Well into August and pushing to hit some forestry that i have, surrounded by some moorland, it had been frustrating due to summer holidays and there being public footpaths around my ground…too many mountain bikes and dog walkers at times 
But being persistent and working around the obvious issues, i just stuck to very early starts and last light sit outs on the edges of the forestry.
I was out on a very early morning stalk, and whilst driving around the access roads, i spotted two very LARGE heat signatures through the thermal around 1000 yards away, and with it it not being light enough just yet for the binos, i expected them to be big fallow bucks….
I made my way towards with the wind in my favour, trying to use the dead ground and occasionally checking on their movements..
As i got within around 400 yards, the light was gaining and i could see through the binos it was too very mature red stags, heads down graising away, but they had now got in an area that i couldnt access easily with the vehicle if needed, and dragging them over 1-2ft babys heads of heather and grass would of been impossible on my own…
So i made the responsible decision just to sit, observe and enjoy the moment…
The biggest of the two looked to be a big
old 13 pointer with a lot of mass, and the other a lovely maturing 10 pointer. I couldnt see any hinds nearby and as expected it is a bit early for that, but i sat in awe as they both slowly made their way back to the forestry edge, with the biggest showing clear signs of marking his well establish territory, thrashing his antlers up and down a small pine tree.
Now decisions need to be made, with no quad or UTV, just a very capable jeep, how can i place myself in the best position with the wind in my favour AND on top of that….. get similar chance of seeing either of these beasts….
I did 2 more stalks in the AM with no sign of them, lots of ground sign but no eyes on… bit of a heas scratch moment and just told myself the time would come..
Then one evening as im doing my rounds at last light… all of a sudden i spotted two MASSIVE heat signatures coming out of the forestry edge…
Containing my excitement that i could pull this off, again wind in my favour i got within 200 yards and set myself up..
Both beasts were calm and head down, in a perfect spot for me extracting…
I let off the shot and sent the .308 bullet into his heart…
With hardly any reaction from the shot he lifted his head, jolted forward 3-4 steps….
Stood dead still and took that very ‘drunk’ pose as he wobbled, then quickly dropped nose first and expired..
I kept eyes on as the sun went down and his male companion slowly moved off in confusion of what had gone on…
The word BEAST was an understatement for this big old lad, gralloched/head and legs off he still weighed 145kg !
An unbelievable beast to have observed, stalked and taken on my own ground, and whilst feeling very lucky this stalk left me feeling oddly quiet and having moments of reflection whilst handling this beast.
It reminded me of and i feel the need to point out/share, how much responsibility and respect we do have/SHOULD have with Deer Stalking..
We are the few in ‘charge’ of these magnificent beasts, from the largest Red to the smallest Muntjac…
We are in an honoured position that yes we do work hard for, but often look past/forget to reflect on whats important in Stalking (i feel).
Sometimes just being out is enough, its not all about pulling the trigger and chasing quotas for culls… and the more we keep that in the back of our minds the better the future of stalking/stalkers will be for it !
Thanks for reading, keep at it
But being persistent and working around the obvious issues, i just stuck to very early starts and last light sit outs on the edges of the forestry.
I was out on a very early morning stalk, and whilst driving around the access roads, i spotted two very LARGE heat signatures through the thermal around 1000 yards away, and with it it not being light enough just yet for the binos, i expected them to be big fallow bucks….
I made my way towards with the wind in my favour, trying to use the dead ground and occasionally checking on their movements..
As i got within around 400 yards, the light was gaining and i could see through the binos it was too very mature red stags, heads down graising away, but they had now got in an area that i couldnt access easily with the vehicle if needed, and dragging them over 1-2ft babys heads of heather and grass would of been impossible on my own…
So i made the responsible decision just to sit, observe and enjoy the moment…
The biggest of the two looked to be a big
old 13 pointer with a lot of mass, and the other a lovely maturing 10 pointer. I couldnt see any hinds nearby and as expected it is a bit early for that, but i sat in awe as they both slowly made their way back to the forestry edge, with the biggest showing clear signs of marking his well establish territory, thrashing his antlers up and down a small pine tree.
Now decisions need to be made, with no quad or UTV, just a very capable jeep, how can i place myself in the best position with the wind in my favour AND on top of that….. get similar chance of seeing either of these beasts….
I did 2 more stalks in the AM with no sign of them, lots of ground sign but no eyes on… bit of a heas scratch moment and just told myself the time would come..
Then one evening as im doing my rounds at last light… all of a sudden i spotted two MASSIVE heat signatures coming out of the forestry edge…
Containing my excitement that i could pull this off, again wind in my favour i got within 200 yards and set myself up..
Both beasts were calm and head down, in a perfect spot for me extracting…
I let off the shot and sent the .308 bullet into his heart…
With hardly any reaction from the shot he lifted his head, jolted forward 3-4 steps….
Stood dead still and took that very ‘drunk’ pose as he wobbled, then quickly dropped nose first and expired..
I kept eyes on as the sun went down and his male companion slowly moved off in confusion of what had gone on…
The word BEAST was an understatement for this big old lad, gralloched/head and legs off he still weighed 145kg !
An unbelievable beast to have observed, stalked and taken on my own ground, and whilst feeling very lucky this stalk left me feeling oddly quiet and having moments of reflection whilst handling this beast.
It reminded me of and i feel the need to point out/share, how much responsibility and respect we do have/SHOULD have with Deer Stalking..
We are the few in ‘charge’ of these magnificent beasts, from the largest Red to the smallest Muntjac…
We are in an honoured position that yes we do work hard for, but often look past/forget to reflect on whats important in Stalking (i feel).
Sometimes just being out is enough, its not all about pulling the trigger and chasing quotas for culls… and the more we keep that in the back of our minds the better the future of stalking/stalkers will be for it !
Thanks for reading, keep at it
However, even last Saturday as legal last light faded I watched, poised on sticks, just in case one of the 6 I was observing decided to jump the intervening fence.
, fired .308 cases, some copper rod and a nice piece of oak for the base pal ! 
