It looks like my YouTube channel hit 1,000,000 views today. 
I am very happy and thank you all for watching. If you have not done already please subscribe to be notified about any new videos. I really try to upload something new every week. I hope it is all relevant to a deer stalker, if not leave a comment what was wrong with the video or suggestion what you would like to see instead. Please hit “thumbs up ” button to like and add to favorites videos you enjoyed. Thanks again for watching!
It has been strange Spring so far. We had a few nice days and then it became cold again with snow on the hills and in the forestry. I decided to give it a go anyway and got to the forestry gate at the very first light. Some of the rides had been cut and on the very first that been recently cleared I spotted a something white. There were still some patches of snow here and there, but when I looked again through my binoculars the white patch disappeared…
It was still too dark to see anything so I decided to wait. After couple of minutes I saw a movement closer to me. It was quiet and not much cover, but I slowly got a bit closer on the ride. There was a roe deer, but I was still not sure whether it was a doe or a buck.
After 10 minutes or so I could see little roe’s backside with no anal tush… so it was a wee buck. 
I got a tiny bit closer and could now see it was a spiker still in velvet. I got my rifle off the shoulder and on sticks and waited a bit more hoping it could get light enough to get some decent footage, but then another buck popped out off the trees and crossed the ride.
It looked like they were together and the spiker would soon follow his 6-pointer friend, so I decided to take a shot before it was too late.
It was not easy as now the buck was quartering away and sometimes I could only see the neck and its back. He was going to follow the 6-pointer so when he stood broadside with his head down I pulled the trigger.
It dropped on the spot kicking. I reloaded, but the kicking soon stopped and he was not going anywhere.
Hornady 87gr bullet did a good job and it was a low neck shot. Very pleased with this .243Win reloads so far, damaging on neck shots but surprisingly little meat damage when through the ribs.
I have been also getting on well with the Blaser, I ended up using it a lot recently. More often than any other rifles.
Thanks a lot for watching my videos, I am getting close to 1,000,000 views on YouTube. I hope you enjoy my videos, even if this particular one was filmed in low light and is not the best quality, but it is stalking and not every buck is shot in good light. 
15 new leases Become available in Scottish Lowlands for tendering. Some look very interesting. Closing date for registering an interest 24th April 2013. Site viewing will take place on the Friday 3rd May and Saturday 4th May 2013. Tenders should be returned no later than 12pm on the 15th May 2013, so be quick. More details on Forestry Commission website
Two new areas available for tendering in North Scotland.
The anticipated commencement date will be 1st July 2013 with completion by 30th June 2014, with possibility of extensions of further one year periods but not totalling more than 5 years.
Closing date for registering an interest and arranging viewings is the 19th of April 2013. Site viewing will take place on the 23rd and 24th of April 2013. Tenders should be returned no later than 10am on the 8th May 2013.
To notify your interest and arrange a viewing please contact Deer Hub at North Highland Forest District Office (preferably by email). See details below
Deer Management Hub, Forestry Commission Scotland, The Links, Golspie, Sutherland, KW10 6UB
Tel – 01408 634063
More information and all document including maps here.
Both leases look quite interesting. One is 1000ha with some open ground with cull plan of 12 red and 18 roe for a guide price of £1200. Second one is 1750ha with a cull plan of 40 red deer and 16 roe for a guide price of £2400. Good value if you ask me, much better offer that usually become available in Central Belt or SW Scotland.
Good luck!
I was in Kelso on Saturday. I will try to put a video report together soon, now just a couple of photos. I think it was a great show and definitely will be back next year.
A couple of days ago I uploaded my 100th video on YouTube. Not all of them are purely hunting videos, some of them are quite old made with a compact Nikon camera and look dark and shaky, but majority I think is not too bad. Thank you all for watching and your support. I really read every comment and reply to all sensible ones ( I stopped wasting my time and deleting insults and threats ) If you have any suggestions or want me to concentrate on something, just email me or contact via YouTube and I will do my best.
I have been thinking about making more varied videos from now on, not only reports from my deer stalking outings. They will still be my main topic, but I would also like to film other things that my fellow deer stalkers may, I hope, find interesting. I already uploaded a video from Competence Awareness Day organized by Lowland Deer Network Scotland and South Lanarkshire Deer Group. You may see more reports from deer related events, fairs or even interviews with interesting people (please let me know if you can think of someone). Education and deer management qualification will be important part if you want to shoot deer in Scotland, so will try to put more educational videos including updated gralloch video I promised to do ages ago…
I also would like to experience and film some new stalking areas. I have never shot sika, muntjac and cwd, so would like to try that… time and money permitting…
I have many more ideas, but not sure if I have enough time to do it.
Thanks again for watching and subscribing, I hope you still enjoy my videos.
I recently got a batch of once fired Winchester brass in .243 and wanted to use in my Blaser. I prepared the brass as I usually do, full re-sized it and started loading process. First thing to do was to prime the brass. I used my usual tool which I used for last couple of years -Lee Auto Prime.
Lee Auto Prime is probably most popular hand priming tool in the world. It is cheap as chips and easy to use giving good control when sitting primers. It comes with two round trays for large and small primers and has to be used with dedicated shell holders – these are different from shell holders used with a press and are caliber specific.
Auto Prime is a great tool, however, built quality is not to the highest standard and I saw many with bent handles or broken, but to be honest this must have been to improper usage by home loading gorillas
One thing that Lee re-designed a few years ago was the trays. They introduced new square trays to prevent theoretically possible chain reaction as it could be possible to accidentally detonate a primer that being seated and as the rest of the primers held in the old round trays were not separated. In the re-designed square tray (Auto Prime XR) they put a simple mechanism to separate primers from the tray from the one being seated. The same square trays were used in new Ergo Prime.
When I started reloading my new batch of Winchester brass I soon got a case I just could not squeeze in a primer. It just would not sit flush with the bottom of the case and Lee Auto Prime handle would just bent. I used K&M primer uniformer (I never had to do this before) but it did not help. Some of the primer pockets were just tight and it was real muscle exercise to seat primers.
I started looking for an alternative to Auto Prime and spotted new Ergo Prime from Lee Precision. I am a fan of Lee and generally all they do is low cost but it works. I spotted Ergo Prime on Amazon and just got it.
First impression was very positive. Nice red handle and two trays packed nicely with instructions. It was easy to use and the shell holders I got for Auto Prime could be reused.
I got back to this stubborn Winchester brass and reloaded all remaining cases in no time. It was pleasure to use and never noticed any tight primers. I even used this tool on primed cases with already fitted primers previously with Auto Prime that were not exactly flush with the bottom of the case, and it worked a treat. Really pleased with it.
If you broken your Auto Prime or feel tired after fitting 100 primers with it, have a look on Ergo Prime. It is great little tool for not much more.
We still have a few roe does and kids to take before season ends on 31st March so I was out to catch up with the cull. I saw some red deer, but unfortunately no roe deer. Well, that’s stalking. One can’t be successful each time and it is great to be out anyway. It was nice frosty morning, but it already felt like Spring. Birds were singing and when the sun came up it was really nice.
It was a bit too crunchy to stalk that morning. If there were any deer around they could hear me coming miles away. It would have been better to stay on a high seat, but I fancied a walk.
I sat for a moment at the top of the forestry looking towards Loch Lomond and did not want to go back home…
It is already end February, only a month of doe season left and… buck season starts! Can’t wait.
A friend kindly invited me for a morning stalk. Weather was nice, at least it was dry this time and not too windy. We drove to the edge of a young plantation he manages deer on. I got instructions how to get to a high seat and marched on. It was still early, but just enough light to walk comfortably without a torch. After 15 minutes I got to the high seat and climbed on, made myself ready and waited for the first light.
The high seat was standing on a ride with the plantation on the back and little clearing in front of me with some older wood further on. I did not have to wait long when a single doe appeared on the ride. She was too far away for a shot, but at least I knew roe deer started moving.
I soon spotted a movement to the right in front of me. I looked through my Zeiss 8×56 binoculars and saw a single roe doe coming my way. I made myself ready as she was coming towards me and there was a convenient gap between the trees right in front on me.
All looked good and the doe was only a few steps away from my chosen spot when she became alert and ran across the clearing without stopping…
I thought she must have winded me and that was it as I expected to see her again further on, but nothing happened for the next 15 minutes.
I wanted to put the rifle back when I heard a deer running and soon spotted a roe deer behind some branches to my left. I could not see the back end of the deer so I did not know whether it was my doe or something else. I watched the deer through the scope and it soon moved a bit and I could see the tush, so it was my doe.
She was grooming and licking herself and not in a hurry to cross the open space. She was looking intensely in one spot, but I could not see whether there was anything and I preferred to keep an eye on her though the scope in case she moved. Later on I could see on the video there were two or three more deer, but I did not see them at the time. This was not a first time I could see something on a video and I did not see when stalking… That is a bonus of taking a camera when stalking.
The doe soon moved a few steps and started running. I just knew she would have run across the open without stopping… I barked and she paused looking straight at the high seat. I aimed behind the shoulder and squeezed the trigger. She dropped on the spot and I could see she soon was lying still.
I went down and dragged her to the ride. I gralloched her and saw the bullet went a bit high through the lungs, but did not touch a shoulder nor the spine.
This was my first deer shot using new 87gr Hornady reloads. Hard to judge the load from a single kill, but there was very little meat damage and the doe dropped on the spot, what else can I wish for…
I hope you enjoy this video. Please subscribe to my YouTube channel and give it “thumbs up”.
This is just a heads up for the incoming event. I am sure anyone interested in deer stalking or visiting The Deer Stalking Directory forum already knows about it. New website with all the details is not live. Please visit www.deerstalkingfair.co.uk for all the details. For just a £5 entry ticket is great value for money and you will be entered in a raffle to win Swarovski binos or scope! Plenty of interesting organizations and traders will be present with some presentations during the day.
It looks like it is going to be a good one and if many people attend it might become annual event which would be a great thing. There are plenty of game fairs, but nothing for us deer stalkers really, so if you can please go to Kelso on 23rd and 24th March 2013.
I will be there with my camera if you want to have a chat, I am really looking forward meeting all the guys I know via Internet forums and never got a chance to meet face two face. I will try to film the event and post some report here and on YouTube.
I don’t know yet which day to attend, but will let you all know.
I will be traveling from Glasgow and can give a lift if someone wants to share diesel money.
See you all there!
