Page 64 - RSDG Year of 2022 CREST

62 EAGLE AND CARBINE
our work cut out for the week! Deer at higher altitudes meant longer stalks up the hill to reach them and crucially further to drag them back down. Once settled in we met Ainster, the head stalker at South Chesthill who explained with some glee, quite how physical our week was going to be. Ainster is a man who we later learned possesses the fitness of a mountain goat!
Despite the long walk that we knew was ahead of us, we split into pairs and spread across the highlands to the four estates hosting us. The group at South Chesthill managed to quickly stalk into a hind and calf, testament to Aister’s stalking skill and deep knowledge of the ground. With Tpr Pringle behind the rifle, in an awkward shooting position, a tense ten minutes passed which resulted in the deer grazing out of sight without presenting a shot. This was made up for by LCpl Keicher managing to shoot her first hind and calf with one shot! (On purpose of course). Her excitement with this success was very quickly diminished when faced with a 3 mile drag across a bog back to the Land Rover!
LCpl Keicher’s success was added to with Tpr Cameron, Tpr Tait, Tpr Armstrong and LCpl Mcburney all adding their first deer to the larder.
During this process Tpr Cameron managed to lose a fight with a stream which resulted in both himself and his quarry getting extremely soggy. Joe, the head stalker at North Chesthill managed to stalk, with Tprs Cameron and Tait, into a group of 50 hinds, 4 of which ended up in the bag. By the end of the first three days we had come to the conclusion that Tpr Armstrong did not have a budding career in hill stalking, due to spending more time on his backside than on his feet!
Following a very successful first 3 days, which resulted in all eight soldiers on the expedition shooting their first deer, we were joined by four A Squadron soldiers who had recently had the bad news of their tour being cancelled. Although the four newcomers were both fit and enthusiastic, the foggy conditions combined with the deer being pressured by three days of heavy stalking made life particularly difficult for them when trying to stalk into the large groups of deer. Having said this, on his first day, Tpr Haigh, with help from Ainster, managed to stalk into a group of beasts resulting in two immaculate headshots. This was testament to his skill as the youngest sniper in the Army!
Tpr Geehan at North Chesthill also managed to take down a lone calf at 300m following LCpl Rognaldsen