Stalking is not shooting deer from a high seat...discuss.

[Salmo Salar]

Stalking to me is the act of trying to kill a deer. Now whether that is done out on an open hill, sitting in a highseat, or out with a spotlight it is the same thing. The act of trying to kill a deer.
If someone wants to be elitist and say that unless you have crawled through a bog for 100yrds on your belly its not stalking then bully for him.
To me if you are after a deer then what ever method you use can still be called stalking.

 

[Sikashooter]

I think some people are just makeing excuses for there in abuility to stalk properly. SS your well off the mark. Killing a deer is just that and might need differnt skills. But we cannot call all acts of killing deer stalking. Ambush, longrange, Highseats. or Lamping Are all methods of takeing deer but none are stalking in the true sence.



Please do not tell me this is stalking or i have been useing the wrong equipment all my life.

 

[Salmo Salar]

If you want to call some particular aspect of shooting deer stalking fair enough, as I said though in my mind it encompasses all manner of means to shoot deer. I dont think there is a right or wrong with how you want to describe it its however how I describe it though.
I go rabbiting - I dont go staking rabbits I shoot them, whether that be with the rim fire or ferrets and nets or walking up with the dog, should that change too.....? But I go stalking deer, accompanied on a hill or unaccompanied on a hill or in a woodland or a highseat, whatever.
Are we now having to give the various ways in which we kill a certain species a specific title? Is it only a stalk if you have to crawl 100yds through a bog on your belly, or if we happen to get out of the vehical and set off after 20yds a deer appears from the wood would that not be... Who cares! If I leave the house with the intention of shooting a deer, I say to the missus or pals I'm going stalking. And I'm sticking to that. If you reckon I'm wide of the mark, fine, you have your opinion and I'll have mine.

Its not a big thing! I just dont think we need to be labeling ourselves as one thing or another. Stalking in my view is a general term used inconjunction with shooting deer.

 

[neil_r]

I think some people are just makeing excuses for there in abuility to stalk properly. SS your well off the mark. Killing a deer is just that and might need differnt skills. But we cannot call all acts of killing deer stalking. Ambush, longrange, Highseats. or Lamping Are all methods of takeing deer but none are stalking in the true sence.



Please do not tell me this is stalking or i have been useing the wrong equipment all my life.

The game dealer might have a bit of an issue with the "Falling down the cliff" damage.

 

[Timney]

As the title says.

Regards

Wills

Who cares???? I'm with Simjim33 on this (post 20), but he beat me to it. Not sure what this thread aims to achieve?

Same result is had by all, and I'm sure some of those people that are no longer capable for medical reasons/age would not appreciate being referred to as "cullers" rather than "stalkers" because they opt/have no option for waiting in a high seat. I do both, but am not so elitist that I think that I should be on the move all the time to be referred to as a stalker!! I enjoy being out, whether successful or not. Its just a word to generalise what we do so lets not bicker too much about it?!?!

Timney

 

[User00003]

now what's wrong with using highseats!!! if you need to use a highseat to 'safely' manage deer in an area that otherwise would not provide sufficient backstop possibilities, then that is of course an element of stalking, static stalking one might call it.

You can't argue that someone who quietly walks into an area where deer are expected and sits down next to a tree, waiting for an hour or two for a buck to show, isn't doing exactly the same thing,,just from a different elevation, providing a different backstop requirement perhaps. Not using highseats for some deer managers would mean not being able to conduct the necessary annual cull to keep a healthy balance and population - now that would be poor practice. Surely this is FIRSTLY about proper deer management, coincidentally via an activity one enjoys very much.

 

[ferretmanabu]

It's only proper stalking if you use a 30 cal or bigger.

 

[neil_r]

^ I thought it was only proper stalking if it broke the conditions of your retraining order

 

[LuckyEddie]

I've shot 3 deer in a year.
2 from high seats and one stalked.
Length of stalk - 300yds approx from leaving the car to the shot; from spotting the deer to the shot 50 yds; shot distance 130yds.
Am I a stalker or not?

 

[Sikashooter]

Eddie on this years account i would need to say no. Some peoples cars in the central belt area account for more than that and i would not call then deer stalks would you.Would you call your self one.?

 

[LuckyEddie]

You tell me.
I've been out maybe 18 times; stalked into beasts that were out of season does during the buck season and vice versa and a successful shot rate of about 1 to 1.
Some previous posts have indicated worse than that so what is the accepted norm?
I've only been stalking for just over a year and I'm still learning.
What do I need to set the bench mark at 1deer per visit; or 2 deer in 1 visit you tell me.
Over this past weekend whilst on holiday I stalked into a doe and her kid Saturday and Sunday getting to within 50 yards just practising.
So what's the definition of a successful stalk?

 

[pierred]

You tell me.
I've been out maybe 18 times; stalked into beasts that were out of season does during the buck season and vice versa and a successful shot rate of about 1 to 1.
Some previous posts have indicated worse than that so what is the accepted norm?
I've only been stalking for just over a year and I'm still learning.
What do I need to set the bench mark at 1deer per visit; or 2 deer in 1 visit you tell me.
Over this past weekend whilst on holiday I stalked into a doe and her kid Saturday and Sunday getting to within 50 yards just practising.
So what's the definition of a successful stalk?

I`d say your coming on fine Eddie, but you have to understand that that same doe and kid will not be so easy when in season +youve got to be prepared for some leg pulling on here mate.
I`d say the average on here would be 1 in 2.5 stalks so if you can keep up your average youll be outshooting even the most experianced.

 

[LuckyEddie]

I`d say your coming on fine Eddie, but you have to understand that that same doe and kid will not be so easy when in season +youve got to be prepared for some leg pulling on here mate.
I`d say the average on here would be 1 in 2.5 stalks so if you can keep up your average youll be outshooting even the most experianced.

Nice too get some encouraging noises from time to time.

Cheers.

 

[bogtrotter]

You tell me.
I've been out maybe 18 times; stalked into beasts that were out of season does during the buck season and vice versa and a successful shot rate of about 1 to 1.
Some previous posts have indicated worse than that so what is the accepted norm?
I've only been stalking for just over a year and I'm still learning.
What do I need to set the bench mark at 1deer per visit; or 2 deer in 1 visit you tell me.
Over this past weekend whilst on holiday I stalked into a doe and her kid Saturday and Sunday getting to within 50 yards just practising.
So what's the definition of a successful stalk?

I would say you are doing fine, I would expect on average to be sucessful once in every two outings, however stalkings about more than killing deer, and each time you are out I am sure you are learning something even when you come home empty handed.

 

[User00003]

Nice too get some encouraging noises from time to time.

Cheers.

of course you're a stalker, just not as a profession

 

[rudy65]

Eddie you dont need to set a bench mark mate you will know if you are a deerstalker and by the sounds of it you area.

 

[Ranger22]

Shooting deer is shooting deer, does it matter if you release your shot from a highseat or grassy knoll- no. Next we'll be asked if we should be using spears rather than rifles
Al

 

[matt308]

I dissagree
anyone can spot a deer from a mile away then stalk to within 500 yards to a vantage point where as to take a steady shot
sitting on the edge of a wood waiting for a muntie to come out is not luck if you want consistent results
as you need to put yourself in the right place first of all to see one to shoot

I disagree too. I am not that keen on sitting up highseats but using your skill and knowledge (to try) to think like a deer and put together all the observations from the last few stalks and all you've learned over the years in order to ambush them is certainly not luck. If it is, I am getting luckier the longer I do this. Personally, I use all the various methods open to UK stalkers, including ground and highseat ambush

Plus, I know plenty of stalkers who wander through the woods with no particular skill and just shoot whatever jumps out. Now that is dumb luck.

A dictionary might say Stalking is the physical act of creeping up on an unsuspecting quarry, but in the context of what we do, it encompasses all the forms of deer hunting.

When I did my DSC1, about 10 years ago, Hugh Rose encouraged the use of the term deer hunters. Just because it was more descriptive of what we do, I think.

I hope the intention is not to diminish what highseat hunters do in order to big-up the foot stalker for some reason. For some, a challenging ground stalk is the most exciting form of deer hunting, but no doubt there are highland stalkers who will say that's nothing unless you're in the highlands.

 

[matt308]

You tell me.
I've been out maybe 18 times; stalked into beasts that were out of season does during the buck season and vice versa and a successful shot rate of about 1 to 1.
Some previous posts have indicated worse than that so what is the accepted norm?
I've only been stalking for just over a year and I'm still learning.
What do I need to set the bench mark at 1deer per visit; or 2 deer in 1 visit you tell me.
Over this past weekend whilst on holiday I stalked into a doe and her kid Saturday and Sunday getting to within 50 yards just practising.
So what's the definition of a successful stalk?

So, is that 1 year, 18 outings, 3 shots and 3 deer?

 

[LuckyEddie]

So, is that 1 year, 18 outings, 3 shots and 3 deer?

Correct
I'm happy with this rate - it gets me out of the house and provides food for the table at a rate slightly below that which I can handle easily.
I'm happy not to be listed as a professional stalker - recreational definately but for the future who knows.

Eddie