Not sure if I should put all this down on an open forum? Still I have nothing to hide.
Started at about 6 years old and managed to lay my hands on an old 177 air rifle. My parents had just bought a new bungalow and all the surrounding area was a play ground for me. Catching voles, frogs, lizards, I collected anything to do with natural history.
Moving on I started work at the Powell -Cotton Museum of Africa and Asian big game, and was taught Taxidermy by the then Curator Lester Barton, he was the only second curator to ever run the museum. I then started a game shoot on the estate, rearing and releasing all my own birds, also ran a duck shoot nearby. It was also about this time I started my own business and booked clients to shoot and stalk deer. The shoot was a 12 gun syndicate, 6 working, 6 paying.
In 1986 I made my first trip to Scotland, way up past Inverness. We had a 25,000 acre lease, with Roe and a few Reds. But with Ptarmigan, Red Grouse and Black Grouse. Most of it covered Ben Wyvis which is a munroe.
1990 I went to Africa for the first time, most fortunately through a good American friend who joined me stalking in Scotland. Botswana was open then and it was a 10 day hunt. Progressed to meet 2 other PH's and got them clients and eventually did Zimbabwe, Zululand, Transval and the Cape. By the time I was 45 I had shot both Elephant and Buff in the same week on the same trip in Zimbabwe.
In the meantime I managed to take on a 13,000 acre lease called Forest Farm, now called Croik Estate in Scotland, I had this for nearly 10 years, it was then sold. So I moved next door to Amat Estate and had this up until quite recently, its now all fenced off, so I left. I still have two other areas I stalk, and a lot of friends up that way who I also stalk on their grounds. One man I have known for over 25 years, now his son is managing the same estate near Rosehall. I still have access and stalk over 40,000 acres for both Red and Sika.
In between times I was asked to help out with the annual Red cull on Asynt Estate near Lochinver. Spent 2 years on Reds and helping the foundation out. It is about 44,000 acres and no roads in it at the time. The annual cull was 200 head. We achieved just beneath that over 2 years. I had a team of 8 other stalkers helping me out. In the meantime I was still running trips. Bill Ritchie and Alister McKaskill were the main players of the foundation. I think Alister has now passed on, but he used to run the butchers shop in Lochinver.
I left the museum after becoming the director and some 30 odd years service. The family died off, the last one being Major Powell Cottons son, who won the MC and was a great man to work for. Unfortunatley the whole estate is under reconstruction and those in charge are not the same people and really have no care in my opinion. I achieved a lot of work there and been involved with various institutions across the world in DNA projects, such as the Giant Sable, Quagga, Schimiter Horned Oryx, Abyssinian Wolf to name but a few.
I moved off the estate where the museum is based, carried on with my outfitting business, have all 6 species on my own areas, have a partner who stalks and cooks for all the guides and does all my books, and she also drives an 1100cc trike.
Bought this site along with JAYB some 15 or so years ago, as it was about to collapse. I am grateful for everyday, have met some fantastic people and had some great adventures, which one day I shall have to put pen to paper about. Sandra is always telling me I should write a book. But I am sure there are plenty of others, some on here like Boggy who also have just as many great stories to tell.
Keep safe everyone, keep well.
. Apparently there’s no need to paste the forehead or ears 
or ever will !
) I got my first shotgun at 17, and by then had a fair few friends from school who were from farming families so managed a fair amount of rough shooting around the Scottish Borders. I had to take a break when I joined-up, but got back into shooting about 20 years ago. 8 years ago I decided I quite fancied this deerstalking lark, and applied for my FAC.I now shoot .22lr, .223, and my beloved .270.
