As it's been a good while since I've been able to get out with a rifle.....the usual excuses of health, Covid, change of ownership of land, time, money etc...... I thought it would be an idea to have a bit of a refresher before heading North later in the year to do battle with a Red Stag and a Sika Stag. With this in mind I contacted South Ayrshire Stalking and arranged a few days with Chris and Anne to get some rifle practice and some stalks. This all came about and last week was the chosen date - foolishly thinking August would be a bit more settled into the usual Ayrshire summer weather of rain and winds and not the sun beating down scorchio conditions we ended up with!
However....Chris and I headed to the range on Thursday and after a quick reminder about which end of the rifle was which, I took a few shots down range off the bipod and then tried the quad sticks as I've never used sticks in anger before. Having achieved the result of keeping the bullets in the right area with a bit of encouragement it was game on....
At silly o'clock the next morning Chris's right hand man, Graham, picked me up and we headed into the hills. The dawn was just beginning to break as we headed of into some ground nearby and had to wait a while for a Red hind and calf to move on and let us by, after that we stalked some of the rides until we spotted a Buck and a Doe - with Graham giving support, advice and help setting up the sticks, I managed to squeeze of a shot which hit the spot and my first Buck off sticks was found lying dead about five yards away - a lovely little six pointer in great condition. Back to base and breakfast after the gralloch and then on with the sunbathing until the evening.
The evening stalk was to a forested area with a wind farm nearby - little wind, lots of sun and very sweaty stalking! After a couple of hours we finally saw a good buck, but the diminishing light stopped any safe shot.
The following morning and back to the windfarm forest, the mist was lying in the hollows as the sun came up, the "Sturgeon" moon was spectacular and it was a joy to be out before the rest of the world woke up. Lots of patient stalking and some calling by Graham didn't bring any Bucks near to us, maybe the heat and bright sun had caused them to couch down and only emerge in the slightly cooler hours of night. We saw the same Buck on the way out, once again , just a bit too far for a safe shot, but we decided to try again that evening.
After another day of sunshine and heat, we headed up to the windfarm forest. A stalk through some of the previous clear fell and brash brought us near a Buck and a Doe which gradually moved further and further away. Graham tried calling them again only to be ignored by the amorous couple, but Buck we hadn't seen came running past through the long grass, not to be seen again! Moving back to the view point where we'd seen the Buck previously and after a few calls, we were about to give up when Graham spotted the Buck at the bottom of a steep bit of hillside. Up with the sticks and with leaning at a spectacular angle - I almost needed to be held by the belt to stop me rolling down the hill - I got a clear shot at another lovely Buck. After this, Graham "volunteered" to go down and get the Buck, there was a fair bit of huffing chuffing as he brought it back up the hill - a big thankyou to him! A quick gralloch and back to base with another lovely sunset to enjoy!
Huge thanks to Graham and a big thankyou to Chris and Anne at South Ayrshire Stalking for the hospitality. Back down there get the venison and the heads in a couple of weeks, so the freezer will be looking much better!
However....Chris and I headed to the range on Thursday and after a quick reminder about which end of the rifle was which, I took a few shots down range off the bipod and then tried the quad sticks as I've never used sticks in anger before. Having achieved the result of keeping the bullets in the right area with a bit of encouragement it was game on....
At silly o'clock the next morning Chris's right hand man, Graham, picked me up and we headed into the hills. The dawn was just beginning to break as we headed of into some ground nearby and had to wait a while for a Red hind and calf to move on and let us by, after that we stalked some of the rides until we spotted a Buck and a Doe - with Graham giving support, advice and help setting up the sticks, I managed to squeeze of a shot which hit the spot and my first Buck off sticks was found lying dead about five yards away - a lovely little six pointer in great condition. Back to base and breakfast after the gralloch and then on with the sunbathing until the evening.
The evening stalk was to a forested area with a wind farm nearby - little wind, lots of sun and very sweaty stalking! After a couple of hours we finally saw a good buck, but the diminishing light stopped any safe shot.
The following morning and back to the windfarm forest, the mist was lying in the hollows as the sun came up, the "Sturgeon" moon was spectacular and it was a joy to be out before the rest of the world woke up. Lots of patient stalking and some calling by Graham didn't bring any Bucks near to us, maybe the heat and bright sun had caused them to couch down and only emerge in the slightly cooler hours of night. We saw the same Buck on the way out, once again , just a bit too far for a safe shot, but we decided to try again that evening.
After another day of sunshine and heat, we headed up to the windfarm forest. A stalk through some of the previous clear fell and brash brought us near a Buck and a Doe which gradually moved further and further away. Graham tried calling them again only to be ignored by the amorous couple, but Buck we hadn't seen came running past through the long grass, not to be seen again! Moving back to the view point where we'd seen the Buck previously and after a few calls, we were about to give up when Graham spotted the Buck at the bottom of a steep bit of hillside. Up with the sticks and with leaning at a spectacular angle - I almost needed to be held by the belt to stop me rolling down the hill - I got a clear shot at another lovely Buck. After this, Graham "volunteered" to go down and get the Buck, there was a fair bit of huffing chuffing as he brought it back up the hill - a big thankyou to him! A quick gralloch and back to base with another lovely sunset to enjoy!
Huge thanks to Graham and a big thankyou to Chris and Anne at South Ayrshire Stalking for the hospitality. Back down there get the venison and the heads in a couple of weeks, so the freezer will be looking much better!
