It's a game of two halves

A pair of sika hinds are just the job to fill Barry Stoffell’s freezer as he traverses the South Kerry Mountains on the last day of the season

When it comes to the deerstalking calendar, I’m something of a creature of habit. Where possible, I like to begin the season on 1 September solo, looking to kick off the sporting year at my own pace before the rut begins in earnest and the pressure to find animals for clients or cull targets heats up.

In contrast, it has become something of a tradition of mine to end the season in company, tidying up the last hinds with friends and catching up on the events of the season as we fill our own freezers for the relatively quiet six months ahead.

And so it was that, as the sun pinked the sky on the final day of February, it found me deep in the South Kerry mountains. I was heading out to meet Donal Casey, a good friend and fellow stalker, for the last outing of the season.

The weather gods had smiled on us for the past fortnight, and our good luck had held to the end of the month to produce a clear, dry dawn with the mercury hovering a few digits above freezing. As Donal and I shook hands and whispered greetings in the predawn gloom, only the faintest of breezes bent the tops of the dry grasses bordering the gravel pull-in.

Conflict