22 WWW.THEFIELD.CO.UK
Stalkingshesays.“Ashotguncertificateis a qualified
right.Butonemustasserta goodreasonfor
a FAC,”saysEscue,havingfoundtheFACdif-
ficulttoobtain– everyconstabularyseems
tohaveitsownsetofruleswhenit comes
to granting them, with some insisting on
demonstrable experience and others not.
“Unlessyouhavepermissionoverlandit can
becomeverydifficulttoobtainanFAC,”she
says.Althoughnowinpossessionofa .308
and.22–theidealdeerandvermincom-
bination,Escueadmitssheisnotyetready
togostalkingonherown.“Ihavegrownup
withguns,takentheHolland& Hollandrifle
course(threeone-hourlessonsdesignedto
equipyoutopasstheshootingelementofa
DSC1withflyingcolours)andtheDSC1,which
wasfantastic,I learnedsomuch.I alsoprac-
tiseatCoriniuminCirencesterandhavebeen
toAndrewVenablesatWMSFirearms,whois
greatif youwanttofirelotsofdifferent
calibres.Butit stilltakesa lotbefore
youcangooutonyourownand
deal with the deeryou shoot.
I decidedif I wasgoingtoeatthis
meatI needtobeabletoshoot
thisanimal,”shesays.“Wedefi-
nitelyneedtoencouragemore
ladymentors,perhapsweneeda
NationalLadiesStalkingDay?”
Asimulatedstalkistheonlywayto
bridgethegapbetweentheoryandpractice,
andis theideabehindWestLondonShoot-
ingSchool’s(WLSS)stalkingpackage.Paul
Gendall,whowrotetheintroductiontorifle
shooting course (andthe follow-up stalk-
ingcourse),says:“Ittookmeeightmonths
todecidewhattotakeoutofit.I havehad
about 50/50 men to women on the rifle
course but I do find that more women thanBASC
Pre DSC1andDSC1coursesrun
throughouttheyear.
http://www.basc.org.uk- THEENGLISHARTEMIS
Newlylaunchedwebsiteoffering
informationonstalking,rifle
shootingandmore.
http://www.theenglishartemis.com
[email protected]
LADIESRIFLECLUB
SeptemberLadiesRifleClub Day,
Gloucestershire.
To book,orformoreinformation,contact
EmmaNorbury-Perrott
[email protected]
WESTLONDONSHOOTINGSCHOOL
IntroductiontoRifleShootingDay(£180)
DeerStalkingCourse(£180)
02088451377
http://www.shootingschool.co.uk- HOLLAND& HOLLAND
DeerStalkingCourse(£395)
Threeonehourlessons(oronethreehour
session)toequipthenovicewithbasicrifle
handlingandshootingtechniques.
01923825349
http://www.hollandandholland.com
LADIESMACNABCLUB
DSC1coursesavailableformenand
womeninspring2020.
http://www. tulchan-glenisla.co.uk
men enthuse about it at the
end.Riflesareaboutlistening
to instruction and following
that advice, and it seems that
often women are better at that
thanthemen.”A morningspenttalk-
ing calibres,rifles, scopesand handlinga
varietyofgunsisthoroughlygoodground-
ing.Followedbyanafternoononthenew
WLSS range putting different calibres
throughtheirpacesunderexpert,unpatron-
isinginstruction.Thefollow-upcoursetakes
placeinOxfordshire,takingtheclassroom
learningintothefield.“It’sa gapwefeltwas
lacking in stalking education,” says Gendall.“There is the chance that someone can
completetheDSC1buthaveneverbeenout
stalking.WhenyoucomeoutwithmeI show
youhowtomoveyourriflefromshoulderto
sticks,wetakeshotsatsimulatedgame,how
tostalkandhowtobesafe.”WLSShasnow
teamed up with Glorious Game Sporting
Coandcanorganiseroe,fallowandmunt-
jacstalking onmorethan10,000acresin
southernEngland,justsome 30 milesfrom
thegrounds.Gendallisalsolookingtoset
upa deergrallochingandbutcherycourse,
whichwould neatlycomplete its excellent
stalking package.GAMEKEEPERANDCONSERVATIONIST
CharlieBlanceisa younggamekeeperand
conservationist whose enthusiasm forher
subjecthasgarnereda followingonInsta-
gram(@charlieblance_).“I’dalwayswanted
toworkinconservationbutonceI discovered
howhuntingcanprotectthe biodiversityI
hadgrowntolove, somethingclicked and
I knewthisis whatI wantedtodofortherest
ofmylife.”Aftera yearontheIsleofRum
shenowworksontheDunanestate,which
standsattheheadofLochRannoch.“Idid
myDSC1incollegeandhavecompletedall
threestalksofmyDCS2.There’ssomething
aboutworkingforyourfoodwhichis sopure
andtobehonestratheremotional,I’llnever
gettired ofstalking.”Andtheworstthing?
“Theticks,themidgesand all the other bit-
ingbuggers,”shesays.
Courses,clubs,teachersandenthusiasts;
thedeer-stalkingbarrierstoentrymaystill
existbutcanbebrokendown when you dis-
cover the right support.LouiseFarmer
hasdevelopedTheEnglish
Artemis,whichaimsto
provideadvicefor
womennew
to fieldsports