On my bucket list was a desire to hunt in the UK. Moreover, I’ve always had a fascination with fanged deer...maybe after getting the book several years ago, “Game Animals of the World” by Chris and Mathilde Stuart and viewing Chinese Water Deer and Muntjac…seeing how cool these animals are and which triggered an interest in a hunt. After researching online and checking the African Hunting Forum (and thanks to Wade whom I PM and received confirmation on the outfitter in question), landed on hunting with Home Counties Sporting. This outfit is owned and guided by Ivan and Neil and offer hunts based in the South of England (primarily operating around Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Newbury) with reportedly, over 15,000 acres of hunting land availability. They have hunts posted on BookYourHunt in which I made the initial contact and booking.
My wife was also quite keen to go as we would spend a view days touring museums in London, as well as take in some sights at Oxford and Blemheim Palace, Woodstock, and at Woburn Park.
The hunt was to comprise 2 days of hunting in each of two events, AM and PM, in the area around Winslow, Buckinghamshire. Home Counties lined up the pickup from London, and my wife and I used a local (Winslow-based) car service outfit for the excursions and return trip to London. I’ve driven a rental car in New Zealand before, but the thought of London driving and along narrow English country lanes swayed me to use a car service. Winslow is serviced by rail from London, so that option is also available. I hunted both days with Ivan.
Ivan is a straight forward, no nonsense guide but quite personable. He reminds me of a kinder, gentler version of Mike, the ex-cop from Breaking Bad series. He has guided in the same area for many years and takes a passion in the proper stalking and management of the deer (as well as raising and releasing pheasants for the annual hunts). His affinity for the land and animals has rendered him to have detailed knowledge of individual trophies which he may have followed for several years. So while he may know that there is a given, good trophy in a certain area and field, it is of course, still up to luck and hunter’s ability to harvest any particular trophy!
The area around Winslow was what I thought of my expectations of classic English countryside would be. There are stands of woodlands, mixed pasture and crop, and hedgerows defining field edges and boundaries. The hunting areas were all within 30 minutes of Winslow. The stay at Winslow was quite quaint and we were at the Bell Hotel. This is an ancient hotel of approximately 450 years old and the main physical structure is a 17th-century timber-framed building. It is quite "higgly-piggly" in its construction in that many pieces were added on over the years. In spite of the age and crooked floors (and equally crooked mattress), it has a great pub and fantastic, award-winning meat pies served in the restaurant. My wife also liked walking around Winslow and talking to people at the local café and library.
Bell Hotel in Winslow
Just live off the meat pies and you'll be fine
We arrived in Winslow on February 1, 2026. In the UK, Chinese Water Deer (CWD) has a hunting season from November 1st to March 31st. Muntjac have no closed season and can be hunted all year round. Both are introduced species…brought from Asia to private game farms where they have escaped and now breed and spread in the countryside.
On the first morning of the hunt in the early AM of February 2nd, Ivan picked me up and we parked along a hedgerow at one end of a large field. The rifle was a suppressed Blaser in 6.5 Creedmore. I had the chance to adjust the reticle for focus and feel the break of the trigger, then it was off for hunting. Ivan had the stable sticks setup and a thermal camera for game viewing. After a scout of the first field of the morning, Ivan had seen a nice Muntjac at one end. Unfortunately, there were several eyes between us and to get in range of the Muntjac: a pair of Roe deer; and, a CWD. CWD as it turns out are everywhere. Most given fields, will have at least one or more animals about. They tend to bounce around the fields constantly on the move, while Muntjac stay more-or-less at the field margins.
We did a careful stalk at the edge of the field and the wind was just right. As luck would have it, we got within 120 m and the sticks went up. My shot was good and I had the Muntjac in hand!
The CWD proved more difficult as many locations had animals but were females or juvenile males. We worked through the forest and a number of fields. I went back to the hotel for a rest and some late breakfast with Ivan. In the evening, after being picked up, Ivan knew of a field north of Berryfields and NW of Aylesbury that was a magnet for congregating CWD. With my binos I could see a few, but when Ivan handed me the thermal camera, the numbers of deer really came to light…there was at least 20 flitting about, with some bedded down or feeding. Ivan decided on a stalk that would give us cover along a hedgerow and towards a bedded animal. The issue was the weather...which had now a freezing, blustery cold wind and which made the deer in no rush to get up. Thankfully, coming from a winter time back home in Canada, my blood was thickened up enough that I could muster the patience on the sticks in the wind...but it wasn’t pleasant. Finally, the deer stood up and a shot was successfully made at slightly less than 100 m distance. A great looking deer and trophy...and I couldn’t be happier!
With strong winds and rain forecast, it was decided to give the hunt a day break. My wife and I went to Blemheim Palace. While it was under renovation and too cold to walk around the expansive gardens, it had a really good museum about Winston Churchill. It is the birthplace of Churchill and the ancestral seat of the Spencer-Churchill family.
I guess the British aristrocracy went on a few safaris to Africa. In the modern age of travel, we should be so lucky!
On the following day, I was interested in getting a cull Roe deer and another Muntjac with nice colouration for its hide. Ivan spotted a pair of Roe deer in a field, a female and male, and we put in a short stalk and waited behind cover for the pair to appear. At first the buck went by and didn’t notice us, then the female cleared the trees and the shot was made. My very first Roe deer.
While spooking several Muntjac working through a forest, we decided to set up on a high stand. Soon a female Muntjac appeared but was tight in cover for several minutes. It finally raised its head high enough for the shot to be made. Both animals were to be used for the local meat supply, but had the opportunity for Ivan to remove a portion of backstraps from the Muntjac and from the CWD from the day before, and deliver it the Bell Hotel. The chef at the Bell cooked it up and was fantastic! Some of the best venison my wife and I have ever had.
On February 5th, we went to Oxford and toured the University Museum of Natural History and the Pitt Rivers Museum. Both are worth to spend the good part of a day at if interested in animal specimens, fossils and anthropology. As a hunter, the Woburn Park we went to the next day blew my mind. There are more (tame) trophy Fallow and Sika deer then you can shake a stick at and which can be approached in fairly close quarters!
You'll never know what you may find in a drawer at the Oxford Museum
Nice Fallow Deer at Woburn Park
After this trip, I vowed to return to hunt trophy Roe deer. Knowing that I had planned to go to Namibia with a friend in September 2026, I decided to meet up with Ivan again and try my luck. I was forewarned that this was a post-rut period and the trophy bucks may opt to stay in cover, recovering from the stresses of the rut. I arrived in London on September 2, 2026, and hired the local Winslow-based car service to pick me up to stay once again at the Bell Hotel. At 5 AM the next morning, Ivan picked me up and we checked several fields at day light. We saw several females, their young and immature bucks...and a large number of CWD.
Ivan knew of a good buck that had its range right where Ivan’s warehouse, cooler unit and campsite was. It had appeared in the rain the day before, “dancing about” as Ivan put it. Sure enough, it was spotted by Ivan in his thermal camera in thick brush along a hedgerow adjacent to the local train line about 800 m away from the warehouse. To approach it, Ivan thought to drive to the road next to the thicket, park and set up. It stuck its head out once or twice and I was just barely able to make it out in the scope on one occasion. The hope was that it would come out in the open but never did. It just blended back into the thick stuff and melded away. That ended the AM hunt and so the plan was to return and try to spot it in the evening.
That late afternoon, there was no trace of this buck anywhere in the surrounding fields so we decided to cross the highway and check other areas. There were groups of Roe deer but no shootable bucks and the usual plenitude of CWD, hold-over pheasants and hares. We finally saw a nice buck on a field margin but there were CWD and other Roe deer females in the path of the stalk. We waited until they cleared and began to crawl about 80 m to get within shooting range. When we were finally in range and I was about to make the shot, the buck disappeared into the bush on its own accord. What to do next? If we backed out to the vehicle and drove around the field to scout, we would run out of daylight because it was getting late. If we walked to the field edge opening to the next field, we may bump any of the several deer and spook the whole lot. We decided to throw caution to the wind and push forward. As we cleared the gap into the next field, a CWD burst out to our right but the target buck was there watching the deer bolt. It stayed in place long enough to make the shot. Luck was definitely on my side! A fine buck and a dried weight of 415 grams. While Ivan said a good one under the circumstances but much bigger in the area to be had…this did not deter me from enjoying the trophy fully. If anything, it set the seeds to go back one day during the rut and perhaps target the one by Ivan’s warehouse!
The next day in the Am, we checked to see if the warehouse buck was around but to no avail. We saw a decent buck in a hallow in a treed area but it bolted out as we drove by and was not seen again. We saw a myriad of the usual females, young males and one buck that was about the same as I shot so passed on it. We did see some stellar CWD in their summer coats but with fangs that would make a vampire envious! Having just got back from Romania on a AHF Give-way Hunt, they should consider stocking CWD in Transylvania as sort of fit the vibe
All-in-all I would highly recommend Home Counties Sporting for your UK hunting of Muntjac, Chinese Water Deer or Roe deer. They were also recommended by Wade, another member of this Forum. Ivan is a passionate and knowledgeable guide and manager of the local deer population. Trophy quality and numbers are very good for the deer. A stay at the Bell Hotel is an interesting experience given its age, and the local pub and fare are quite fine. There are also other activities to do in the surrounding area. I suppose the meat pies and pints of English bitter are worth the trip alone!
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