As I said we are here until the 31st October. We await the arrival of the lucky people who are going to take over and that is happening soon. In the meantime life goes on.

We have had quite a few visitors these last few months as we reach the end of our time, mostly family but good friends too. Last week Wayne and his family came over for three days. Wayne worked for me when I was a Contractor for Scottish woodlands Ltd before going onto a career in Gamekeeping/Stalking. A very knowledgeable and experienced stalker, he has been on various properties since his days with me. At the moment he is Head Stalker at Braemore Estate, North West of Inverness on the Ullapool Road.

Wayne had been at our wedding 10 years ago and the following year on a Deer count covering the whole of Rona. It was a succesful visit with a good thorough count of the deer at the time.

I had asked him to take his rifle and hopefully we would get a couple of Stags for the venison business.
The weather was very calm and midgie, not ideal, the Stags elusive.

We went to the gap (Kyle Rona) in MV Rona 2, dropped a line and Robbie, Wayne’s son was quickly into some Mackerel. Not too big but still enough for a meal, then it was off to Eilean Tighe. The Pollock there were not so plentiful but a few wee ones were pulled in, then Grace Wayne’s daughter caught what you would call a “Whopper”.

A change of location took us to just North of Dry Harbour. We saw a “rise” and headed for it, looked like more Mackerel, then Robbie shouted, ” There’s a Stag”. We quickly spied it and decided to go for it, Wayne had his rifle with him, I had been hoping to spot something worth going for and here we had it. The Stag was one Marc and myself had bumped into a few weeks previously, I had had only a glimpse of him as he took off over a bank and into the trees. But to me with his small head (at the time) and body he had looked like a young stag.

We headed towards the shore out of sight and wind of the stag, we quietly dropped Wayne and Robbie off. We then pulled back and went fishing, having a grandstand view of proceedings. Wayne, Robbie and Jock (I forgot Jock the Patterdale) went about 50 metres then Robbie stayed back with Jock.

I lost sight of Wayne and for the next half hour he was mostly out of sight or camoflagued from my eyes. The next thing I heard was Grace saying, “There’s a shot”, we looked up with the binoculars where the stag had been lying and he was still lying. Wayne had had a clean shot. Out of sight of us the stag had been lying below an overhang, Wayne reported that this had been his hideout for some time. Lots of dung and the grass there well cropped.

Now the hard work begins.

Wayne quickly dealt with the Stag, Robbie and Jock in attendance. Then the drag, it was not far but the terrain was testing, a little bit of grass then rocks, nearer the shore with barnacles. But the stags hide was tough. Rather Wayne than me, I’m getting too old!!!

We headed inshore to find the landing place that was perfect for dropping Wayne, now perfect for picking up the dead stag.

Wayne was doing well and was almost there, just a couple of hollows to pull the deer up over and then the lift onto the boat.

Grace wasa tasked with holding the boat tight in we hauled the Stag aboard and loaded up the crew, textbook.

The day was flat calm always a bonus when going out using the boat, the swell is not kind especially from the North West. Been there done that one.

Now the drag up the pontoon and gangway much to the amazement of the two Belium Yachties standing there. This is the real world of Deer Management on Rona.

Then back to the larder for dressing out. First thing we noticed was the abnormal hoove

Wayne was still saying this was an old stag and seeing this, I was definitelycoming round to agreeing with him. The extended hoof was a sign of injury as the stag must have been carrying it for sometime. There were other ways of assessing the age and of course a look at the teeth would definitely tell us. A tip Wayne had heard from one of his ghillies was the way the brow tines were short and swept up indicated a stag going back.

So for sure Wayne was right and I was wrong, in Deer Management you never know it all and you would be a really smart guy to think you did. By the way, I got banned from Linkedin for a post similar to this, yesterday, too much blood for them!!!But this is the reality of Deer Management and in the end the culled deer, die. I do not like it, it is the end result in proper deer management, in a perfect world it would all work towards a nice ending but it is not nice, it is not easy and there is no perverse enjoyment of killing a deer. Just a feeling that you did your best.

We skinned the deer and hung it in the chill, it was late by the time we had finished so we did not pay the carcass particular attention. Always making sure the inside was clean, the outside just skinned, it will be clean, so no need to look. Until next day whilst checking the temperature of the chiller, I noticed the front leg on the malformed hoof side was emaciated. With not using the front leg, the muscle had wasted.

A more thorough inspection told me the story of the elongated hoof, possibly an injury, a fight or a fall. This stag had a serious front joint problem, and it was not in good shape. Arthritic and inflammed. It was on its way out.

The rest of the animal was good, the venison first class but this front leg in poor shape. We butcher all of our deer and these things come up now and again, but it is good to anaylise it and put it in the memory bank.

All in all a good result, an exciting stalk, retrieve and good discussion on the location, age and state of the carcass.