Make your own luck

Different attitudes lead to very different outcomes for Jim Old in this tale of two stalks, as he learns to take every opportunity as it comes

- Jim Old

It’s the most profound lesson I’ve learned on my fieldsports voyage of discovery. And yet, now I come to write about it, I wonder how profound it actually is. Perhaps it’s blindingly self-evident; banal, even, in its universal obviousness. But you don’t come to this page for insight, so here it is: you can’t expect an animal to cooperate while you’re trying to kill it.

This thought struck me on the M3, as I was driving back to London following an unsuccessful roe stalk in Hampshire. Although I was disappointed it had ended in a blank, I’d still found the experience instructive. I was turning over the events of the morning as I drove and remembered something that Martin Edwards, my unofficial stalking mentor, had said as we’d walked back to his truck, deer-less: “We should’ve got that young buck.” Martin was being polite. When he said “we” he really meant “you.” He was right.

Roebuck ambush

This needs a little context. After a fruitless search on foot, Martin had decided we should spend some time in a high seat. It seemed like a good spot. We were overlooking a small field that sloped away to the left with woodland 200 yards in front. Our eyes were on that wood and its boundary with the field. It was early. There was light, but the sun had yet to break cover. It seemed like the perfect place to ambush a roebuck as it emerged from the trees to feed. I had no doubt that one would appear.