Red Stag Hunting in Scotland

Angela Diffey
October, 2016

We arrived in Scotland for our red deer hunt on Sunday Oct. 9th about 8:00 am. Check-in wasn’t until 4:00 so gave us some time to just drive around a little. The lodge was great and had amazing views! Wake up was at 7:00 am for breakfast, a quick target practice test and off to the mountains. Our stalker was Kevin Simpson and he just amazing. Very knowledgeable, friendly and definitely makes sure you will have an awesome experience.

Our stag hunt was for 4 days and I got lucky on my first day out. It was a lot of walking and a lot of hiking, but laying there behind a huge rock with the gun propped up on top. Just hoping and waiting to see if the stag we spotted was going to walk back over the top of the mountain? That 15 minutes felt like an hour, but over he walked. Kevin had me brace up to the gun. Asked me if I could see him and I replied “yes” and Kevin said “Ok shoot”. I was nervous and disappointed because when I backed off the gun. He was still standing there just looking around. I looked at Kevin and then looked at the stag. Well by that time it was doing the drunk swagger. LOL I looked at Kevin and said I thought I missed. Kevin replied “I wouldn’t have been smiling if you missed.” When he hit the ground I stood up and was jumping up and down, but there is something I forgot to mention. This is only my 3rd year to ever hunt in my entire 45 years on this earth and only my 2nd kill. I was a little excited!

This traditional, free range stag hunt will be one that gets marked off my bucket list. Scotland is an amazingly beautiful country. The hunt is strenuous and exhausting so you need to be in pretty good shape. There were 6 other people at the lodge with us and they were group of people. Everyone that keeps the lodge going from day to day. They are the best ever. Anything and everything was taken care of and attended to. Breakfast every morning, lunches made for everyone and an amazingly delicious dinner every evening. Could not have asked for anything more. I would recommend using Outdoors International for a Scottish hunt. I most definitely recommend Kevin Simpson for a stalker in Scotland.

Hunting Consultant: Mat Cervantes