India is originally from Australia, ‘"I grew up mostly in Sydney. I ended up in Scotland as I was backpacking around Europe when I was 19, and I managed to get into university in Edinburgh." Her first shotgun experience was a clay shooting lesson with Tracy Ferguson at the Roxburghe School of Shooting, then in January 2018, she stalked her first red deer in the hills on the Morvern Peninsula in the Scottish Highlands. "I love being outside and learning about where my food comes from."
India was guided into her first deer by her partner’s father, a deerstalker by profession. "I enjoyed every aspect of the stalk, the gralloching and the extraction. I particularly enjoyed the gralloching part, as I found this fascinating and I liked that other animals could benefit from us shooting there. I felt that the most challenging part is getting comfortable before the shot, however, perhaps this is due to the fact I’m not very patient or experienced.’" Game meat is of interest to India, ‘"I'm from a family of cooks, so cooking has always been a strong interest of mine. The privilege of having access to game has meant that I’ve had the opportunity to experiment in the kitchen. I like to use all of the different parts of the animal in recipes - bones for stock, liver for pate, heart and kidneys for stews."
India and Jamie run J Boult Designs, a business making handmade gifts: she said, "we source most of our materials locally from sporting estates, clay pigeon shooting grounds and farms. Antler in particular is featured heavily in our range of gifts and I feel connects us to life on the hill. Our products creatively combine our passion for fieldsports and deer stalking with design."
India is looking forward to going Wild Boar hunting in southern Sweden at the end of December. ‘"I’m so excited to be outside and see the working dogs in action for this. Hopefully we’ll be doing some roe deer stalking in April/May on the east coast in Scotland."
Who is our author Linda Mellor?
Linda Mellor is one of Scotland’s foremost shooting, fishing and hunting female writers and photographers. She is the product Ambassador for Venator Pro, a premier hunting company and stockist of the European brand Hillman. With a lifetime of countryside experience, Linda’s passion, enthusiasm and respect for the outdoors and hunting is explored and shared across her writing and photography.
For more information on Linda Mellor, please visit Linda Mellor's website, Twitter (LindaMellor) and instagram (linda_mellor).
