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Last Saturday evening - I'd been up well before dawn and after walking for miles and seen feck-all (on my permission anyway) decided to spend the last 2 hours of daylight sat in a high seat set in 12 acres of divine sitka spruce permission that was part of a 300 acre block. It was both cold and windy so being sat on my arse in the highseat and before long I was absolutely freezing my nuts off.

 

Some total bell-ends had decided to spend the evening pretending to be Ray Mears or Bear Grylls and were 150 meters away on the neighbours permission with a roaring fire and trying to break more firewood so moral and expectations were low to say the least!

 

 

Maybe ten / fifteen minute of shootable light left - like a mirage, a group of sika approach from my left. The adult hind was easy to spot so, selecting an obvious calf as soon as it was clear BOOM.... thump. followed by deer running every-which-way. I followed my hind calf the few yards that she was visible to gauge her general direction and then was distracted by as following group that stopped in the same spot. There happened to be another calf in this group so, going for a straight pin-shot, I dropper her on the spot.

 

The first strike had been on in an area of rushy grass on a ride of woodland and try as a might in the half-light I couldn't find the strike spot. I spent an hour, well past darkness, looking with a decent torch and eventually gave up.

 

I was back at dawn the next day to follow up and was PISSED to see that something had got there first. I must have walked past it a dozen times but it was invisible in the ditch if collapsed into... I really must get a dog!

 

 

chomp_zpsm6ettsqg.jpeg

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Happens to most of us at some time Matt , bugger when you loose one but at least it died quickly rather than run off a die a slow death ..few years back we lost a big buck , and like you in the morning you wonder how you never tripped over it we was lucky it was a freezing cold night and nothing had got to it before we returned.

Must say the dog is a great asset ..

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    • By Yokel Matt
      It was time for a long overdue trip down to my ground in Dorset to cull some sika that were terrorising some sheep - don't know whether it was just pent up frustration or what as the rut is quite far progressed now but they weren't doing themselves any favours.
       
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    • By Yokel Matt
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    • By Yokel Matt
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