Fenced-in hunting vs. free range hunting

Walking along a logging trail that bordered an old pond, a grouse flushed from raspberry brambles matted down by the first snow of the year - interrupting our discussion on a recent hunt that my hunting buddy, Matt Mattner, took to Scotland for red stag, fallow deer, and soay ram. The grouse surprised both of us and we didn’t raise our guns. We did watch the bird land on the other side of the pond.

I redirected the dogs to where the grouse landed. Allie picked up the scent and locked up on point. I expected the bird to flush wild long before we could walk into the point, but this bird held. The bird flushed and a single shot felled it from the sky.

“We hunted red stag to the Northwest of Edinburgh,” Matt told me. “The fallow deer and soay ram were hunted on another estate to the south of Edinburgh.”

Allie’s beeper collar alerted us to another point about 50 yards off the trail. We hustled to the point, and up flushed another grouse that held tightly, providing Matt an opportunity that he crushed with a wonderful crossing shot at 25 yards.

“To tell you the truth, it wasn’t really my kind of hunting,” Matt told me. “During the fallow deer hunt, we spotted the deer in just over ten minutes, when we walked to the top of the first rise. The shot was from 200 yards, so there were challenges that way. But it was all high fence and I wanted a free range hunt. It’s just not my kind of hunting.”

Matt explained that there are two classifications of hunts; one promises specimens for mounting and is priced accordingly. Those are high fenced hunts with over 400 acres being fenced. The free range hunts don’t have animals that reach the maturity to produce large antlers or horns.

“We figured if we were going all the way to Scotland, we’d spend the extra money and hopefully bring back at least one set of antlers or horns worth mounting,” Matt continued. “I would have rather had a free range hunt, and not have a chance at a specimen type animal.”

While stationed in Germany during a 30 year career in the Army, he passed the national hunting examination required to obtain a hunting license. The process is substantially more rigorous and time consuming than the hunters education classes required in the U.S.

“We did have to hunt, there isn’t one behind every tree and they’re not standing in front of a trough; they act wild. I guess it was just the idea, that the animals were confined by a fence,” he told me. “We should have asked more questions, they never mentioned fences.” He explained that they believed that the hunt was a free range hunt. Terminology in different countries often means different things. The hunt just didn’t meet their expectations.

“I do recommend the tour of Scotland that we took as a group. The castles, churches, and people were amazing. We had a lot of fun, and enjoyed that part of the trip immensely,” said Matt.

Beep, beep, beep came the sound of Allie’s beeper collar announcing another point. We walked up on it, with Matt on the right side of the point, and I was on the left. I saw a bird walk out ahead and behind a log on the ground and disappeared. As I told Matt I saw the bird, it burst into flight moving to my left. I pulled up and swung past the bird, breaking it from the sky with a single shot. I heard a report from Matt’s shotgun and turned to see another grouse tumbling from the sky. This was turning into a day to remember.

“The soay rams are a small sheep, native to Scotland,” he explained. “Just their size alone will make them a challenging target. Hey, I just saw a woodcock walk into that brush thicket!”

Kenzie turned abruptly and pointed, the woodcock flushed almost immediately. Matt made another wonderful shot on a right crossing bird, killing it cleanly in the air.

Twice more that morning we walked into points on grouse that Allie held nicely. Those birds were nestled amongst fir trees and offered no shots.

The hunt provided one of our best hunts in many, many years – far away exceeding the expectations. Sometimes the hunting exceeds your expectations and sometimes it doesn’t. But you’ll never know unless you go hunting.

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