In search of a stag party

The first week of September always marks a welcome watershed in my year. As the flow of tourists to County Kerry slows to a trickle, holiday homes are shuttered up, children get packed back on to the school bus and a sense of peace descends on the parish.

September also offers a rather wonderful dilemma to the fieldsports enthusiast, bringing as it does the opening day of both the wildfowling and deerstalking seasons. Last year I opted for feather over fur and spent the first day of the month on the foreshore at Waterville, failing to bag a duck in gloriously clement — and entirely unsuitable — weather