William Bryant: Scotland Free Range Red Stag Hunt Report

Scotland Free Range Red Stag Hunt

The hunting outfit there in Scotland never contacted me until the very last minute so being the first time hunting outside the US there was much I did not know. The accommodation were very good. Not knowing what to expect I didn’t know how hunting in another country was and the hunting host didn’t give me much information as to how hunting was done there in Scotland. Example: they don’t hunt on foggy days, whereas here where I learned to hunt we hunted foggy days since it masked our coming and going from the deer.

The hunt was great — a great deal of physical effort walking and crawling through the moor. I brought money to pay the stalker what the outfitters recommended but that turned out to not be enough and the stalker seemed to have issues with his bosses as to what he was being paid. I always bring extra money so I paid the money to smooth things over for myself.

I also found that the hunting host liked the other European hunters over the American hunters — I believe the host made more money from the Europeans. The food was great and since Scotland is a small country it’s very easy to do sightseeing there.

My only other issue was I killed two stags and when the antlers and capes were sent to me here in the US I only got one cape and the skinning was really done badly — I know this because my taxidermist lectured me on how bad a caping job was done. This bad caping issue seems to be a common thing when hunting overseas, a complaint I have received from many taxidermists.

My Scotland trip was a huge learning experience. I got my animals and learned that I need to visit YouTube to explore the cultural life of where I am hunting, not just the hunting.