A muntjac at last

[Gimli 0]

After nearly a year without a succesful stalk on my woodland permission neat Tring, I finally got a muntjac today. It took after five and a half hours of freezing my butt in high seats and crouching in bracken, but was worth it.

 

I had high hopes when I arrived, as I found several very fresh collections of droppings as soon as I got into the wood. Then, as I moved towards one of the high seats, there was repeated alarm barking by a muntie that I couldn't see. I followed the noise but it led into very thick brambles and bracken where I had no chance of spotting deer before it spotted me, which I suspected it already had from the repeated barking.

 

So on round tew wood to a far high seat, where I'd shot three muntjac in February and April last year. On the way I saw a good sized buck disappearing into another bramble patch. I was pretty sure it hadn't seen me. So I took cover and waited for half an hour, but no show and no sounds of it moving. So I moved on to the high seat - disturbing three roe does on the way. Unfortunately, they are off the menu on my permission as there are too few of them in the wood and surrounding area.

 

Up the high seat - I stayed there for 3 hours. No sign or sound of a deer, but I was right in the path of the cold wind and began to freeze. If I'd had my 12 bore I could have killed dozens of pigeons - there were hundreds roosting in the trees around me. They were constantly being spooked by a pair of buzzards and kept circling just above my tree!

 

 

I was beginning to feel more and more frozen so back to the car for the flask of hot coffee. revived I went back to where I'd heard the alarm call over four hours before. As I moved through the trees, I caught a movement to my left. A very fat doe was moving slowly away from me - seemingly unaware of me. I stopped, put up the sticks and waitied. The doe continued moving away from me but had to turn side on to pass between two trees. Just a chance - I took it and down she went.

 

A nice big pregnant doe.

 

Then my first chance to use my Eka knife (the swingblade one). There was a thread going about these knives and I would really recommend them. The gralloching blade with the flat underside was perfect and the edge so sharp that it took no effort to open her up. I'll do a quick ad here for Richard at Stalkers UK, who stocks them!

 

So a good day - now for a beer and then a bottle of red wine.

 

A lot of this deer will become biltong - my son bought me a biltong-maker for Christmas, it's great. So I know what I'm doing over the weekend.

 

Sorry there's no picture.

[langouroux 14]

nicely done and well done mate, i'm originaly from hemel but live i cornwall now. I used to work in studham doing forestry once upon a time...tripping over munties round there mate!

 

i thought there was loads of deer round tring? used to see them all the time when i was a kid, my dad had yard in tring for years.

 

there is always ashridge if your keen! haha

[wint 3]

Well done Gimli,a great account of you first munty

Andy

[Gimli 0]

Hi Langouroux - wish I could swap harrow for Cornwall. There are a lot of munties around but the wood where I shoot is not well managed, there are few properly kept rides and the undergrowth is v thick. Means tthey are hard to shot. We've also had a problem with some idiots going in there without permission and shooting all over the place with .22s leaving muntjacs to die slowly - that seems to have been nailed now though.

 

I do occasionally shoot fallow witth a friend up past Ashridge - some great stalkiing there witth herds of over 50 fallow on the land I've shot over.

[langouroux 14]

yer i left that area around 7 years ago mate and have never looked back! and never will!

 

do you have permission to copice the wood your self? that would bring the deer out mate...but for deer purposes there is a certain way it needs to be done. if you need any advice mate then let me know, as i said before i done foresry for years (untill i nearly killed my best mate!...thats why its one of the most dangerous jobs in the world!)

 

i remember riding my bike around ashridge when i was a kid and seeing deer all over the show. would lkove to pick up some rgound up there, have always wanted to shoot a fallow buck. i have friends that have alot of falloow in sussex but i dont see them very often.

[Gimli 0]

Unfortunately I only lease the shooting rights through Roger Buss's Deerland operation. So I only have rights to shoot and cannot touch tthe woodland or even clear rides. The landowner seems to do nothing at all to tthe wood and there are loads of broken down pheasant pens and stuff.

 

Only wish I could clear it up.