Pictures of the moor/glen

**Jock Scot** · 31st August 10, 12:33 PM

Originally Posted by Tobus

Not to hijack the thread, but what is it that usually kills the unwary out there? Exposure? Falling?

At a guess I should think they are about equal, but maybe falling is the biggest killer.

**auld argonian** · 31st August 10, 12:56 PM

...so working as a MedEvac in those parts is one way of getting some job security?

I remember hearing someone from the US Parks Department talking about the number of unprepared people that they have to fetch back from the parks every year. One of his main points was that advertising and "extreme" tv shows have given some people an unrealistic idea of what they need to go out there. He was also less than enthusiastic about the number of people who think that having a "mountain bike" means that they can bike down sheer cliffs with impunity.

Best to ask a local...thus, Jock's insights are just what ya' need.

Best

AA

**Jock Scot** · 31st August 10, 12:56 PM

There is a very good book "Scottish Estate Tweeds" by Johnstons of Elgin that will give you a very good idea of early camouflage. They are as good now as a hundred and fifty years ago for "disappearing" into the hillside. No so good for keeping the weather out, but good heavy tweed still is much better than some materials . You may think some of them are pretty loud, but the colours and patterns are there for a reason as they will blend into the colours of that particular area(estate), which in Scotland could well be very different to some ground twenty miles over the hill.Not much good on Inverness High Street though!

**Jock Scot** · 31st August 10, 01:14 PM

The rescue teams on the ground are I think all part time volunteers and they go out in all weathers and very effective they are too. Added to that the Royal Navy, Royal Air Force and the coastguard helecopters are on full time alert. They rely on the idiots, the unwary and the unlucky to give them real practice. Without all these brave and skilled men and women the hills would take a dreadful toll. Take today for instance, the helecopter/s were out three times in just my bit of Scotland. Once for a broken leg, once for a heart attack and once because some people got lost(surprise surprise they had no map). And that is on a still,sunny, warm summers day!

**Mark E.** · 31st August 10, 02:23 PM

Well, as far as laws and regulations go, I am not so up on the current ones...I got an invite about 10 years ago to a driven grouse /pheasant junkit, 3 weeks. Rented guns of course, lodging and the works. Alas, work and family kept me stateside, or I would have been away in a heartbeat.

I have hunted birds with muzzleloading shotguns here, in kilt, knee breeks, and traditional American field materials-we have some murderous brambles, and the "new guy" always has to rootle out the birds shot over the messes. I have a sincere appreciation for guides, who know the territory. I have also ridden horseback in a kilt-not something I care to repeat. Guaranteed a Scot of the 18th century would have made up with rubber Wellingtons and Barbour without second thought. Britches, too, I'd bet, when optioned with only a horse as transportation.

Are bows now illegal as well? I would have thought that traditional bows would have been the last to go...

For a clearer explaination-perhaps I should have said I wanted to back up my choice of colors/materials with both historical accuracy as well as have them usable in modern times-it is only a wealthy sort who has clothing specific to a singular purpose and none other.

Thank you, by the way, for the pictures-and the updates of laws. On a side note...Do any of the tartans officially labeled "hunting tartans" due to their coloring as it is applied to an accepted tartan design have any historical precedence? I hunt deer here in the Midwest United States in a "ghillie suit"...something that originated, at least by name, from Scotland/Wales... Or are they simply nuances of folk wanting something different to call their own?

**Jock Scot** · 31st August 10, 02:34 PM

Mark E.

I am no legal expert, so I stand to be corrected, but as far as I can remember, some six decades for me, the bow and arrow has been illegal in the uk for the pursuit of deer. It may even go back further than that.

**Mark E.** · 31st August 10, 08:23 PM

Originally Posted by Jock Scot

Mark E.

I am no legal expert, so I stand to be corrected, but as far as I can remember, some six decades for me, the bow and arrow has been illegal in the uk for the pursuit of deer. It may even go back further than that.

Hmmm. That would put the ban right at the end of World War two then...Is it because of the extended range then, that a clean kill cannot be guaranteed? Here in the States we are rather spoiled with our rights (and the fact that deer, so abundant that they are, are considered nuisances in some locals), though even we have limitations in areas-for example, only shotguns (with solid projectiles) and bows can be used in certain areas, and in others, pretty much anything. Given our geographical diversity, though, it is with the ability of the hunter, as well as safety factors in mind that determine such limitations. I have had deer literally within a foot of me-but stag and roe are a tad more cautious over there, I can imagine, with the openness of the terrain.