A Sporting Experience at Forter Castle

Hire a Land Rover of your choice:

With Sandgrouse Travel & Expeditions your NC500 route can be tailored to fit your own requirements.

In a Land Rover the act of journeying itself is as much a part of your adventure as the places you visit. 

We are able to provide you with the choice of your very own Land Rover. Choose from a luxury Range Rover, Discovery, Discovery Sport or even a rugged Defender. Speak to your travel consultant today and discuss which of these luxurious vehicles would suit you most on your adventure around Scotland. Read our article from the Sandgrouse Traveller here: Luxury Scotland with a Land Rover.

Land Rover Experience Scotland with Sandgrouse Travel & Expeditions:

We can also include within your trip a Land Rover Experience Scotland adventure. We have a great relationship with the team at the centre and can arrange either a half day off-road course or full day experience on a near-by Highland estate.

Set in the heart of Perthshire, with stunning Highland scenery the Land Rover Experience Scotland centre on the shore of Butterstone Loch offers visitors the chance to fully understand the capability of these incredibly machines. Enjoy expert guiding and tuition from trained Land Rover instructors in one of the centres vehicles. 

If you are planning on doing the North Coast 500 in your own sports car, let us know and we will make sure to keep you on the right roads. 

Red stag stalking in Scotland

The Red stag season opens in Scotland 1st July and closes 20th October. Increasingly we are finding that many estates work within their own specified dates between the official open and closing date, with this in mind please speak to your Sandgrouse Travel & Expeditions travel planner if you have set dates to work to. 

Scotland offers some of the most unique stalking opportunities for red deer in the world.

Whilst staying at Forter Castle, we can offer clients easy access to three Highland Perthshire estates, Straloch, Lick and Balvarran.

The chance to observe several herds of deer at once across heather clad hills is a real treat. It gives you and your stalker the chance to spend time looking for the appropriate animal to try for and assess the terrain with a view to planning the approach. This approach is all important as the red deer has some of the most acute eyesight and hearing of all deer species. It is most unusual to get closer than 100 metres, with most shots taken at 175 – 200 metres on the open hill.

The harsh climate and lack of shelter impact on the hill Red deer by producing trophies a lot smaller than those in Europe or from any forest areas. However, the drama and adrenaline rush of stalking in amongst deer on your hands and knees with stags roaring all around you cannot be matched.

(Trophies adorn the walls of your very own Scottish castle).

Trophies of 6 to 10 points are the norm with an outstanding ‘royal’ occasionally seen but normally spared for breeding purposes. If you are Scotland with the sole aim of going for a 'royal' (12-pointer) then please specify this as soon as possible during the planning phase of your itinerary to your Sandgrouse Travel & Expeditions travel planner. 

Stalking on the hill is an all day affair normally starting at 9 to 9.30 am, finishing when either there has been a successful shot or when sufficient daylight remains to walk back to your transport. If you are to enjoy this form of stalking to its optimum, then a high degree of fitness is required.

Preparation, clothing and footwear are the criteria most important prior to embarking on this type of stalking holiday. Speak to your Sandgrouse Travel & Expeditions travel planner if you have any further questions to raise regarding 'clothing'. 

(An 8-pointer stands proudly in the winter snows).