So it's a beautiful July's afternoon
and as you can see it's typical of the Great British summertime
it's cold, it's windy, it's wet and it's raining
and these are the prefect conditions to get your deer management area
ready for winter stalking.
So I share this area of ground with 2 very good friends of mine, Steve Wild and Keith Watson
Now Steve as you know is my hunting partner, we go all over the world together
shooting big game, pheasant, partridge - whatever it might be, and Keith Watson, is the famous Keith Watson.
from K&A services - manufacturer and distributor of the UK's best highseats and shooting related products.
So, that's one of his highseats his ladder stands there behind me
and we use all of Keith's infrastructure here on our ground.
Now the best thing about the summer is it's all fully grown
so if you can see things now, you'll be able to see them during the winter.
Of course, during the winter all of this would have died back
but it's a perfect time to get infrastructure in and out of the woodland
and carry out any essential maintenance.
We use 3 different types of infrastructure here on our ground
1 is the ladder stand as you can see behind me
the other is a Thetford stand or an elevated box stand
and we also use ground blinds
and I'll be showing you one of each of those examples as we go throughout this film.
Now the critical thing really is to do your reconnaissance now
because the undergrowth is pretty high, you'll be able to see the tracks and trails that the deer have cut through the woodlands.
and they're still going to be the tracks and trails they will want to use during the winter.
So what Keith has done here, he has got a work party together of all his friends and they've come in to
put a huge shift in, to clear out the undergrowth
to chop down tree's and to get these highseats in place
and they've done an amazing job.
So stretching out from that ladder stand, is a hundred metre long ride that's been cut into the forest.
There are plenty of deer lanes that have been cut criss-crossing across the ride.
So what Keith has done is he's put feeders down
and game cameras - so he can try and spot
the type, size, age and general condition of the animals that we've got in the forest here.
That's essential for our management, we want to be taking out the right animals
either very young or very old and making sure the balance is there.
Now of course we dense woodland this thick
it's very difficult to see what animals you have
because the undergrowth is above their back most of the year
it's not really until the winter that you know exactly what animals you have here
so using game cameras and drawing them into beans, feed or salt licks
it's a great way on concentrating their movement and getting them on camera so you know what you've got there.
So we'll take a quick walk down the ride, and I'll show you some the tricks that
Keith has used to get that information on film.
So as you can see here we're about 45-50 yards away from the high seat
so there's plenty of space in between us
and the disturbances that's been created by bringing those trees down
Keith's put a mineral lick out here
and then some beans.
This ride won't be fed typically during the winter
because we have feed bins out on the ride further into the forest
So this is mainly a crossing point so what we are going to try and do is
sit in the high seat a little bit further up there, and shoot deer
on the way to the feed, not while they're feeding.
So what he (Keith) has done is he's set up a camera which is about 7 or 8 yards away from this mineral lick
and as the deer come in, we can get some really high good high resolution pictures of the Bushnell trail cams,
and we'll know exactly what we've got in this forest.
Typically a Muntjac will be territorial, they'll hang in the same area
so hopefully we'll start to see the same animals several times
and we can start to identify exactly what we've got in here.
The key thing really is keep coming back, checking the licks, getting some more beans down
and checking the trail cameras.
You could leave it for a particular period of time
and if the deer are not using a particular trail
then of course you are going to get lots of pictures of magpies and pigeons eating the beans
rather than the deer that are in your forest.
But he's picked a pretty good route here
it's not particularly well worn, but with this mineral lick here, then hopefully that should bring the deer in.
So this is one station, and there's a couple more further down.
So we're now
around 90-95 yards from the high seat
so this is kind of the furthest we would expect to be shooting.
Now the reason that Keith's put the camera down here
is because there's a very clearly defined deer trail that runs straight in front of it.
So there's no mineral lick here but there's still plenty of beans
so this is a route that deer will use to get to and from their normal feeding areas.
It's unlikely we are going to see them on the beans at this time of year
there's plenty of foraging here, there's plenty of luscious growth, new green shoots all over the place
so there's plenty of places to keep them elsewhere.
Once again, you've got to put that work in, you've got to put that reconnaissance in
and even just a glimpse of a deer will allow you to pick up a picture
of the population, and also start to pick out those ones
that later on during the season are going to form the priority in your cull list.
So now we've seen how the ride is laid out
in front of us, now comes the infrastructure
K & A Services build all of our high seats and all of our box stands
and this is - their ladder stand.
Incredibly well engineered, solid steel, weather proofed through this galavnised coating.
Incredible workmanship and he won't mind me saying that.
Typically what we use them for is when we've got somewhere like here
a good solid tree base looking out over a ride
somewhere that gives you at least a 180 degrees worth of vision
occasionally you can get to a crossroads within the forestry
where you can see both ways and that's where these can be really useful.
Now they are exposed which means that movement has to be down to a minimum.
What we'll probably end up doing is putting some camouflage netting around that
just to mean you can move your hands and legs in case things are cold
And all around this one Keith has also fit plumber's pipe lagging to make sure that
your barrel and your stock don't get damaged by the steel frames
now they are fitted and attached to this tree by cargo straps
so nice and secure and there's this bracing point here
that goes right into the tree and fixes it solid.
Now you do need to be careful to recognise that the tree's are constantly growing
so every year you need to come and loosen off that cargo strap
and then retighten it again, do that every spring, every summer
and of course we you come back during the winter, you may need to tighten things up again.
So don't get into the ladder stand unless
you've first checked all the mounting points, everything is where it should be
and of course it's still secured to the tree with a cargo strap.
It's also something to look for as well that quite a few of these ladder stands
do get vandalised during the summer.
We've had quite a few on the estate here that have had the legs cut off
so don't just check for security against the tree but also check for
security that they haven't been vandalised, damaged or sabotaged.
Now the reason we use these elevated stands here
of course we want to get ourselves and our scent as high off the ground as possible.
Typically here on the estate, there's mainly Muntjac, with a few Roe, so they're quite low to the ground
but as soon as we can get in first thing in the morning
get ourselves way above ground level
and hopefully the scent will blow above the deer, and not straight to them.
And of course, this elevated shooting position means that you always have a safe backstop.
Where you have quite dense forest like here,
almost always got a tree behind the animal which is quite helpful.
But when you are shooting in areas that may have
footpaths going through them, or tracks or trails
or perhaps that the ground falls off behind you
the higher you can get
the more likely it is that you are going to get a safe shot at that deer
because of course, if there's no safe back stop, you just don't take the shot.
But there are other seats, and different designs of seats that we use of the estate
and we'll show you a couple of those now.
So here is a prime example of the traditional
positioning of a ladder stand.
Now this one here is a little older than the one we've just seen
I think it's about 5 years old now
see it's still robust, it's still pretty solid but it's covered in this patina
and it almost has it's own naturally produced camoflauge now with all the algae and lichen on it.
So once again, this tree is perfectly positioned
it's right in the middle of these 3 rides here
so over my left hand side - there's about 60-70 yards out to the field margin.
Straight in front - there's about 110 yards
and about 80 yards - there is a feed bin full of beans
and then of course you can catch a view maybe to around 70 yards
on the right hand side.
So this is where the versatility of this type of seat really comes in.
Once again, for my liking
it's a little exposed so what we will probably do
in a few weeks time is come down and put some camouflage netting on there.
Put it out really early so the deer do get used to the movement and get used to the noise
and then we you are sat up there and it's rustling around in the wind, they will completely ignore it.
So here's one that has been here for a little while, and so far it's been pretty productive.
So here we are, at my favourite seat on the estate.
This magnificent creation
is a Thetford seat or box stand
and it's probably the best stand that Keith Watson has ever built.
Now as you can see completely different from their ladder stands that we've seen elsewhere.
Very substantial, built to be free standing
and gives you a perfect 360 degree view of the area around you.
It's also particularly good in winter, inclement conditions, driving rain, or if it's cold.
Because in there obviously you are sheltered from the wind and all of the elements.
I think the beautiful thing about this seat is that you can come in and spend all day in there
you can bring your sandwiches, you can bring a flask.
You can sit down with your mate and have a conversation
all while not disturbing the area around you.
Now quite a few of you may have gone
either Roebuck stalking or Wild Boar hunting over in Germany.
And this is typically the type of stand that you will see on a lot of the hunting areas out there.
I'll say actually this is probably better built.
Now of course the key thing is it's been put here for is to give us the most advantageous shooting position.
Now on my left hand side, directly in front of me and also on the my right hand side
we've got feed rides for the Pheasant shoot that is hosted here.
So later on during the summer you'll start to see Pheasant feeders appearing
all the way around these rides, and of course the Pheasant's will be down there
but so will the Muntjac.
So for us, it's a great way to be able to get up in the middle
of a lot of these aisle ways where there is going to be deer movement
and make the perfect shot.
Now you can see that there are trees here but they're not in the right position.
So we had considered putting a ladder stand
on that tree but it's too far back, and you can't see up this ride in front.
And then we thought (that tree), but then the tree on the right hand side of that blocks the view down that ride.
So this really does give us the perfect viewpoint of all the potential deer approaches.
So one of the great things about this seat is you can close off some of the flaps
if the wind is blowing in that way or if clearly you've seen deer activity on one particular side
So although it is protected broadly around the sides, you can also
keep it nice and cosy and warm in there by shutting some of the flaps.
But all in all, it's a great well-built high seat
and somewhere that you can spend an awful amount of time on a winters evening.
So the 3rd and final type of seat that we use here on the estate is this
this is a ground blind.
Now it looks very similar to the box stand we that showed you previously
and in construction it is pretty much the same.
The main difference being obviously it's sitting on the ground
and there is only one quite large flap at the front.
Now the reason this has been used here
there is a pretty big bowl out in front of us so the ground dips away quite dramatically
and then comes up on the other side.
Now I've taken quite a few deer out of this wood
it is a very productive area
and there is an awful lot of movement, the deer are quite transient in here.
So the seat that I have that has been most productive is on the far-side of this hill
so the other side of the ridge, so you can effectively put 2 stalkers in here,
and if 1 takes a deer you can actually move the deer through into this bowl sort of area
and there is a perfectly safe backstop.
Now as you can see this has been carefully decorated by Keith
he's obviously had his arts and crafts moment here
it's extremely well done and you can see the care and attention
that has gone into it but in reality it is actually quite useful.
And of course there has been quite a lot of work in here
taking down dead trees, breaking up undergrowth and trying
to flatten things down as best we can, of course during the winter
it will all die down but taking a lot of that dead growth and those dead trees away
will give us lots of clear arcs of fire.
So putting this in here, surrounding it with vegetation
leaving that nice canopy at the back gives it a nice setting
and then hopefully once everything started to settle down
the deer will get used to it and they won't pay it any attention.
Now the route into this seat
is actually from behind and that's really important.
Of course, when you get into a box stand like this
scent is always going to be an issue.
So the scent will linger around at this sort of height
so what we need to do is coming in from the back
don't disturb or taint any of the ground in front of us and keep the wind away from us as much as possible.
We want to try and have the wind facing onto us when sat in this seat
that's the optimum
but because we are sat in an enclosed space
it isn't as bad as sitting out here, just say in a seat or on a bench for example.
So you can see a huge amount of work has gone in on the estate so far this summer
to get these seats in, to clear the dead undergrowth out the way
to get the game cameras and feed bins out - ready for culling in the winter.
So there we are, it may seem to a lot of people that you just
walk out into the forest, a deer steps out in front of you, you shoot it,
and the go home and make sausage.
But there's a huge amount of work that goes into making these estates run.
We have 7 separate areas of woodland
each with it's own deer population
each with it's own characteristics
and as you've seen we approach each area completely differently.
Understanding your land, what it needs and how best to manage those deer
only comes through reconnaissance and through putting the time in on the ground
and there is also a huge amount of preparation.
As you can see around us, there's been so much work that has been carried out
by Keith and his work party so you guys who helped us out
there's no way we could have done without you
and you know who you are so thanks again guys.
But to really get the best out of your ground,
put the work in, get your friends around you, get some new highseats in here
and think really carefully
How are your deer going to move?
Where are the areas during the winter that are going to have feed?
If there's no feed there, put a bin in place.
Get some game cameras out, look for the deer trails, look where you animals are moving to
and then select the right animals for the cull.
So that's how we do it, and we've had some measure of success over the years
but I'm sure we can get better.
Now I would really appreciate to hear what you guys think
How do you manage your land?
Are there any tips, tricks and hints that you can provide to us?
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