Viking Arms catches up with Dean Stott a former special forces soldier, world-record breaker and a brand ambassador for Leupold Optics. Dean’s book “Relentless” has just hit the book shelves for sale in the US and he is currently working with a main stream TV network on a new docu series.
Catch up with ‘The Frogman’ Dean Stott as he talks shooting, Leupold, and what’s next in his wild life.
Dean Stott calls his military career ‘non-conventional.’
“I was one of the first army candidates to do that, much to the disgust of my friends who were in the Special Air Service (SAS),” he tells Viking. “I served in the Royal Engineers and with the SBS for a total of 16 years.”
Now a brand ambassador for Leupold, Dean puts that elite training to use as a sport shooter. If you’ve not met him yet at ranges or trade shows, you may not know about the incredible journey that led him into shooting and hunting.
Keep reading for Dean’s story in his own words, plus a peek at what’s in his kit bag so far.
The Best Laid Plans
In Dean’s final year of service, pre-deployment training took an unexpected turn.
“It came out of the blue,” he shares. “I was at the pinnacle of my career, working alongside likeminded individuals and people with the same sort of drive and passion as myself, always pushing the boundaries a little further and further. I never had any expectations of leaving the military… for me that came as a real shock.”
It happened during a HAHO (High Altitude High Open) jump- a method of insertion Dean had used operationally and trained for hundreds of times before.
“I exited the aircraft as normal but this time when I looked up my foot was caught in the lines above my head. I was in this situation I’d never been in before and I was trying to kick my leg free as I descended. I realised I couldn’t release it… the pain was making me vomit and at 15,000 feet the limited oxygen was causing me to drift in and out of consciousness. I had to stay alert and do my best to land the parachute if I was going to survive.”
He landed with one leg (“an excellent landing”) but severe damage was already done. That jump ended his military career.
Dean’s life-changing injury left him with what he describes as an identity crisis. He needed to adjust to civilian life, and he needed to adjust fast.
“I could barely recognise myself anymore. I couldn’t even run 100 metres without my knee giving way, and to add to the pressure my wife was also eight months pregnant,” he says. Impressively, he chose not to lose heart.
“There is a great phrase ‘you can’t be experienced without experiences’ so everything I did in my life I took something from and used it to move forward,” Dean explains. “I would love to still be in the SBS but if one avenue is blocked you just go down another one. As long as you have the right mindset and approach anything is achievable.”
His book details how he managed to go from stride to stride, following up his SBS career with success in the commercial security industry. Now he’s even got a streaming series in the works, but his old identity is holding strong underneath the new.
“I’ve spent the majority of my life under the shadows,” he says. “I always say there are two Dean Stott’s, the one that’s partnered with Leupold, writes books and goes on TV and then there’s still Dean that is very much working behind the scenes on some of the private security stuff.”
Finding Self Through Sport
Dean credits his wife Alana Stott (MBE) for connecting him with new chances to excel. Her own relentlessness in supporting his mental health was “pivotal,” setting Dean on-track for athletic success.
“We chose a bike ride because it was five years after the injury, my injured leg now was two kilos lighter than my good leg and for me it had to be a challenge that was going to test me physically and mentally,” he says. “I just needed to do a sport I had never done before and cycling was good because it wasn’t aggravating my knee.”
Cut to Dean cycling 14,000 miles from Argentina to Alaska, breaking the Guinness World Record for ‘Fastest time to cycle the length of South America,’ and raising £1M for his pal Prince Harry’s mental health charity, Heads Together.
Next came shooting.
“The hunting community took me in with open arms and were pleased that I wanted to take it up,” he shares. “There are events around the country…If I want to get some quick hunting then there’s gun club in Huntington Beach with a restaurant, cigar bar, whiskey bar and you can just go in. I also do a lot of pistol work.”
Selecting the Best Weapons System
At a past SHOT Show in Las Vegas, Dean met a man from Barrett who introduced him to the Leupold range of optics.
“I did have a passion to shoot so I said who are these brands,” Dean recalls. “He mentioned Leupold and another brand and then he said ‘if you have the choice, you have to choose Leupold’… When you talk about quality you know Leupold was always the number one choice.”
In many aspects of life, Dean demands the best. He places a high value on pursuing quality equipment and engineering.
“I think for us in the military it is always ‘trust your kit’ so whether you’re parachuting, hanging off the side of the ship, or you’re firing rounds down the range, quality is key,” Dean explains. “We have to worry about so many other things that we can’t be worried about the kit failing us.”
Soon Dean will fly to the Leupold factory for an optics ‘one to one lesson’ from the team and get hands-on exposure to all their potential scopes. Right now he loves the Leupold Mark 5 scope and a 2800 rangefinder:
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“We took it out on the normal range and then went out to Wyoming into the wild. I got worried we were going to break the scope with the way we were banging the rifle around, but we didn’t. They will get through some really tough tests and still perform.”
For rifles themselves, Dean’s still finding his perfect choice- “but the Ruger Precision stands out.”
RELATED: Shooting Sports Review the Ruger Precision in 6mm Creedmoor
Onto the Next Challenge
“I was originally never going to look beyond the bike ride,” Dean says, “but now that I’ve cycled the longest road I want to kayak the longest river, the Nile.”
Athletics aside, he’s working on a new factual TV show with one of the main stream networks. Watch this space for more info… These kinds of projects are motivated by Dean’s fundraising goals (“they’ll inevitably help me to raise more money for charity”) facilitated largely by wife Alana Stott MBE. Alana herself received an MBE on the 2023 New Year Honours list for her services to vulnerable people and raising mental health awareness.
The pair are passionate about a range of causes, from mental health and veteran transitional support to climate change, modern slavery and human trafficking. It’s tough work with many challenges in sight- but that doesn’t put Dean off.
“As long as you can look at yourself in the mirror each day and know that you gave it 100%, that’s being relentless, whether you achieved your aim or fell short. People in society are so afraid of the word failure, but I call it experience.”
To witness Dean’s wild experiences for yourself, follow him on Instagram @DeanStott, read ‘Relentless,’ and catch him at upcoming SHOT Shows repping Leupold.
NEXT: Tips from Ruger Precision Rifle and Army Champion shooter Jimmy de Ville
