As is traditional at the start of September I set off for a few weeks chasing trout in the Hebrides. September can be a good month for trout fishing and although there is plenty of salmon fishing available I have little or no interest in the salmon. This year there was not as much wind as normal but I certainly had some rain:


Loch nan Leac in the rain

As a beginner to the shooting sports I had also arranged for a few days after stags, my first time ever stalking for stags, and things were looking good when I was seeing stags even while out trout fishing:


Three stags on the hill

Recently it has been decided to control the mink population on Lewis and there are about 7000 mink traps in place across the island, though only a small proportion are active at any given time. No matter how remote the loch a quick look around usually located the mink traps in the places you might expect them to be located:


Mink trap with the door closed indicating this one isn't active

The first day for stags started out with mist down on the tops and it looked like we might be facing a bit of a problem. However, the mist didn't take long before it was lifting and it was possible to look into the hills of North Harris:


Hills of North Harris. I think the big cliff in the middle is Sron Uladail which hangs over the famous loch


It wasn't long before the tops of the hills I was stalking were also clear as were the huge drops that sometimes lay at our feet:


Teinneasabhal and Tahabhal: soon I'd be wandering along them as well


I had an exciting day of stalking and there were no other stalkers on the hill so we could roam as we pleased. We started the day by going up the beats on one side of the valley and we were seeing quite a lot of deer but, of course, they always turned out to be hinds when we stalked in closer. We did get one stalk on a stag but it was in a small group with a hind and we think the hind saw us. Despite this we stalked them across the hill predicting where they would come out from under the overhang. We crept to the edge ready to take the shot and spotted the little group of deer. This was ideal in all respects except that the deer had out witted us and were on a little hill above us looking down and, doubtless, wondering what in the world we were up to. It looked like the stags had gone one - nil up at half time.

After some exciting but unsuccessful stalks we returned to the valley bottom and, after spying the hill, went up the other side of the valley. We could see some deer and as we got closer it became clear that there were 2 stags among them. Unfortunately this time the ground was against us and it proved impossible to get within shooting distance. The stalker did offer me a shot but I declined as I just wasn't happy with the rather long distance. Had it of been a paper target I would have taken the shot and hit it but under the circumstances I have no regrets in declining the shot. After this we saw a few more hinds but failed to find any more stags and it was time to call it quits for the day. The day which started misty and overcast was clearing as we made out way off the hill offering some wonderful views of the west of Lewis and the Atlantic beyond:


A nice view to send us home

The second day of stalking dawned somewhat overcast but with the cloud mostly clear of the hill. We parked in the valley once more and headed up the Braigh that can be seen in this picture:


The picture of our parking place and the Braigh was taken in the evening from the other side of the valley.

Unfortunately deer were rare on the 2nd day and we walked up and down these hills for hours without seeing much. We spotted a small group of three or four animals beyond Diobadail and wandered out there to see if there was any possibility of a shot. By the time we had made the walk the deer were long gone and the ground was such that recovery would have been impossible anyhow:


Loch Diobadail

The hunt took us up and down just about every hill in the area and across several watersheds but the deer were nowhere to be found. As the evening went on and it was nearly time to call it quits we sat and took in the view from Laibhal:


View from Liabhal in the evening sun

After our little rest it was time to head back down the hill to the parking spot. As we worked along the face we spotted what we thought was a stag a long way below us and standing on his own. We raced back up the hill to get into a position to stalk down the gully near to where he was standing. As we almost ran down the hill suddenly there were a group of 10 or more hinds in a little depression front of us. Time to lie down and take stock of the situation. Unfortunately the hinds had seen us and there was no sign of the stag though we knew he was near at hand. Next thing I know the stalker is asking me if I'm going to take the shot and I still couldn't see a stag, though more and more hinds seemed to be appearing all over the place. I moved about a bit and still couldn't see the stag. The stalker was sitting slightly higher up the hill from me and clearly he could see the stag in the gully but I couldn't. Again I moved and caught sight of the stag. He was presenting me a shot but the hinds were off and he was just about to go. Last light on the last day after many hours on the hill and I decided to take a shot I should have let go and in the heat of the moment I snatched the trigger and the round landed between his legs. I'd concentrated so much on making sure the bullet would pass over the rock, and not go though the heather and that the back stop was suitable and that there were no other deer behind him that I forgot about squeezing the trigger rather than yanking on it. Another lesson learned and an absolutely clean miss at only 150 yards. On reflection I'm annoyed I took the shot but you can imagine my relief at a clean miss.

Another great learning experience for me and to my amusement as we walked off the hill in the gathering gloom the little stag seemed to haunt us and we saw him several more times on our walk. Maybe next year I will come back for him but on the night both he and I got a lucky break.

Hoooooooooooooo fantastic land!!! Great picture

Question: is Scottland???

Top report. Nice to see the Scotish Islands getting a good write up.

Regards

Most excelent report, makes me want to go there asap.

Great pictures and tone throughout the report.

Best regards Chris

Very nice pictures and a wonderful roebuck.