Swarovski’s high-tech glass: dS Gen III
24 June 2026
Tim Pilbeam is out at first light with Will Close-Smith, after a summer roebuck. It’s an opportunity to try the new Swarovski dS gen III,
What does a roebuck reaction to the call look like from the sky? Incredibly, we filmed one of four bucks we shoot on this trip to Scotland from above, plus we position the drone behind the deer when Paul takes the shot.
It’s all part of a roe stalking trip to Aberdeenshire, famous for its roebucks. Our friend Sergio Couto manages them across all types of farmland and terrain and he’s invited us for what we hope is the start of the roebuck rut 2023.
Sergio and Paul are tooled up with lots of different calls to try and entice the bucks to come to us, and we discover that every call is different. There’s even variation between the same models.
We also look at different styles of extraction from including the ‘roebuck backpack’ made by tucking the animal’s legs into each other and something that’s a bit more make-shift when faced with a steep climb.
Every shooting scenario is different and every roebuck has a story to tell, including the old boy ‘murder buck’ which is an excellent animal to take out before its single antler injures or kills other bucks it fights with for the attention of the does.
Tim Pilbeam is out at first light with Will Close-Smith, after a summer roebuck. It’s an opportunity to try the new Swarovski dS gen III,
Scott Cartwright is a professional slaughterman and butcher who also happens to be a hunter with a venison business. He believes the loss of small
Matt Bailey runs deer skin specialist Bay Tine Tannery from a barn in Devon. He takes in skins from local deerstalkers, and uses vegetable tannins
Tim Pilbeam heads out with the ThermTec Oryx thermal scope to see how it performs outside of its typical night-time role. Guided by experienced local
Kevin Copeland needs to reduce the fallow deer population on his patch of East Sussex, and especially a mutant strain that is throwing up murder
Roy Lupton and cameraman David are limping along trying to reduce muntjac numbers to protect habitat and wildlife. Roy needs all his calling and tracking