http://www.rifleshootermagazine.co.uk 19plan was for Justin and his friend, Christian (the editor of a
Danish hunting magazine), to travel the length of England
over the course of a week, hunting as many species as they
could. The catch? The entire thing would be arranged via
social media, and the hunting opportunities would come
purely by way of kindness from their friends (or friends of
friends). I would join them on the second to last day on an
estate near London. This final leg of the hunt came courtesy
of Dan (@danserdiuk on Instagram), the estate keeper, and
his girlfriend Jess (@jessdutton01 on Instagram), a
passionate hunter and freelance shooting instructor.
The estate Dan manages spans approximately 1,
acres and is farmed for barley, rape and wheat. Dan had
held his position there for just three months, and when he
arrived it was absolutely teeming with muntjac. They were
presenting a serious problem, causing havoc in the crops
and woodland and giving the farmer a right headache. The
travelling duo would be helping Dan with his cull, so everyone
was happy.
Prior to my arrival, Justin and Christian had visited two
different locations, starting in Cumbria with James
(@northernfoxinguk) hunting roe bucks by day and lamb-
hungry foxes by night, before travelling on to Suffolk for
muntjac and pigeon with Sam (@sams_silverpigeon). To add
that extra bit of fun to the trip, and to save some cash, they
had camped in tents for the duration! I met the pair and their
cameraman, Lewis, in Enfield, where they were taking a night
at a hotel for a much-needed hot shower and a good night’s
sleep before the final hurrah.
0251,1*+$6%52.(1
It was just getting light when we arrived at the estate to meet
Dan and Jess – we were cutting it pretty fine if we wanted to
find some deer! Within minutes, the two hunters, a pile of
kit, myself, and Lewis the cameraman had all been loaded
onto the back of Dan’s rickety shooting wagon. Off we went,
trundling along narrow estate lanes towards the swathes of
woodland where, hopefully, our muntjac would be waiting.
No sooner had we rattled past the first two fields when
eagle-eyed Christian started frantically banging on the roof of
the cab. Dan rolled to a halt. There, about 150 yards away,
was a muntjac buck, grazing at the base of a slope alongside
a field. Christian switched into stealth mode; silently, but
with deft speed, he gathered his rifle, slithered out of the
wagon and crept along the hedgeline with Lewis in hot
pursuit, camera at the ready. Rounding the corner almost on
all fours, he popped the rifle up onto the bipod, steadied
himself, and a few seconds later we heard the solid ‘thwack’
of a well-placed shot. From our vantage point, we could just
make out the small figure dropping where it stood. It was a
good start to the day. Up close, I was intrigued with the little
deer – so dainty and delicate, with bald stubs where it had
recently shed its antlers. He was carried back to the truck
and carefully placed beneath the wooden benches, before
we all climbed in once again and continued, uninterrupted
this time, to the next stop.
The plan was for Christian and Lewis to wait it out in a high
seat, while the rest of us stalked through the woodland and
around the field borders. We dropped the others off andSTALKING WITH EMILY DAMMENT
»
JUSTIN NICHOLSON
(INSTAGRAM: @JUSTINNICHOLSON191994)
“The idea with this hunt was to show that hunting is for everyone and can
be community-based, so we organised it all through people that we knew
in the hunting community, using social media. Social media can be a great
influence if used in the right way, opening up hunting opportunities on a
local and an international level. This hunt is a great example of that – we
came over from Denmark and hunted our way across England based purely
on our social media connections. Community hunts like this also make you
realise that there are different ways of doing things, different cultures,
and we have all been left with incredible memories.
“However, the community does need to rally together more, and stop
using social media on such an individual level. It shouldn’t all be about
getting noticed or portraying an image or grappling for sponsorship – this
creates jealousy and competition, leading to friction where we should all
be pulling together and getting back to that community mentality. I think
companies are starting to understand that and realise that narcissism and
individualism is detrimental to everyone.
“Social media can be such a positive thing if you are open-minded. It
has created a global community capable of great things and can be used
to spread knowledge. A good example is the tahrs in New Zealand. The
government was preparing to cull huge numbers of tahr, basically due to a
lack of knowledge. It was only because of the quick reactions of the global
hunting community, coordinated through social media, that the whole idea
was put to bed. The New Zealand Tahr Foundation was set up by hunters to
manage the tahr properly and challenge the government’s decisions. All
this was achieved through social media.
“The nice thing about the hunting community is that you will come
across people who are willing to open their doors and share their passion
and lifestyle with you. Hunting has always been steeped in tradition, and
people want to pass that on as best they can. It used to be taught from
father to son; now, it needs to be person to person as well.”ABOVE: Justin
pursues a muntjac
into the woods