Page 16 - The Light Blue Volunteer Journal 2021

Ex Blue Reay Stalk
This summer, I and five other lucky students had the amazing privilege to do something a little different from the standard expedition: a memorable introduction to deer stalking.
It had been a long time coming, with a first taster session organized one training weekend by the XO last year, where demonstrations and information were given about the Defence Deer Management and the amazing work they get up to.
Now don’t get me wrong, being sardined into a five seated Skoda with all your kit and stalking equipment just coming out of the field phase of ADX and into a twelve-hour drive towards the Scottish Highlands is no easy feat, but you’d be surprised how being in great company hour long trips go by in seconds accompanied by good music and spinning tales.
Much like in the field during the FTX phase, we have our own rules and standards; on our journey up towards the highlands, the XO happily gave us a binder choc-a-bloc full of information on what to expect and how to behave once the expedition commenced.
Being an age-old traditional activity in Scotland, deerstalking derives from centuries worth of culture and history of the Highlands’ heritage. The tradition offers new insight of Scottish culture which many tourists can rarely experience. By taking part in this incredible experience, you are helping to protect the local native plants and wildlife, as well as maintain a healthy and strong deer population. This was proven on arrival at our base camp situated next to Loch Stack with a 360° panoramic view of the highland mountain ranges like Arkle, which towered over us in all its beauty.
To ensure safe and humane shooting, we all practised with
the rifle in a controlled environment with appropriate stalking ammunition to check at regular intervals that the rifle was zeroed correctly before we were released to the moors.
As much as the concept of deerstalking sounds simple enough, it all runs down to chance: following these animals across vast landscapes, in unpredictable and ever-changing Scottish weather, takes great patience and stamina as the terrain can become uneven and includes steep hills, and success is never guaranteed, as was the case on the first day.
Come the second day, being accompanied by the estate’s ghillies, who draw on local knowledge and the understanding of the herds and their behaviour, we set off.
Moving quietly across the moors and supplied with binoculars we took turns locating the target. Even with the binoculars, it was
hard to locate the stag we’d been stalking. For the untrained eye like myself, there was no chance of spotting the stag; perched roughly 100 meters away on a nearby overhang perfectly camouflaged by the shrubs, but not for the ghillie- who worked his way through the undergrowth, crawling quietly to get into
a good position. I hung back, trying to stay perfectly still and soundless, waiting to be signalled. We were told at the start, “The deer can’t see you unless you move constantly. They can smell you if you’re upwind and hear you as you approach.” Finally, after crawling into position and aligning the sights, one loud bang echoes across the moor. A quick check of the binoculars confirmed the shot. The stag, completely unaware of what was coming, lights out instantly. The carcass was carefully inspected and gralloched immediately after shooting and cleaned out as soon as possible to be transported to the larder to be butchered and inspected by a licensed vet.
Without a doubt if this opportunity somehow arises grab it as quickly as you can. I can honestly say this was one of the most memorable expeditions I have done with the OTC and another otherwise expensive hobby I can add to my itinerary in the near future.
JUO Ogunnaike
16 THE LIGHT BLUE VOLUNTEER