For some months now I've got a lot of pleasure from reading the reports of others and so I thought to file my own report. I'm new to shooting and the beginning of the year saw me embark upon my first ever hunting trip. As I was going to be on Lewis anyhow it seemed the ideal opportunity to get my first shot at hinds and so two days of stalking were arranged.

The first day dawned relatively fine and fair for a January day on Lewis and off I set. I was lucky to be going on the hill with two stalkers and so was in good hands. In the first 20 minutes I'd learned more about deer than I even realised there was to know. Then, of course, I had to face the shooting test and the pressure was on, remember I have very little experience with centrefire. I must confess that my first two shots were not great but I got myself settled and the next two were much more respectable. It looked like I'd passed.

While driving out the track we spotted two groups of hinds, 5 in all, and one of the stalkers decided to try and bag a quick kill. The pair of us abandoned the jeep and were on the ground no more than 2 minutes when he took a shot at a hind. I quick search and the dead beast was located, gralloched and recovered to the jeep. A bird in the hand...

Now it was my turn and the three of us started the climb up above Uig. The ground is difficult, steep and the climbing hard and verging on requiring ropes but the views were wonderful:



After a long hard struggle we even managed to snatch a quick view of the hills of North Harris and shortly after this photo was taken we spotted our hinds:



There were a group of hinds on the hill beside the one we were on and, of course, there was a lot of bare ground in the mile between us and them. There was nothing else for it but the traditional crawl and I'm sure that the stalkers must have been very aware that as a beginner I needed a good stable shot at relatively close range and, it must be said, they worked hard to achieve this. Eventually I ended up wedged into a corner with a good rock to rest the rifle (a .243 Tikka for those into such things) on at about 130 yards from the hinds and after a considerable wait to ensure that the chosen hind didn't have any young with her I took the shot. I'm pleased to report that at the shot she looked up, took one step, and dropped dead and there was no sign that any of the younger animals were associated with her.

Now the really difficult part of the day started and we decided to recover the hind to the side of Loch Reonasgail and then walk around the loch to get the boat to bring her across.



The drag to the loch took about 2 hours and I must confess that almost all of the hard work was done by the stalkers, though I was still knackered by the time we got to the loch. However, luck was with us and when we got to the boat we found that not only did it have an outboard motor but there was petrol in it thus making recovery across the loch a 10 minute job, though bailing the rainwater out of the boat took us a good 20 minutes:



All told it was a most remarkable and enjoyable day on the hill and provided me with a wonderful introduction to the sport of stalking.

My second day dawned with TV news reporting "chaos" caused by snow but Lewis was clear except for a dusting on the hills. Today there were two groups going on the hills on different beats and so I was going with only one stalker. The ground today appeared even more rocky and with the rocks covered with ice and a dusting of snow the going was difficult. We parked the car by the shore and started up into the hills:



We worked hard all day trying not to wind the many gullies and corries and then crawling to the edges and spying into each without any sign of a hind. Despite the lack of hinds, though we did manage to see 4 stags, we were treated to some wonderful views of the Lewis landscape:



As was the case the previous day we managed to find a spot where we looked out over the hills of North Harris with the bleak and difficult conditions making us wonder how anything survived up there in winter:



After a long hard day we returned to the shoreline and took the car along to the other beat to find that they had been seeing lots of hinds but had failed to get a shot despite several good stalks.

After two wonderful days on the hill I hope that it will not be too long before I'm back for more and my only regret is that I didn't start doing this 10 years ago.

Great pictures, great story. Weidmannsheil on your first successful stalk!
- mike

A fine beginning ! Very dramatic scenary ,looks more like goat country.

Thankyou for taking the time to post. I enjoyed reading your report and viewing the pics of some very exciting looking terrain.

Thanks

Jon

Waidmannsheil!

Good story, great photos and successful initial stalk to sum it up from my perspective - looks like you're a natural at this, keep it up.

Gidday Gaorach,

Welcome to the brotherhood.

That was a fine post with great pictures. It is a raw and rugged area for sure.

Well done and I hope you enjoy many more hunts that result in the same feelings.

Happy Hunting

Hamish