Help with choosing a book.

[neil the plumber]

Have been given some xmas money to buy a book ( loo reading). Looking at something to do with stalking, in particular pictures and ecology of uk species, to help with recognition and judging age etc.
Your knowledge and experience is greatly appreciated.

Many thanks
Neil

 

[Moray Outfitting]

Neil

Its almost in the same league as the fated 'calibre question' or 'are Blasers any good' But I'll plunge in ( over my head... again )

Quite a range to choose from and I've read a good number of them. Unsurprisingly, they tend to very heavily reflect the experience and views of the author ( not that surprising I suppose ) - but certainly seems more apparent than similar books in other subjects. Though could just be my own views/ bias leaking through.

Whilst not great on the picture front, dated in some respects and written by the crustiest of them all - G Kenneth Whiteheads Practical Deer Stalking has a good deal of sound advice - particularly on actual stalking - boots in the dirt. Just read it as a guide not gospel! Its also a small read and tends to go quite cheap through the usual outdoor/ fieldsport book sources. So if the gift was generous you may be able to get another work as well.

PDS is a loan out I have given to a couple of new start stalkers and near every time they found some snippet in there that delivered a deer that otherwise might not have been.

 

[neil the plumber]

Many thanks for the reply, and I will have a look at the mentioned item. The intention of book is to to read more about the deer, rather than the stalking.

 

[16bore]

Neil

I would probably recommend two books the first would be Deer Watch a Field Guide by Richard Prior whilst not specifically about stalking it covers all the species and gives plenty of information ecology, distribution etc. An alternative to this would be to borrow a DSC1 training guide which covers this area plus much more.

The second which is more the stalking side of things would be Practical Woodland Stalking by Graham Downing. But if you just want a good read for the loo try Talking Stalking or I'll Be Back in an Hour. These last two encasulate (for me anyway) what it's all about.

But I expect everyone will have their own best books so I prepare to be shot down in flames

 

[Cooter]

This is not a book, but for species recognition you can't go far wrong watching the Britains Deer DVD from BDS. Listening to the sound track also gives lots of information.

For aging by teeth there are some great work sheets on Best Practice Guides.

http://www.bestpracticeguides.org.uk/downloads/planning_ageDetermine.pdf