this is me asleep on a plane dreaming of
being a killer I'm heading to our
Moroccan the most westerly point of
mainland Britain a place filled with
little more than seagulls sheep and deer
I've booked a week in the hunting lodge
of art Moroccan estate a huge expanse of
mountainous land where deer stalking is
still a way of life here for little more
than 200 quid you can still the butcher
you're in Highland deer I'm a lifelong
supermarket carnival but soft as I am I
wanted to see taste and feel the death
behind my town it was a long trip the
roads were dark and confusing we were
going to one of the most isolated places
in Britain with no idea what was waiting
for us would there be a Blueface
deliverance tribe dressing in the skin
of outsiders or just a small group of
old women huddling around a pillar box
and discussing heaven I'm a little bit
worried I'm not gonna fit
day stalking is the most traditional
form of hunting in the world as the
practice has remained practically
unchanged and seeing glish aristocracy
introduced that in the 1850s it might
seem quite primeval but stalking a deer
looks practically vegetarian compared to
more common types of food production
we've all heard that intensive farming
is melting the planet the battery
chickens are terribly depressed and
they'll educated and that every child
born since 1987 thinks meat is grown in
freezer aisles but it's not at all like
that in the highlands of Scotland the
hunter-gatherer is still king so it's
there that I'm going to live kill and
feast with the last remaining indigenous
tribe in Britain is that the kind of
thing we check on the knife coming up
from the ground
completely share look at that
surely there can't live in that I can't
live in that there's no way I'm gonna be
able to survive if you put me there for
five minutes we're gonna go and stalk
some deer in the next couple of days do
do you not fancy my chances if you never
shot a film afford new chance what do
you want about it Easy's telling us the
window we'd haven't got a chance of
getting a deer I'm not I'm not gonna go
to the chat so now Demonica yeah well
you good yeah but depends if is a good
show or not do you think I look like a
good shot after traveling for fifteen
hours losing ourselves in the thundering
roads we arrived we were greeted with
nothing but done well this has got
murder written all over
when the morning came the darkness had
gone exposing this incredible landscape
and the hunting lodge we were staying
from mere Lodge led to an awful lot like
a castle
Donald Houston the owner of the estate
came to welcome us in the reality of
living up here in there in the isolation
is something that most people can't cope
with the nearest supermarket is two
hours away the nearest cinemas two hours
away
that's a nothing define as you find that
these people the people that come have
the kind of bright sense of respect for
the some do some don't there are a
number of people and especially
increasing number of people who get a
list of all the animals they want to
shoot worldwide and it's just taking a
box so on occasion we have had people
that fly it in the morning shoot an
animal fly by go in the afternoon do you
find that kind of approach with
distasteful yeah yes
I'm from Camden and while street crime
may be a growing sport down south I'd
never actually held a gun before
to train us up as marksman Alistair
mcLaughlin otherwise known as tich the
local fisherman and sometimes poacher
took us into an extinct volcano hunting
for Woodcock this would be the first
baby step on my journey towards becoming
a hunter I'm not there I'm so
unconscious I'm locked in well the
shotgun here's a 12 bought key open up
any bugger shells in or you could end up
with an explosion on your hands
hi good enough Gardens do the job
carrying the shotguns we started to feel
like men like seasoned hunters like
killers with nature at our mercy
when tich worked out our lane we were he
made us practice on some clay pigeon
good any like see if you know yeah maybe
that's it one oh don't touch the trigger
once you push it forward alright great
but hey cross your plus blue oh that's
my ears ringing very good at this though
very good marksman oh man it doesn't
right device push it for no like this
one here right push it forward and
you're ready to take the shot
okay okay take it up in your shoulder
yeah ready
okay yeah
well it's all in preparation groom
taking us out to shoot some actual real
birds tell me what kind of birds are
gonna shoot we're gonna go shoot
Woodcock like there's some pretty high
participation I got bloodlust I got a
gun laughter I got mine first time I was
like Terminator the deal western US
bonus we're going to you two are going
to be ashamed of it and we're going to
end through the three CR and up and
round and any Woodcock jumps out I'll
show to use Woodcock but wait them to be
high most important thing is don't shoot
the dogs alright
it's very very windy very well towards
baby
Hebraic an overlay
to get it the Shiva country
ah and Agora everyone knows hit the
first shot see a bit of brother
second shot seek something go around the
corner but I don't know forgot it or not
well I feel bad for the family
we couldn't find andis bird and it was
windy as hell but I had a gun so I
started shooting the out of the
river and the sky just to show mother
nature who was boss I was developing the
cocky strut of a killer
Oh
if I'm honest I've been trying not to
think about doing this throughout the
last three weeks there's something of it
distasteful about being the younger
getting media-type from the city flies
often slaughters beautiful creatures for
documentary last night I had some pretty
unsubtle dream when I was lying in a bed
and someone had cut a square into my
stomach and
ripped organs out of me we should two
things I pretty much have to do to this
dear today we're going to go and be the
head stalker Neal Roundtree you don't
know that much about him we know that
every day he gets up early in the
morning those his rifle and goes and
kills there so it should probably be up
to the level all we want yet you can
tell a man serious about death when he
keeps the carcasses up on the wall we
then get to shoot the stags is the wrong
time in your season we're going to shoot
a one which is for some reason data and
what you want to do today when we're out
is any instructions you get for your own
safety in particular follow them in
detail and approach him dear you want to
be in single file behind me avoid fast
movements avoid the classic thing
everybody does and you can watch this is
when you're right stocking up and here
very often people will do that to see
what you're looking at because they're
programs of movement if you stick your
head down in the corner of a hill or a
skyline you'll see it quite easy okay
and they'll take off they have sense of
preservations better than ours how close
are we able to get you should be able to
get it with it will ideally aim to be
over 100 meters okay if you do get a
good shot than how long does it take for
the enemy dog if you hit it properly we
are instructed to shoot it today the
animal will die instance the middle
collapsing frontier
Analia before I was allowed to take a
life I had to pass a shooting test if I
miss the target more than once in four
shots I wouldn't be allowed to do it
this was to make sure I wouldn't mess it
up blow an eye up and leave a disabled
deer to slowly die on the mountain
slowly methodically Neal took me through
the shooting process three times out of
four I nailed the target and so I was
clear to hunt
that's might in the middle of the red
plate that they've reached on the way to
the store we paused to feed some stag I
guess there was some cruel poetry on
Neil's behalf because once hundreds of
these amazing animals have left over the
landscape to be fed by you you realize
what a beautiful thing you're killing
they've been my whole life all my life I
mean I can remember going to see deer
since I was a tiny little boy and I've
been fascinated with them since day one
even for what we sell as a product to
foreign visitors we would probably call
that old stag this coming year that
start to give you an idea is worth about
a thousand pounds to us to a client but
he's cheekier than he ought to be see
the head tilt and down at year there but
if you steer it him too much he bottles
it they don't like being stared up did
they ever attack humans ever my father
was very badly mauled by one when I was
a kid but it was a parks tank that if
they lose their fear of mine the become
dangerous he was quite badly lacerated
will that mean he was struck in the head
and then two or three times in the body
well
I think if I hadn't shot the stag when
it was attacking up it may kill them you
shot this though yes Zach yeah you saved
it that's life
yes that's critical thing to be able to
do any thirteen yeah you know I love
your old man so we've actually just been
this close to deer beautiful beautiful
stags which is a lovely experience only
we're on our way to kill their
girlfriends with any luck one of the few
ideas will attack us and I'll have to
shoot her out of an act of charity deer
stalking is centuries old one of the
most traditional forms of hunting in the
world in the vast majority of venison is
still produced this way the dirac old in
order to promote the health of the land
in the ecosystem the stalkers prey is
chosen specifically once it's been shot
the carcass is butchered locally and
exported as organic free-range meat the
process is a large part of a local
economy short of many other options
tourists like me we were continually
assured only help to keep this part of
the world from becoming a desert so
remember killing these pretty things
they're ethical will try and whisper to
one another but once we get really close
we might be able to speak it might just
be hunting so if you're happy quite
simple thumbs up you're not so happy nod
your head shake your head this what
exactly if you brush them to tears I'll
know you're not through enough for your
assessment of 4om it's about 70 miles
away good good
the normal sticky stubble to do yes this
is going from sea level to nearly 1,800
feet how happy the big estate was short
here last season in 2008 was 24 storm 1
so I mean when they were kind of
dragging them back do we let gravity do
most of the work
no no no let us turn yeah will do oh
good hello I'm 25 and part of saying
I'll be 34 we've just climbed up some of
the sticky stuff of every Ward's up for
about an hour it's pretty tiring the
views absolutely incredible that nails
just told us that he spotted the day
just over the ridge there as ease puts
it the game is on which means it's gonna
be quite quiet and single file
the idea is to disturb them as little as
possible so once you're shot you don't
move and everything goes according to
plan the animal drop where it's short
and the others will look around to try
and figure out what's happened and then
quietly drift away suddenly Neel dropped
to his knees we all followed him and
crawled through icy mud for about thirty
metres until we reached a mound my
grassy knoll
we stayed frozen for at least 30 minutes
while Neil chose our victim eventually
he beckoned I crawled alongside him and
he pointed out which deer I was going to
shoot
don't move it's wellhead to go ahead go
ahead
okay got that reward rifle please fall
back straight forward
safety off little instruction sit down
we'll follow
you