Deerstalking in Scotland Day 1

One of my passions is Deerstalking in the Highlands of Scotland. If I was a wealthy man I would do it every year. But I am just a normal guy with eccentric tastes so I do it every 10 years or so. For the first posts of my blog I will give a little trip report of my Deerestalking trip to Scotland this last September. 

Day 1

After several long flights I made it to Edinburgh where I picked up my car and started the drive to Banchory where I would be staying for the week. I know the area well so I decided to leave the main road and take a back road into Banchory via Fettercarin. Here is a picture coming over the pass into Banchory. It felt good to be in the highlands! 

Once I arrived I checked into my hotel for the week. I stayed at the Banchory Lodge. I have stayed here several times and always enjoy it. It is very comfortable and the staff are very friendly.

The Banchory Lodge sits on the River Dee and has a nice view of the river. The River Dee is a famous Salmon River someday I will return with a Fly Rod and give it a try. 

Every morning I took the 1 hour drive up to Braemar from Banchory. It is a very pretty drive with lots of nice scenery and little villages. You pass several famous estates and castles on the way. I said hi to the Queen every morning when I drove by Balmoral. I am pretty sure that she and the corgis said hi back…

The first day started as you would expect meeting the Stalkers at the lodge, shooting the steel target and then heading out to the hill. We ended up walking to the back side of the estate and glassing down the canyons as we came back. We stalked up to a large herd of Hinds but saw no shootable stags that day.

No matter it was a glorious day in the highlands and there is always tomorrow!