings with a shooting chum mackerel fishing on his boat which he keeps south of Stonehaven. He is also a supply for lobsters and crabs.
Come the autumn and the end of September saw me, as usual stalking the mighty red deer stag in Glen Lyon. I have taken a few days for both stags and hinds for a number of years now on an estate in this glen, known to many as Scotland’s longest, loneliest and yet loveliest glen. I assure you, it is a beautiful glen. Prior to stalking Glen Lyon, I was a regular tenant at Garry Gualach in Glen Garry. I was there for 20 years before the Commission took the stalking back in hand. To me, Glen Lyon offers the same exciting and testing stalking in magnificent scenery that can only be found in the highlands. Sadly, because of the extremely bad winter and testing summer, the resident deer population suffered the consequences and as such, I was only allocated two days at stags and two days at the hinds. As I reported on SD on my return from my stag stalking adventure, it was regrettable that hill walkers ruined one of my days. My November hind stalking was more successful not just by the stalking but this time there were no hill walkers. It was on this estate a few years ago that I shot a Hummel and a Royal on the same day and added a switch to my total before the week was out.
My return from Glen Lyon brings me back home to Aberdeen and my game shooting and flight pond. As well as my usual rough shooting on Donside I was fortunate to enjoy some testing driven shooting in December. I had a day once again on an estate near to Dunkeld in Perthshire with a mixed bag of pheasants, partridges and woodcock. On one of the drives here a few fallow deer were pushed out. I then had a small, but very enjoyable day near to Montrose again with a mixed bag of game. But what better way to end my year was on the 29th of this month on a fabulous driven day at Fasque estate in the Angus Glens. What a windy day it was too, but bright and dry and with some of the most testing birds put over my six friends, superb sport indeed.
So, there we have it, a full year and a memorable one at that with my journal recording an annual bag of Stags, hinds, bucks, does, foxes, pheasants, partridges, woodcocks, snipe, pigeons, ducks, salmon, sea trout, brown trout, rainbow trout, and mackerel. Yes, too many who read this I hear you say fortunate chap. I am fortunate and very fortunate indeed living where I do and having great friends. I will be more than happy should 2019 be a repeat year.
I raise my glass to you all, wishing you a happy and successful new year.
Cheers
Donsider
Yes…… It’s that time of the year again when we all look back at the year past and hope that the new year will be much better, and I am sure there will be many SD members thinking exactly that. Well, for me, now retired and in my mid-sixties, I rather gather that there will be fewer “New Year’s” to be looking forward to. As an all-around field sports enthusiast, I now find the hills seem to be getting even steeper when stalking, the pheasants seem to fly ever faster and that the salmon tend to lie a little further out in the river than I can reach with my casting. However, in compensation, I have nearly fifty years to look back on living in Scotland offering some of the finest and diverse sport to be had. And my record book and journal, which I have kept for decades, is a source to rekindle fond memories of the excellent sport I have been fortunate enough to have enjoyed over the years.
My sporting adventures this past year has no complaints. Although my few days wild boar hunting before Christmas with my late German friend on his shoot on the banks of the river Mozell near Koblenz, a holiday I enjoyed for twenty years up until his death a few years ago used to be the cream of my sporting year, I have not missed it. Turning the pages of my journal, this last year offers much to reflect upon. January and February, the height of winter what could be better than rough shooting below those Pearl grey skies and the hard frost at dawn when stalking that bites the end of one’s nose. I had three days shooting at the end of the game season in Strath Don, walking in line through game crops and marsh with my friends of long standing. We all enjoyed the excellent sport with a mixed bag of pheasant, partridges and woodcock. There was always Crow Lodge Pond, my little flight pond that I have close to home that I feed on one of my stalking grounds. This produced the odd mallard to add to a mixed bag. Many a happy hour was spent as the light faded sitting in a blind with Pluto, my spaniel. Some flights successful some not. And when the shotgun is put away at the end of January the Mannlicher is brought out for the last few outings at my roe doe cull. I am fortunate to lease the stalking on two estates close to Aberdeen and have done so for over thirty years. One at Dunecht and the other close to Alford. In February I also enjoyed an outing or two with a chum on his stalking ground further up the glen from Alford. His ground is similar to mine, undulating and rather steep in places. At the end of the pheasants the Riccarton Hunt, the local hunt is invited to many of the estates and to bring the hounds which flush out the coverts for any resident foxes to the standing guns. I joined in on two occasions and although I didn’t shoot a fox, I did see one flushed and shot.
Come March and the beginning of Spring there was much to entertain me with both rod and rifle. I am also a keen gardener too and with two greenhouses and a rather large vegetable patch that keeps me well entertained when not stalking or fishing. My garden this year gave me an excellent show of lilies and dahlias and an excellent crop of vegetables. My first days fishing for salmon was on the Dee at Ballogie and although I only caught three kelts I would have been well pleased if I didn’t have a leek in my waders and having to endure the day with a cold wet foot. I was back on the Dee once more in April this time on the Dinnet beat. It was when the beast from the east paid us a visit. I had never been so cold and I think it the first time I stopped fishing because of the cold finding warmth by the stove in the hut and a wee dram to warm the inner me. I fished the river Don also in March for Salmon and again like on the Dee drew a blank. Sadly, spring salmon fishing is just a shadow of what it used to be decades ago. I recall a day when myself and a chum had eleven salmon in one day at Lower Crathes, and all on the fly too. As the Spring opens out into late April, May and June the days begin to stretch out and the air warms encouraging the March Browns and Dark Olives to hatch offering a feeding frenzy for trout. The river Don is a mecca for trout fishing and being a member of the Aberdeen and District Angling Association I have access to over forty miles of river. I had some excellent baskets of trout this past season and not just on our associations beats but also fishing Littlewood and Brux on the upper reaches of the Don. I had a two-pound brown trout on a dry fly at Brux on one outing. Catching that on a highland river was a knee trembler I can assure you.
Enjoying the trout fishing in May soon takes second place against my roebuck stalking. I had enjoyed many a dawn chorus then listening to a cacophony of birdsong - blackbirds, woodpeckers, chaffinches and pigeons to name but few. To me, there is nothing better than to watch and listen to the dawn of a new day. I was lucky to this year on my first outing near to Alford I grassed a cull buck just clean of velvet. There were many deer to be seen on that outing but when the cover begins to grow stalking became more testing. I had seven bucks up to the end of June though there were a number of outings that would have been successful should I have exercised more caution whilst stalking. Sadly, come July and August the rut I experienced was very dour, in fact, the only beast that showed interest in the Butillo was a fox, and that paid the ultimate price in doing so. However, I did manage one buck during this period and after a very long and testing stalk at that. I do recall that I was practically eaten alive by midges in the process. The hot and dry weather this summer as many will have heard, had a detrimental effect on the grouse population with many estates in the Angus glens cutting back on their shooting programmes. Sadly, my one day at Fasque this season was to be one of them. Actually, I find tramping through heather for a full day now quite taxing and wonder when it will become too much for me to continue. Gone are the days in the 90s when as a member of a syndicate that leased the shooting at Clashendarach, Forestry Commission ground before it was planted, when we shot bags of over thirty brace walking up. At the end of May I had a day’s salmon fishing on the river Spey at Arndilly and again caught nothing.
At the end of August, the rains came and the rivers once more became full encouraging salmon, what few there are now, to run. On a stretch of the Dee that the association now controls, the Culter beat, I was lucky on a number of occasions landing 4 salmon but sadly, losing a few in the process. The beat offers some excellent fly fishing with one of the pools, I note from the returns, producing over half the seasons catch for the beat. I also enjoyed a couple of outings stocky bashing on one of the local put and take fisheries for rainbows that we have in the area. It was not all game fishing, as I had two outings with a shooting chum mackerel fishing on his boat which he keeps south of Stonehaven. He is also a supply for lobsters and crabs.
Come the autumn and the end of September saw me, as usual stalking the mighty red deer stag in Glen Lyon. I have taken a few days for both stags and hinds for a number of years now on an estate in this glen, known to many as Scotland’s longest, loneliest and yet loveliest glen. I assure you, it is a beautiful glen. Prior to stalking Glen Lyon, I was a regular tenant at Garry Gualach in Glen Garry. I was there for 20 years before the Commission took the stalking back in hand. To me, Glen Lyon offers the same exciting and testing stalking in magnificent scenery that can only be found in the highlands. Sadly, because of the extremely bad winter and testing summer, the resident deer population suffered the consequences and as such, I was only allocated two days at stags and two days at the hinds. As I reported on SD on my return from my stag stalking adventure, it was regrettable that hill walkers ruined one of my days. My November hind stalking was more successful not just by the stalking but this time there were no hill walkers. It was on this estate a few years ago that I shot a Hummel and a Royal on the same day and added a switch to my total before the week was out.
My return from Glen Lyon brings me back home to Aberdeen and my game shooting and flight pond. As well as my usual rough shooting on Donside I was fortunate to enjoy some testing driven shooting in December. I had a day once again on an estate near to Dunkeld in Perthshire with a mixed bag of pheasants, partridges and woodcock. On one of the drives here a few fallow deer were pushed out. I then had a small, but very enjoyable day near to Montrose again with a mixed bag of game. But what better way to end my year was on the 29th of this month on a fabulous driven day at Fasque estate in the Angus Glens. What a windy day it was too, but bright and dry and with some of the most testing birds put over my six friends, superb sport indeed.
So, there we have it, a full year and a memorable one at that with my journal recording an annual bag of Stags, hinds, bucks, does, foxes, pheasants, partridges, woodcocks, snipe, pigeons, ducks, salmon, sea trout, brown trout, rainbow trout, and mackerel. Yes, too many who read this I hear you say fortunate chap. I am fortunate and very fortunate indeed living where I do and having great friends. I will be more than happy should 2019 be a repeat year.
I raise my glass to you all, wishing you a happy and successful new year.
Cheers
Donsider
