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Deer Stalking - this morning I accompanied a professional deer manager. This a Roe Deer being dispatched. I’m no stranger to the process but certainly not an expert but will relay various views from primary sources in this thread. #photoessay #conservation #forestry #deer
First light - professional stalkers are licensed to shoot at night, it’s more efficient. The block we were in today included sika which are very secretive by nature, and very hard to stalk successfully by day. The current Covid restrictions prevent stalkers operating at night.
The stripped bark in this image is typical of Sika deer, which can devastate a young crop of trees. Stalkers carry out damage assessments to target cull. The ongoing expansion of forestry blocks is aiding the Sika population in the South of Scotland. #forestry #sika #deer #trees
It’s not Windsor Park or the A82 at Glencoe, locating wild deer in a commercial forestry block is a tedious task. The stalker has eyes on a Sika on the top of the hill, we didn’t get close enough for a clean shot. #deerstalking #wildlife #conservation #Scotland
Dogs are essential when stalking deer in forestry, they can wind live targets, but more importantly can find a carcass or track a wounded beast so it isn’t left to suffer. They are fitted with GPS collars. #huntingdogs #pointer #dogsoftwitter #tracking
Today was a north wind, which causes the deer to lie up in the dense cover, not great if you’re a stalker... #hunting #deerhunter #stalking #deerstalking
We did however kill a Roe, this patch has killed deer in poorer condition this year due to the snow staying on the ground. #huntingisconservation #wildlife #winter
Gralloch, this also allows the stalker to check for any disease. #venison #sustainable #protein #omega3
A lot of planning and preparation goes into the stalking process, part of that is getting the shot deer out of the location. This was just a small Roe but obviously a bigger beast in deep snow and thick forestry would be problematic. #logistics #logisticsisking
My fox magnet was working, in fact we saw 3, this large dog fox decided to appear just as we were killing the Roe. There are Hen Harriers nesting on the moor above... it also illustrates how much power a fox has against this small roe, or in other cases a Hogg sheep #Predator
Professional, covers 25,000 acres and kills in the region of 600 deer a year. Some would argue it’s not enough. #targets
Deer management in Scotland is not straight forward. Open hill ground is very different to dense commercial forestry plantations so terrain specific. The old adage that boots on the ground know best and where to point policy?
