Just returned from a week long stay in Scotland that included a three day red stag management hunt in Argyll County. My outfitter was South Ayrshire Stalking operated by Chris Dalton. In Scotland, guides are termed as "stalkers", and the hunts are steeped with many Scottish traditions. Chris Dalton was been named Stalker of the Year, four years in a row; you can see many of his videos on You Tube courtesy of the Shooting Show, a local TV series.

My hunt was for three days, with the primary target a "management" red stag. And my stalker Graeme Thompson, who also serves as cameraman for the Shooting Show. Herd management is practiced quite extensively throughout Scotland, with the country's large number of estates participating annually. However, this time of year, the entire western half of Scotland is drenched in rain and winds with temperatures averaging mid 40's to uppeTher 50's, making the hunts rather challenging. The estate we hunted was 3000 acres located north of Lochgilphead and featured rolling plains, hills, forested areas.

Our hunt began at the break of dawn, and several stags could be heard broadcasting their ROAR throughout the valleys. Legal light was at 0645 and right away we spotted a stag with 3 hinds (does) traveling north on a ridgeline about 500 yards from us. We tracked along the floor of the valley, which was pretty much a grassy bog from all the rains. The grass was thigh high and had a density much like our coastal salt grass.

We closed the distance to within 200 yards, when the stag and his 3 girlfriends stopped and were looking east away from us. We moved closer to about 153 yards, Graeme handed me the rifle, a Tika T 3 .243 caliber with a suppressor, and I steadied on its neck, one shot and down. Graeme field dressed the stag, brought it part way downhill, as the rain began to pick up. He finally left the stag near a huge boulder, texted the GPS coordinates to the estate manager, who came out later and retrieved the stag.

We remained on the hillside while Graeme let loose several roars, hoping to draw a huge stag we could see in the distance and on the other side of the fence and the neighboring estate. It continued to rain, by now it was 10AM; I was soaked and muddy with not much energy remaining. Well, unfortunately, the next two days were not the best of conditions, plus the winds were gusting 40MPH plus, possible remains of Fiona or Ian or both! Graeme looked long and hard for other stags, heard a couple, but just couldn't draw them in.

So as I sat on the hillside overlooking a beautiful valley, I pictured my ancestors walking these same grounds hundreds of years ago with perhaps the same result, and the feeling of being a proud Scotsman hunting those same lands.... I closed my eyes and gave thanks to them.

Cool story! Congrats.

Would love to go to Scotland. What an awesome experience. I am envious.

They hunt various types of deer almost yearround - roe deer, sika deer, muntjac deer, and Chinese water deer are found with the roe buck the most popular. The rut for red deer starts early October and is followed by the red deer hinds (doe). But October is the rainy season, especially on the western side of Scotland where I hunted.

Book your travel a year in advance and you will save a bundle. I flew roundtrip business class with British Airways and with a car rental total cost was $4200. Get in touch with Chris Dalton and he will provide you great prices and services.

https://www.facebook.com/southayrshirestalking

Really sweeeeet . . .. , thanks for sharing!

Great story and huge congrats

Great story. Thanks for sharing

Beautiful country for sure. You are fortunate to be able to travel there. Well done!

Trip was originally scheduled for last year....but COVID19 cancelled the flights. The outfitter also moved the hunt to the west side from the east side where the east side weather would have been much nicer..

Scotland is on my bucket list.

Very nice! It’s always a treat when you get one on the ground.

Just me, but when I look back on hunts the ones I'm most fond of had some adversity to them. Type 2 fun.

Congrats!

Awesome hunt. Congrats

Same here! Murphy's Law has entered my hunts just about every time! Murphy and I have become close friends!

The big body and underdeveloped antlers placed the stag as a CULL.

Congratulations on your successful Red Stag hunt! Nice story! In May, 2023 my wife and I are traveling to Ireland and originally planned on Scotland but are probably going to be limited to Ireland and Northern Ireland. I really wanted to go see the Scottish countryside but looks like that isn't to be. Just vacation though and not a hunting trip. After seeing your story, I jokingly tried to talk my wife into a Stag hunt but no go.

There is a ferry from Dublin that can take you across to Scotland! LOL!

Stag hunts for both Ireland and Scotland are best in October, but the major downside for stag hunts is the weather! It is terrible and would probably cut into your vacation time. I would recommend a guided tour for you first time. You can always book the hunt later and typically you should book as far out as you can because the savings are in the thousands of dollars! I booked business class with British Airways with car rental a year in advance and saved $4000; Regular business class is arounf $9000!; room reservations are the same way. Plus, BA will let you pay out their booking, so that way you won't have to pay all of it up front.