Stalkers are simply pupils of the trail

An incident-filled morning spent guiding a stalker in pursuit of a muntjac buck reminds Miles Malone of what bonds man and beast

- Miles Malone

There is nothing to compare with practice in the field when preparing for a Deer Stalking Certificate level two assessment, and so I willingly agreed to guide a fellow stalker getting ready for his. In preparation, we spent an afternoon checking zero on his rifle. In the predawn of the next morning, we set off.

Crossing some open fields, we began to make our way quietly along a tussocky grass margin, head-to-wind. A long belt of broadleaved woodland lay ahead, running gently downhill and ending abruptly at a wildflower meadow. Beyond this was a valley, thick with ferns, stands of willow and rough areas of scrub. The wood, a pheasant drive during the season, had a long maize cover running its length, flattened now, but there remained hoppers for the spring feeding of gamebirds. Beyond the valley lay the boundary, behind this a disused gravel quarry. The workings now lay bare, but the periphery was thick with gorse and bramble, impenetrable to man but a haven for muntjac.

Our plan was to keep to the hedge to break our outline, hoping to intercept muntjac making their way to the hoppers. Later in the morning, we hoped muntjac would transit the small meadow and make their way to the valley and quarry beyond to couch down.

Heat signatures