Last Updated on May 21, 2024 by Suzy McCullough
We were invited to attend an event at Stourton Estates. This was their Deer Rut Safari and Pumpkin Trail. If you are wondering where Stourton Estates is it is just off the A158 which runs between Lincoln and Horncastle on the outskirts of Baumber. They hold one-off events during the year and it’s worth keeping an eye on their events section of the Stourton Estates website. Other past events have been film nights, family fun events, charity walks and more.
Arriving at Stourton Estates
Parking at Stourton Estates is free and just a short drive off the A158. Stourton estates have a large sign on the road and they had an AA yellow sign by the side of the road on their event day. If you are going to an event in the Autumn or Winter I recommend wellies or waterproof shoes. Although it wasn’t muddy the grass was quite damp.
This was a popular event and the slots on the Deer Rut Safari were fully booked by the day of the event. It is advisable to book in advance for any future events, if this is possible, on their website. The Deer Rut safari was just £5 per adult and £3 per child. The safari itself lasted almost an hour so it was great value for money. The Pumpkin trail was free and included a free prize of a small bag of Haribo once the trail was completed.
Activities on the day
They have a lovely and very large safari-type tent where they run their events. On the day there were a few picnic benches set out where families could join in with craft activities. Jamie opted to make a bat which was charged at £1.50 for everything he needed to make it. They also offered him colouring and the chance to enter a colouring competition. The people running the event were welcoming and friendly and after purchasing some cake and drinks from their outdoor horsebox cafe we spent quite a long time in the tent joining in with various things.
As Stourton Estates is only open a few times a year for events they don’t have a modern toilet block. Instead, they have a compost toilet. Yes, you read right! To be honest this smelt less than a portaloo! It was fine, if not rather modafprovig.com quaint.
The Pumpkin Trail
The pumpkin trail was free. There were 150 pumpkins on a trail around the arboretum. Of these, only 8 of them had a letter on them. We were given a card sheet for the trail and this had visual clues as to which pumpkins we were looking out for. When we found each of them we had to write the letter down on our card. A few pumpkins led us around for a long time with no clues to be found but we found them all and Jamie was delighted to get a bag of Haribo in return for finding all the letters.
Jamie was also given a nature wristband with some sticky tape on it to collect various leaves etc. along the trail. This was a lovely touch and he enjoyed collecting some leaves.
Deer Rut Safari
They had a few time slots throughout the day for the Deer Rut Safari. They had wooden seats on a large trailer which was pulled by a very new-looking tractor.
The deer safari was very interesting and we learnt a lot about how you can and can’t keep deer and how they raise them for venison which they sell on the farm. It was hard to hear the commentary at times, which was a shame. He introduced us to three deer that had ended up split from the group in a large field. It is hard to herd deer! Then we moved on to a field with their brothers and cousins. At both fields, the deer were fed at the fence with the trailer on the other side.
But for the final part of the tour, the trailer was taken into the field with one of their 2 main stags in – Winston. He has a lot of females to tend to and the most impressive antlers I’ve seen in a long time. They were a long way down the field when we arrived and it was lovely to see all the deer running towards us to be fed.
We had a really lovely day out at Stourton Estates. It’s nice to experience different kinds of days out, which this certainly was.
Disclaimer: We were invited by Stourton Estates to attend their Deer Rut Safari and Pumpkin trail. As always all words, photos and opinions are entirely my own. Please do not reproduce.
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