Shooting Times & Country – 17 July 2019

Stalking

Lovers and fi ghters

With the new season under way, Sam Thompson heads into the hills

to decide which stags will make the best stalking in the months ahead

which grows from the pedicle. The

connective tissue that covers this is

what we call velvet, which supplies

the antler with nerves and blood

vessels. As the seasons change, the

antler grows at around 2cm a day; the

cartilage calcifi es and turns to bone.

The insulin-like factor that governs

antler growth varies in accordance

to sunlight and nutrition. When the

antler has hardened completely the

velvet dies, shrivels and eventually

fl akes off , often with eager assistance

from the stag.

As the stalking season starts, the

antlers are still soft and easy to break,

and stags always seem particularly

calm as long as they are out of the

ways of midges and other biting

insects. One of my favourite things

about this early-season work is often

M

ornings in the stalking

season are defi ned by

looking at trees and

the sky. Before I’ve

put my boots on, while I’m walking

dogs around and sipping coff ee I’m

thinking about the wind, the deer and

which jacket I should wear.

It’s rarely cold in July but that

certainly doesn’t rule out the chance

of rain. Back in the porch, I stuff a

jacket and a drag rope into my bag on

top of my piece and decide to head out

on the eastern beat of the estate.

When people talk of stag stalking

they often focus on the months of

September and October, when lone

stags stravaig the hill with the grace

of a boxer, looking for love or a fi ght,

often fi nding both.

Happy commune

For the deer manager, though,

this early season provides a perfect

time to catch up with some of the

less desirable beasts. At this time of

year the deer are still in sex-based

groups, with hinds, calves and some

adolescent stags holding the best

grazing ground, and bachelor

herds living in a happy commune

of antler growth and eating.

The red deer stag grows

antlers as soon as they drop

their old set, some time

in spring. Our stag will

start off with a soft

cartilaginous core,

J. LEIGHTON / L. CAMPBELL / GETTY IMAGES

24 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

having to travel to the high tops in

search of stags, where there might be

only the faintest breath of wind when

all is still on the lower reaches.

As the quad roars up the hill track,

hinds and calves pass only a casual

glance before turning back to their

grass. With a steady wind blowing

from the west, I take the right fork

in the track to get up to the spy point,

stopping to put my glasses to the cock

hen harrier hunting for

voles in the rushes. I lean

back in the seat and take

my binoculars out.

With deer well over

a mile away, you can

only tell so much with

a set of eight-power

glasses, and the key

to working at these

“I decide the old stag will provide an

enjoyable and challenging experience later”

Sam checks out the herd

with his telescope