Deer Stalking – Howard Day is in Pursuit of ‘The Quarry of Kings’

The deer stalking season is now underway and although the ‘classic’ months are still a little way off we asked our shooting guru, Howard Day to whet your appetite...

The largest native land mammal in Britain, red deer exist in localised pockets across the country with the exception of Scotland -  where they are widespread. Considered the quarry of kings, Cervus elaphus (red deer) have defined the history of deer stalking as a sport in Britain more than any other species. Denizens of deer parks and lowland forests as well as of higher elevations, it’s the Scottish hill stalk - as elegized by Buchan, Scrope and Speed - that has come to characterize red deer stalking.



If it’s the classic stalk of Homeric proportions you’re after, you’ll have to wait for the days of mellow autumn fruitfulness and what our antipodean cousins call ‘the roar’. The first of July may be the opening day of the season in Scotland - the first of August in the rest of the UK -  but it’s the shortening days of October when the rut brings the red to the fore. Little in the sporting diary matches stalking red stags in the rut for romance and tall tales. Firesides and bookshelves are crammed with storytellers spinning tales of the stalk: epics of crawling unmentionable distances through bogs or up escarpments to get a shot at a ‘beast’.



Antlers are extensions of the skull designed to impress the ladies and increase the odds of getting a mate and coming out tops in the battle to keep her. They require an immense amount of energy to grow, so are reflective of a stag’s health and vitality, as well as his skill as a food gatherer. Annual shedding makes antlers reflective of a stag’s current condition. With each successive season, a stag’s antlers become more branched as he reaches maturity and the zenith of his masculine power. So hinds aren’t being superficial when they go for the trophy boy with the big rack.

Deer Stalking for Management

For all six of Britain’s resident deer species, stalking is more than just trophy hunting. With an estimated 400,000 red deer in Scotland alone, and no natural predators, culling is an important management tool. Culling is an important part of managing numbers, improving and maintaining the health of the national herd. And one that provides income to estates, local employment and a source of healthy, low cholesterol meat – as Annie Assheton is quick to point out in her new venison cookery blog!



Professional stalkers combine years of experience on their patch with bushcraft that puts Bear Grylls to shame. From explaining local land management techniques to identifying a winged LBJ (little brown job), to which animal in a group to select and why, an estate’s stalker is invariably a font of local knowledge. Daily intimacy with the landscape and resident wildlife means he or she will know exactly where in the estate’s vast acreage to start, the best vantage points to spy from and identify an appropriate target, and how best to use contours and wind to bring you into range of your target. Then it’s up to you to steady your racing heart and moderate your breathing, racing from both the exertion and the excitement, before taking a shot.

Then the hard work starts…or it will for some.



It’s pretty much impossible to get vehicles onto most of the hill and, whether by habit or vengeful design, your selected quarry invariably seems to lead you to the most inaccessible corners. If you’re lucky, the estate will have a garon (specially trained pony) to help carry the beast back to the game larder. If not, it will be a drag to the nearest extraction point by vehicle.

All of this, anticipation, exertion and excitement is part of the alchemic cocktail that makes Scottish stalking for red stags so memorable.

Whether you’re up for a stag-of-a-lifetime trophy or just want to head north and experience the adventure that is stalking Highland stags, contact us at info@outsidedays.com to book your deer stalking UK quest.