My wife says we are going to Scotland the last part of May. I agreed to go but told her that we have to go to Belgium for a couple of days so I can get some stoverij before we come home.

I am sure there will be a couple days in London but beyond that, I have no idea the agenda! I just hope I don't have to drive!

Any suggestions on places to see?

Dennis

Edinburgh has best castle in the UK in my never to humble opinion.

Inverness is a very cool town and nearby to some very cool sights; Loch Ness, Urquhart castle, Culoden, the town of Dornoch and a few others

The drive from Fort William to the ferry at the south end of the Isle of Skye is beautiful, the Isle of Skye is fantastic

The Orkney Islands are fantastic if you have an interest in history from neolithic times onward. A company called Westtrak? Westtrek? on the Isle of Westray in the Orkneys is a great way to spend a day. My youngest son and I did a day of fishing in the Orknies which was a great deal fun. There are standing stones in Orkney not as large as Stonehenge but you can park and walk right up the ones in Orkney.

Distillery tours are a must.

Driving outside of the large cities is not that bad, it takes some time to get used to and you can never relax whilst behind the wheel.

Enjoy the trip. GRF

Some good ideas, thanks

My brother-in-law, who is going, lived and taught at Oxford for a few years so I am hoping he will do the driving if we can't get somewhere by train.

May looks like a perfect time for some Roe Deer Buck stalking. I'm just saying...


Roe Deer Stalking

Can you say... Driven pheasant shoot?

Of course, the timing may be all wrong...

It has been made perfectly clear to me that there will be NO shooting of any kind on this trip! I might get away with some fishing but unless someone else wants to, that is out too!

I am thinking some hiking, castle sight-seeing, historical sites and maybe some awesome eateries. My last trip to the UK was rather unfulfilling with regards to eating. I think the worst fish & chips I have ever had were at a pub in London! I am hoping I can find some more variety up north!

No shooting? I thought this was a vacation...

For her and her mother. I'm just along for the muscle.

O I see...

I've been to England twice and driving no problem there. Have driven down to Stonehenge, and from London UP though the center of the country to Scotland, walked on Hadrian's wall, etc. lots less traffic than anywhere here, unless you're in ND or some such place, lol. Drove around Ireland too, and same thing. Outside the towns, no or little traffic, or at least that was my experience.

My wife & I went to Scotland a couple years ago. Spent two days in Glasgo, ten a bus tour around the country and ended with a couple days in Edinburg. Beautiful country, great people.
Rosland Chapel, Coladan, the Lochs, the highlands, castles everywhere, and of course the distileries, must have a wee dram here and there.
Would go back for sure

Don't know ahow long will be your trip but if you have time go north and tour the Northern Highlands. Very nice place with fantastic people, long and interesting history, good food even for a frenchman.
And the wildest country of all great britain and Scotland.

Enjoy your trip Dennis have some scotch, pure single malt, a beer or two and taste some haggish.

Dom

+ 1 on the train. At least from London to Edinburgh. We broke up that leg of our journey with overnight stop in York. Nice town to stay in.

When I went to Europe I absolutely enjoyed riding the train. Ireland was the only country where we rented a car. It wasn't that big of a deal driving on the wrong side of the car/road outside of the big city.

I would have liked to have seen more of Scotland but it wasn't in the plans. Glasgow was the only other city we stayed at. Pass on that one.

Have fun and enjoy the sights.

I understand there are some great distillery tours. That should help the mood of a captive traveler.

It also helps to see Nessie at Loch Ness after a distilery tour

I spent quite a bit of time in Western Europe and rode trains thousands of miles. In 2002, I took my wife to England, France and Belgium. We had a grand time in England- staying in B&Bs. I was afraid of the "chunnel" so we took the ferry across to Diepp. What a joke- there were no taxis and we had to carry our luggage all the way into town to the hotel! It was like 3/4 mile!

Best part of the trip was the fast train from Normandy to Paris and then to Brussels. Beats the helll out of an omnibus!

I hope that northern highlands are on the list. Time will tell.

I would let her know that Loch Ness is not the only thing hiding a monster, and she better get lookin' if she expects you to make this trip

Lots to see there but not everything is close together so a short stay will limit what you do. One or two days you're about stuck in Edinburgh. See the castle, take the double-decker bus tour, walk the Royal Mile, see the National Museum if you have any interest in Scottish or Celtic history. With more time you can get out of town, see Stirling castle, maybe do the Famous Grouse Experience Scotch whisky tour at Crieff which is up in the hills north of Stirling. Maybe take a one day bus tour to the Borders or to Loch Lomond. With more time you can drive or take the train up the West Highland Way to Fort William. Goes through Rannoch Moor and Glen Coe and you see some real highlands. Or beyond Fort William take the Jacobite steam train to Mallaig, maybe on across to Skye on the ferry. Or go to Oban on the west coast and take the ferry over to Mull. See Duart Castle or on to the holy island of Iona. Up north, Inverness town isn't much to see but the Culloden battle field is nearby and they have a fancy new visitors center. Some good distilleries near Inverness, including the famous Speyside area.
You can get some bad food in Scotland it's true but also lots of fancy gourmet food in Edinburgh and Glasgow and a few other places if you're willing to pay for it. Try Keeler's seafood or Dubh Prais in Edinburgh. Also, go to a good hotel and have a full Scottish breakfast including a kipper and eggs and maybe some haggis.

Lovely country and a lovely people. They love americans but not our pesidents. We all kind of speak the same language, and there beer is heavy and dark and looks like a milkshake. Go way north as far as you can very low population, lots of hills and green. Can I go with you? I loved my last trip.

This is the Home of Golf!!!!!! Every golfer should take a pilgrimage to St. Andrews. Take your clubs. If you don't golf, learn before you go.

'Nuff said. Other reasons to go:

� home of Scotch, too
� there is some excellent fishing to be had
� castles
� pubs

I'd pass on the haggis, though.

Good haggis is a wonderful thing, bad haggis will gag a maggot.
On occasion one can get smoke cod rather than kippers; just absolutely fantastic.

I am not dragging my clubs to Scotland. Sorry

Blasphemous!

About 8 of us are planning a guys-only, golf-your-brains-out trip in June, 2013. The organizer is a former Scot who grew up in that neighborhood.

We may do some fishing when we're there, too.

I've heard that fishing on the better "beats" costs about as much as 2 African safaris and you have to wear a necktie with your new tweed jacket! Also heard from a guy who did a golf tour that they had to put on a jacket and tie to eat lunch in the club house.
Regarding the smoked cod: not sure about the cod but you usually can get smoked haddock. Also, there is a famous type of smoked herring made in the town of Arbroath called Arbroath Smokies. Speaking about Arbroath, look up the Declaration of Arbroath. Written in about 1320 it is supposed to have been an inspiration for some of the American Declaration of Independence. It'd be a good motto for the Campfire.
If you order a hot kipper for breakfast, be prepared for your wife to refuse to sit close to you. Some delicate folks seem to regard the wonderful aroma of hot smoked herring too much at breakfast time.

I would squeeze one outing after roebuck anyway. Late May you could go out, shoot buck and be back in bed before she's up.

I'd go to Scotland in a heart beat...Haven't been there since 1966...when my dad was stationed in England in the AF..

I loved going to Scotland, loved the place.. the people, the way they speak, everything about it.. the Highlands etc...

of course having tons of Scottish blood in me didn't help motivate that love for Scotland either..

Dennis,

The National Trust for Scotland has a lot of beautiful places to visit. You can look them over on their website when your planning your trip. Back in 1985 I was over there for the summer and saw Culzean castle, Inverewe Gardens and the Culloden battlefield. Culzean castle was where Eisenhower planned the D-day operation of WWII, that's where his office/war room was located.

http://www.nts.org.uk/Home/

Have a wonderful vacation.

I got hammered out of my mind one night in Inverness. Very neat town but up in the N portion of the country. If you are really open to ideas, Cape Wrath (the very Northern part of the island) is about the most laid back place I have ever been. Lots of random castle ruins and red stag running around the highlands.

Scotland is on my bucket list, alonG with Japan.

that is roe buck season there by the way

Pitlochry is nice, and Blair Castle located there is a good one. Edinburgh is a must see. Driving there is part of the experience, so don't shy away from it. I enjoyed some of the small villages the most. We stayed outside Aberfeldy on Maj. Neal Ramsey's estate, and stalked red stags on properties located from Gleneagles clear up toward Inverness. Pitmain Estate up near Inverness ended up being my favorite, though I also had a couple great days stalking on an estate (the name of which escapes me at the moment) that bordered Balmoral. We did manage to see the queen and Prince Charles stalking stags from near the border of the two estates.

My wife and I got married in Scotland six years ago, then toured the country for our honeymoon. We went back a couple of years ago for a get together at her clan's ancestoral home, Selkirk.

First off, forget the train, they don't run anywhere you really want to go. It's not like the rest of europe where you can take a train anywhere. Get a rental car and start driving, it's not a big deal to drive on the wrong side of the road, you'll pick it up pretty quick. The roads are good and not very crowded, I was suprised at how rural most of Scotland is, it doesn't have nearly the population density as England hence the lack of trains. You can get to Edinburgh by train but beyond that forget it. Edinburgh's great but the real beauty of scotland can only be found by car.

There are castles everywhere so get a guide book and take your pick. The Borders region is cool, stop in Selkirk for some tweed and see Sir Walter Scott's house Abbotsford. Definitely see Edinburgh and the castle there, and walk the royal mile, take in Rosslyn chapel. Hit Stirling and it's castle as you go north, and go to St. Andrews just to say you've walked on the Old Course. St. Andrews is a neat college town also so it's a nice place to spend a day. If you can find some going on hit some real highland games, we found one in the town of Ceres that had been going on annually for almost 700 years, it was originally chartered by Robert the Bruce. Hit Balmoral (the queen's highland manor), and Glamis castle where the queen mother was born. They have a thing called the whisky trail where you drive the route between a bunch of distilleries. We only hit one but it's a treat. Of course see Loch Ness and Urquhart castle, and Culloden battlefield. Read up on the Jacobite rebellion before you go so it'll make sense. Cawdor castle (Macbeth) is nearby also and interesting. The town of Inverness doesn't have much going on, but is a good place to overnite.

The west coast is very pretty, but we didn't make it to the Isle of Skye or the other Hebrides but people say it's the prettiest part of Scotland. It's on our list for next time.

Rent a car, get a decent guide book and start driving. Hit the big attractions then just wander after that, you'll find neat stuff at every turn. Eat in pubs but don't expect wonderful food, it's basic comfort food but not a lot of michelin rated stuff. The best advice I can give is to stay in some Bed & Breakfasts, there are a bunch of wonderful ones throughout the country and the owners really take pride in them. You'll only pay about half the price of a hotel and get to meet people you wouldn't normally get to meet, plus most of the B&B's are really nice. The Scots are famous for their hospitality.

You'll have a great time I'm sure.

Make sure that you take a Goretex jacket and a good fleece. Scotland isn't as rainy as legend says, but it does rain. Temperatures in the Highlands in May can range from the upper 30's to the 60's.
Edinburgh Castle is great. Make sure you stop by the Scottish War Memorial. Stirling Castle should also be seen. Ft William is one of my favorite places in the world. If you have a full day, climb Ben Nevis, the highest peak in the UK. Rannoch Moor is also beautiful. Part of it is on the family estate of Ian Fleming (James Bond). If you like old military forts, Ft George near Inverness and Culloden is imposing.

Golf is for people who don't have anything better to do...

I mean, com'n - putting a projectile into a tiny target way out there is much more easily, quickly, and more funner done with a gun...

I'm just saying you get more bang for your buck - probably cheaper too- depending on just how crazy you are.

I wouldn't consider myself being "dragged to Scotland".... I was dragged to Italy for 10 days after all, but would go back there in a heartbeat. But this time, it would be my choices- I'm done with the touristy thing in Italy ... but saw some potentials in the passing.

Loch Morlich is real pretty -- better than Loch Ness, IMHO. Banff, MacDuff, Peterhead etc, on the North Sea are pretty as well. Fivey Castle, Balmoral (Queen's summer home) all very nice. See William Wallace's monument in Aberdeen. Lots to see there. Enjoy.

Inverness is a really neat town IMO. I took a train though the highlands one time and got a big kick out of it. We went though a national park and I got to see some wild red stags. I'm a huge foodie, and the best meal I ate there was food cooked by a local old lady at some hole in the wall airport. I was probably flying ryan air, so it would have been out in the sticks. I bought some smoked salmon from her that her husband had caught and smoked. I chatted her up as she was quite nice and got her number. Climbing Ben Nevis was neat too.

The next time I went though, I called her up, mentioned who I was, and asked if her husband could take me salmon fishing. I figured I'd just tag along. I don't remember many of the details, as this guy's buddies got a kick out of me, and got me pretty snookered up on different types of scotch at a pub before we went out. I didn't catch anything, but it was really cool, and didn't cost anything but a bottle of decent American whiskey.

I didn't catch anything, but it was really cool, and didn't cost anything but a bottle of decent American whiskey. [/quote]

???

I would enjoy the heck out of that. I'm part of the Mac Murray clan, have the family crest and coat of arms. Of course that's like being a "Smith" over here. Enjoy and bring back pics.

Tour the Royal yacht Britannia in Edinburgh

I forgot about that. Being from Michigan, I was amazed to see a framed picture on the wall from 1959 showing the Britannia going under the Mackinac Bridge.

the 10 days I have off school are not enough my wife says. She is going without me! I hope she and her mother have fun. I am going to substitute a pack trip into the Gila in it's place.

What? No consideration of a driven pheasant shoot!?

MAY????
Really?? May????
And miss a day of NY State Turkey season?????
Unbelievably unbelievable.

Jim

I have from the 5th through 13th off. With travel time etc, that was not enough. I guess I will go next time

I will just have to suck it up and settle for catching several hundred mountain stream trout!

She better bring you a few liters of souvenirs!

My wife and I went to Stirling in 2009 and I found my GGGgrand fathers headstone in the cemetary beside the castle. Stirling is small enough you can walk to most places and old enough to see lots of cool stuff. It's only one hour by train from Edinburgh. Edinburgh has one gun shop. Here's the link.

http://www.dicksonandmacnaughton.com/

kwg

Ur lucky

Small World! I was there in 2010, and also found quite a few ancestors in the same cemetery!!!

My father's parents were both born & raised in Dundee and I've still got relatives there. I was there in '89 and still plan to go back one of these years. Saw Edinburgh, St. Andrews, Glamis Castle, Pitlochry, etc. and a few nice pubs. Even saw the graves of a few of my ancestors along with the building my grandfather grew up in. I wish my wife would drag me to Scotland someday but that ain't gonna happen. If she ever dragged me across the pond it would be to Italy where her family roots are. At least in Scotland there's no language barrier. Interesting link to that Edinburgh gun shop but it's unbelievable what you have to go through over there to become a gun owner.

Since I didn't go, she took her mother and went a cruise in the Caribbean. She is still gone! I'll know tomorrow how it went. I guess Scotland is next year now.

Interesting link to that Edinburgh gun shop but it's unbelievable what you have to go through over there to become a gun owner.


Not sure what you mean about that, "Gun" Shotgun go to police station get paper work fill out (10 mins) and provided you have no serious convictions you get your shotgun licence.

Rifle, get land owners permission to shoot on his land and provided you have no serious convictions you get your licence.

Once you get your licence you can shoot unlimited amounts of game, no bag limits no tags, and the icing on the cake, suppressors are almost mandatory now.

All I got was a T-shirt and a bill...

Lucky you

They Love me in Scotland

Hit the distilleries

Where in Scotland will you go?

Snake

Wrong time of the year mate. I was born and raised in the UK and driven pheasant shooting is best in November to December IMHO but then, I was a gamekeeper so I might be biased..... Not to mention it is NOT cheap: expect to pay at least $35 to $50 per BIRD shot. 100+ bird days are the norm so do the math, even shared between 8 shooters, it ain't cheap. Add in tips, ammo, vehicle rental, hotel and you are looking at serious money. Walked up or 'rough shooting' is a much more cost effective way to enjoy the UK game scene in the winter with a more varied bag too. Everything from pigeons to rabbits, hares, pheasants, partridges, woodcock, snipe, ducks, geese and even deer if you have the right spot to shoot on.

I dunno how long it's been since the guy in Canada has lived in the UK but the shotgun and firearm certificate process is nowhere near as simple or easy as he makes it sound. In the first place, the licensing system is administered by the county police forces and therefore subject to the vagaries of the local cops and their admin. Several police forces in the UK have a well deserved reputation for being a complete PITA with their admin of the system.

I lived in North Yorkshire and even while serving all over the world in the Brit Army, they were pretty decent about all the guns I owned and wanted to buy. Finally gave up my licenses when I moved to the USA in 2005.

You have to get your application countersigned by 2 people who have known you for at least 3 years for both a shotgun and firearm certificate application. While not strictly required by the letter of the law, the cops will likely come to your home to inspect where you intend to store the guns when not in use. Again, while not required by the letter of the law, many police forces will list the exact locations where each of the rifles may be used and for what purposes. There is also a limit on the amount of rifle ammunition that may be purchased at one time and stored in your home. Not to mention with the stupid EU rules on firearms, some police forces count soft or hollow point bullets as complete rounds of ammo for the purposes of how much ammo you can have in your possession....

Sure the game laws are far more relaxed than here (and that is one of the very few things I miss about the UK) but the gun laws are fuggin HORRIBLE!!! I much prefer the USA and was one of the very MAJOR reasons I moved here.

The UK can absolutely be a visiting sportsman's delight at any time of the year but you need to get with a reputable guide to get the best out of it. I think the OP got the better deal by hiking in the Gila; after all, mixing with the skirt wearing porridge wogs (Scots!) is always a bit of chore......

I dunno how long it's been since the guy in Canada has lived in the UK but the shotgun and firearm certificate process is nowhere near as simple or easy as he makes it sound. In the first place, the licensing system is administered by the county police forces and therefore subject to the vagaries of the local cops and their admin. Several police forces in the UK have a well deserved reputation for being a complete PITA with their admin of the system.Quote

2 years ago.
Its as simple as I made it out to be. How difficult is it to ask a couple of friends to put there names and addresses on a piece of paper? sure each force is different but I cannot say enough good things about Sussex FD and NEVER had any problems and I was on first name terms with them!!. Oh and the "cops" that come and look at your cabinet, they are civvies and again whats the big deal?.
Again not sure what the big deal is with the ammo, sure expanding heads were classed as "ammo" but you want to hold 1000 rds you put that on your application, not difficult really.

I guess you never lived in Gwent (that's a part of Wales for those not familiar with UK geography) like several of my mates did? One of them had a .458 Win Mag as he liked to go to Africa every other year. Had hell on convincing the local Firearms Officer he should be allowed to buy it. That pompous little git eventually allowed him a variation to purchase it but absolutely refused to let him have authority to purchase or possess ammo for it. This turd said if my mate wanted to use it to kill things in Africa, he could buy ammo for it in Africa as no animals in the UK required a rifle with that amount of power to kill 'em. Yeah, really! He eventually ended up suing the police to allow him to buy ammo and he won when the judge agreed the cops were acting like idiots.

Greater Manchester Police were nearly as bad as I had friends there too. Gave my brother a car, Ford Sierra hatchback. He ends up trading to some rip off car sales place on the outskirts of Manchester. They call GMP when they find 9mm cases under the carpet in the trunk area. (This was about a year after the handgun ban in the UK) GMP wanted my local cops to send the Armed Response Team to my house and lock me up until they could come over to interview me. Sensibly, my local copper called me first. We established the 9mm cases had ended up there when I was shooting my Browning HP service pistol on the military range in preparation for Army pistol competition and I was using the car as a case catcher.

I can give you chapter and verse on the abuses wrought on law abiding folks by out of control Firearms Departments at various police forces in the UK. The "big deal" is that the Firearms Acts do NOT allow the cops to make up the LAW to suit themselves when it comes to enacting the provisions of the Acts but many do, time and time again. I have had to fight to own more than one rifle in the same caliber; fight to be allowed to buy more ammo than they thought I should be; fight to get the stupid restrictions they put on rifles removed and many other instances of inane behavior. My .22 Hornet rifle had a restriction of "only to be used for the destruction of hares and foxes on the XYZ Farm." Ergo, if I shot a rabbit with it or wanted to shoot hares on ABC Farm, I was technically in violation of the restrictions on my certificate for which the penalty could have been revocation and forfeiture of my guns.

You were lucky with Sussex Police; many others in the UK weren't and aren't so please educate yourself before you mislead a bunch of people into thinking that 'reasonable restrictions' can be easily complied with. The problem with reasonable restrictions is whose definition of reasonable are we going to use? Yours or Diane Feinstein's???

I have educated myself and am not misleading people, I also dealt with Cheshire police without issue, perhaps its your friends that caused these problems i dont know, what I do know is that everybody that I have shot or dealt with have had few issues.
Words like "pompous little git" and "Turd" I have never had the need to call any of the staff these names.

You mention about shooting hares and foxes on other land other than whats on your cert, again this is a very simple fix, you just get a letter from the landowner saying that they give you permission to shoot on there land, not difficult really is it? I have seen this and usually the wording is something along the lines of "or other land deemed suitable by the CFO". I had an open cert so this was a none issue for me.

The incident you had with GMP I would say is pretty fair and so was the outcome, you didnt get locked up and once the facts came out all was good. I had my own issue going to work one morning and I insisted that the 2 cops to call the ARV, they even wanted to cuff me while I waited! the ARV turned up I spoke with them about what had happened and the words they used to the 2 officers were very interesting, the cops apologised for my trouble and left!! this is in London.

I try and treat people the way I wish to be treated, so far I`ve have few issues in all aspects of life.

So if everything was so fine and dandy in the UK with the firearms laws, why pray tell does the BASC have an office who deals with only those issues and nothing else? Why do they offer 50,000 pounds worth of insurance to cover appeals court costs of suing the police when they attempt to impose unlawful and unnecessary limitations on the legitimate firearms owner?

I held both shotgun and firearms certificates from 1986 to my immigration here in 2005. I had one of the largest collections in North Yorkshire and dealt with many others of a similar interest to mine. I was an expert witness for the Northern Regional Crime Squad in several cases involving the illegal conversion of deactivated firearms back to full auto machine guns. I was also the VP of the Anglo American Hunting Club at a RAF Menwith Hill near Harrogate and arranged a way that US service personnel could have their commanding officers certify they were of good character to enable them to get around the requirement to have personal referees who had known them for 3 years.

In short mate, I know what the hell I am talking about when it comes to Firearms Laws and the way some police forces in the UK rampantly abused their powers. Your supposed idea of having a land owner give permission to use the Hornet on other land is completely and utterly WRONG. The conditions on the certificate MUST be complied with; any deviation from those conditions are grounds for revocation of the certificate, regardless of your intentions or permission slips from farmers.

I finally, after much effort also ended up with an open certificate but the POINT sir, is that nowhere in ANY of the various Firearms Acts is there any authority for the Police to act as they did. Some Police forces are very good in the way they administer the Acts; others are simply horrible. It is the arbitrary and capricious way the law was interpreted that led to Hungerford and Dunblane. In both cases, if the letter of the law had been followed, neither Ryan or Hamilton would have owned the firearms they used to commit their heinous crimes.

You are right about one thing; you really don't know much of the reality of how the Firearms laws are administered outside of your isolated experiences. I take it you never read 'Guns Review' or 'The Handgunner' when those magazines were published in the UK? Never heard of an organization called the Shooter's Rights Association? If you had, you wouldn't be so bloody blase about the pointless, needless and completely unnecessary regulations forced on the UK shooter for nothing more than a knee jerk, political reaction to incompetent police administration.

It still annoys me that my friends in the UK have to put up with stupidity, ignorance and unfair treatment at the hands of firearms officers and departments who either don't know or don't care about the LAW rather than their policies. Consider yourself lucky you didn't have to deal with them; many others were and are not as lucky as you.

Stirling is 90 k from Edinburgh via rail road. It's a nice lttle town with some nice little bars and a short walk from everything. Visit the Church of the Rude where Mary queen of Scots was corinated and her son, King James was baptised. Also the Wallace Monument. It's a nice little town on the edge of the Highlands. kwg

My GGGrandfather was the military governor of the castle as was his father my GGGGrandfather. I found a guy who can help you with some history at the old hospital across the alley from the Church of the Rood. PM me and I can give you his name. kwg

My wife is from Scotland. I dont reckon I've missed much by not going there.

Gman,

I'm in North Wales, and I have to say despite the various horror stories I've read about in the different shooting magazines and on some of the British shooting forums, I've never had any serious with North Wales Police either.

If anything, with the move towards Police Forces using the ALQ Condition and the new simpler Home Office Guidance, its now getting better in some respects.

Re your friend and his .458win, I have heard of similar issues before although its usually been surrounding the holding of expanding ammo.

In fact when I was on a lease in Scotland, I gave one guy an open invitation to come up and use his .458win on deer so he could get the appropriate condition on his ticket..It raised a few eyebrows in Cheshire Police but they granted it to him..

When I was going to Africa I had the opposite "problem" in that I wanted a 9.3x62mm, and the then FLO at North Wales Police tried to convince me to get a .375H&H!

When I mentioned the Expanding Ammo situation, he said he'd be quite happy to put deer on my ticket and it was only when I explained I really did want the 9.3x62mm that he "relented"..

So while I am sure there are folks who have horror stories to tell, and the system can be a pain in the ass at times, on the whole, I am very happy with the way I have been treated..

Regards,

Peter

pass

Isn't this thread dead yet...

Apparently quite a few think you're still packing for the trip, almost two years after starting all this.

Well, it pays to take your time while packing.

Went to Scotland last year. Beautiful country. I ate Haggis in several forms and drank alot of Irn Bru. Have fun.

Oh. You've come n gone already. Hope you had a good time

OK, looks like the trip is back on! July 25-Aug 8 (2016) is the window. 10-14 days. They want to hit Denmark too but that might be too much. Now I gotta figure out if there is something I want to see so we can add it to the itinerary.

4 plus yrs in the making...

You know how fickle girls can be at times.

And rifle loonies aren't....

Naw, just impressionable

Dennis,

My brother has lived in Inverness for over 10 years, if you'd like his contact info for things to do and places to see- I'd be more than wiling to share. PM me for info. I believe he even has a boat and a salmon license (he definitely used to, but sold his old boat and I think he just bought a new one), maybe you could tag along if he is heading out while you are there.

Licenses for fishing are pretty cheap and available over the counter at most larger Post Offices or online..There is no quota on them so you don't need to worry about there availability.

The only licenses a visitor needs to sort ahead of time is if they wish to import their own firearm or shotgun...If they are going to borrow a firearm/shotgun while in the UK, they can do so without a license as long as they are in the presence of the owner...

My wife family is driving this so I would be in hot water if I took off to do, say, a driven pheasant hunt or such

Wrong time of year for that,,May is quite a nice time of the year for Roe buck stalking though!

Dennis; Pete is obviously the real expert here, but my 2 cents are find the time to hunt. A day or two would be able, it is very different experience to hunting in North America. If you go in with and open mind it will be a very cool experience. There will be some other really cool thing that your wife can do whilst you are hunting that she will equally enough. My wife really enjoyed her touring when I was chasing Bambi.

I hunted red stag and sika stag a few years ago. Really glad that I did. Remember my opinions and a dollar will buy you a coffee.


All the best.


GRF

Pete; on a side note I really like the men of Harlech link you have.

I would not fly all that way, and not at least do something hunting or fishing wise... just saying....

Dennis,

Let me just say this: "Caledonian 80 Shillings." Thank me later.

Make sure you see Culloden up near Inverness.

My BIL has made the arrangements while I was at the SHOT show. I guess we are doing a combined England/Scotland high-end excursion that is pretty much all-inclusive. I doubt I will have time to do an excursion more than just a half-day of fishing somewhere. I have 2-3 days at the end before the return flight but intend to spend it in Belgium.

I fly out of SLC on Delta the night of July 24th- return to Phx the 8th of August.

Looks like a fishing excursion is likely.

Better tell her you need to stop Dublin... Go see the St James Gate and have a cool drink

I'd love to go back... but two weeks would only be torture...

I could go back for 2 years and still probably not want to come home unless I knew I'd be back the following years annually...

Looks like England, Scotland and a day in Wales. I also just booked a hotel in Brussels for 3 nights. Should be a good time.

Have a good visit. Hopefully the syrians haven't taken over there. LOL

No kidding. I hope Syrian food is better than British food!

Good attitude. Remember them ain't skirts they are kilts. That should keep you from getting a black eye. LOL