Gillie Girls tv programme

Deer stalking isn't a sport that many people get the opportunity to compete in.  It is presumed that hunting/shooting is effectively a male based sport and that it's not an area of interest for women, which in fact couldn't be further from the truth. 

Three young women have set out to prove that ladies are just as capable as men to get stuck in and hunt with the best of them; Chrissie Gillies, 29, Megan Maclellan, 20, and Mairi Alice Bartlett, 25, all from Scotland, have left their regular lives and jobs and have moved to train and work on the Ardnamurchan Estate in the North West of the Scottish Highlands, under the watchful eye of head stalker Niall Rowantree.

 The girls who are now known as "Ghillie Girls" (A 4 part documentary of the same name is currently being shown on BBC Alba) have had no previous experience hunting; they have never picked up a gun let alone use one and are more likely to be seen with painted nails than wearing a Nomad UK allrounder jacket and salopettes.

To start the training to become experienced qualified Gillies and deer stalkers, the girls had to firstly sit their NVQ Levels 1 and 2 in deer management.  Some of the course content they had to study included:

*Remote Glens

*First Aid and Resuscitation

*Gun and Knife Safety

*Rifle training and stance

*Live Rounds/shooting

*Carcass preparation and hygiene

*Identification of deer species, Red deer, Roe buck, Fallow, Sika to name a few

*Anatomy and biology of different deer species

Along with classroom study the girls had to participate in hands on work experience in the glens, where they were trained to hunt and humanly kill a deer, gutting and preparing the carcass on site, as well as removing the deer to a larder. It is here that the girls had to dissect and prepare the dead animal to be sold as meat as well as preparation for taxidermist to mount the head of the deer as trophies.

The series sees the girls being put through their paces and taken out of their comfort zones, we see them work long hours and follow them through their hard, and at times, emotional journeys, the girls go from strength to strength and we see their confidence growing in each episode.  It is an interesting, eye opening programme to watch and shows us that with the right training and a passion to succeed, ANYONE can achieve anything they set their sights to, even a Girl!!!!!