For an hour after we leave the path we claw our way along the vertiginous mountainside. As we pause to scan the valley for signs of our prey, I cling to a clump of coarse grass as I attempt to control my panting and steady the scope. The head stalker, Niall Rowantree, who has been bounding ahead of me with the sure-footedness of an alpine goat, is breathing easily.

We creep onwards. I have detected no sign of the herd of red deer we had spotted earlier, but Rowantree seems to know where he is going. We scramble over rocks and then he turns and places a finger to his lips. He beckons me forward: "Straight ahead, 25 yards." My heart is galloping as I peek over a boulder. There, staring straight at me, rigidly alert and sniffing the air, is a magnificent stag. I hardly dare breathe. I feel like an animal.

Earlier in the day, with a sniper's rifle, I managed to put two out of four shots into a four-inch circle in the middle of a target at 100 metres. I was told that after a day's practice I would be ready to attempt a kill. At this distance, I feel sure even I couldn't miss. "He knows there's something here, but can't see us yet," Rowantree hisses.

The rifle remains in its case. Shooting was never my intention. I couldn't kill such a wonderful creature, although I appreciate the need to cull deer.

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But as the stag turns and trots off, I appreciate the truth of Rowantree's comment that in these days of high-performance rifles, "the approach is where the sport is."

Stalking is something I had always wanted to try, and doing exactly what you want, where you want, is the whole point of Scotland's most exclusive tourism packages. I was part of a small group sampling the sort of luxurious weekend laid on for American tycoons, Russian billionaires and the new breed of Asian high-rollers.

Husband and wife David and Holly Tobin have launched Dream Escapes, a bespoke travel agent for those who have the money to buy experiences not available to the rest of us. Take our accommodation. We were billeted at Corrour Lodge, a modern castle on the shores of Loch Ossian on the 50,000-acre Corrour estate, owned by an heir to the Rausing TetraPak billions. The estate is in one of the most remote areas of Scotland and home to what connoisseurs believe is some of the finest stalking in the world.

The lodge lurks some 12 miles down a private road. You are paying for, among other things, seclusion. Designed by Moshe Safdie, as a castle it doesn't completely work. The decision to ship in, presumably at vast expense, granite from Portugal, rather than using the local stuff, seems perverse. It has a breeze-blocky feel and the giant conical windows are a little jarring.

But there is much to delight inside: a glass-walled library, an eclectic collection of modern art with centuries-old tapestries and the 9,000-year-old antlers of an Irish elk.

There are wonderful nooks to explore. An ingenious bunk room, with ladders and rigging, can accommodate 15 kids. And the views over the loch from the bedrooms are world-class. You don¹t have to walk far from the castle for it to be dwarfed by its landscape.

We spent a fascinating couple of hours with an entertaining falconer who introduced us to a glorious golden eagle and several birds, all tethered because "if they were loose there would be one big eagle". We took a boat out on a distant loch for a picnic, drank rare whiskies with a leading whisky writer and flew by helicopter to Skye for lunch at the Three Chimneys, the world-famous restaurant in a restored crofter's cottage. A happy reunion for me because I spent three nights of my honeymoon stuffing my face there.

The flight through the Cuillins, flying very close to the ground along the rugged contours, buzzing to the top of the peaks and then dropping down the other side, was the thrilling highlight of the trip.

After our weekend, David Tobin was hosting a 60th birthday party for a Russian billionaire who was staying at another castle. Every detail had been seen to, from a massive firework display to specially commissioned oil paintings of the views from the windows.

Although smaller lodges on the Corrour estate are available to anyone, the family only recently decided to rent out the castle. It costs upwards of £25,000 for the week, including food and drink; even then, visitors are vetted to ensure they meet the owners' approval. To take a group of six on our weekend would set you back £33,500. If that sounds rather modest, Dream Escape can get you into Mount Stuart, on the Isle of Bute. That will also cost you £25,000. A day.

As I left Corrour, Rowantree suggested that I "come back and kill something". I think I'll stick with the memories. Until I secure a fossil-fuel monopoly in a former Soviet republic I'll have to.

Need to know

Dream Escape offers an all-inclusive Corrour Experience from £6,500 per person, based on six people for four days and three nights, including sports car transfers (www.rioprestige.com), meals, house wines, falconry display (www.westhighlandhawking.com), helicopter transfers to the Three Chimneys (www.threechimneys.co.uk), lunch and Talisker tour, sniper training, pony trekking, fishing, boat trips, cooking demo at Abstract

(www.abstractrestaurant.com) and gala dinner with rare whisky tasting and eight-course tasting menu. For more information, go to www.dreamescape.co.uk.

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