Selecting your ideal stalking companion

Muntjac or red deer? In England or Scotland? There’s a lot to consider when choosing the right stalking rifle, as Charles Smith-Jones explains

- Charles Smith-Jones

Perhaps you have already done a bit of stalking, possibly as a guest using the estate rifle, and now you have been truly bitten by the deer bug. It’s time that you bought your own gun – but where to start?

Your biggest decision, and one you need to make even before you apply for your Firearms Certificate, is going to be which calibre to choose. Importantly, it will need to meet the legal requirements for where you are stalking (see panel) but still there is an almost bewildering choice available. It always used to be said that if you sat a group of stalkers down in a pub and asked them what the best deer-stalking cartridge was, they would still be arguing at closing time. The truth of the matter is that everyone will have a favourite calibre that performs well for them and, importantly, they have confidence in. What suits one person might be pure Marmite to another. If you want to test the truth of this, just pose the question on an online stalking chat room. You’ll probably end up confused and regretting it.