Beautiful morning

[sussex 5,776]

Over at one of my permissions yesterday to see if we could end the suffering of a young buck we had seen the previous evening with a smashed up back leg , he came out as we were leaving and we had no chance to get a shot . Yesterday morning we did manage to get a couple of glimpses of him but he was always on the move and never gave any chance of a safe shot . During the effort to get him we came across a doe laying injured in a dried out pond , another road casualty she was despatched where she lay , by now it was  early afternoon and the place came alive with three or four bucks who all started grunting to signal the rut was on ..

Back this morning to see if we could pick of a couple of the satellite bucks who hang around the rutting stands , beautiful morning barely a breath of wind and the mist laying in the hollows and low spots . Nearly two hours in we had seen plenty of doe’s and at one point two prickets and a sorrel having there own little rut but not any where we could get a shot . Coming out of a wood with a field in front of us rising to our left we had another small group of doe’s on the crown of the field to our left . Studying them we noticed we had yet another injured doe , she was barely able to stand , her back legs seemed unable to support her for any length of time .Forty minutes later after a big detour trying to get at least on a level to get a shot they spotted us and as injured as she was she disappeared with the others into the mist . Given the place has roads on three sides , one of which is a A road it’s a fairly common accurance to get road casualties , three in two days isn’t .

Back on our original route we came around a bend in the track and checking the ground in front I watched a poor buck lay down on the bank at the side of the track beneath a large oak , obviously taking the morning sun which by now was up and warm ..my pal had no view of him from my left so I eased the sticks open and at seventy yards picked the spot and squeezed ..Rubbish head but big body .

he looked like he has been in a few battles but with his tiny headgear had come of a poor second .. Back out in the morning to see if I can’t sort the injured doe out ..

edited to say he was 139lb in the chiller and I’m getting to bloody old to lift them ...

 

[Rob58 1,580]

Nice write rich as usual mate.

[Yokel Matt 918]

Really poor head for such an otherwise decent sized animal. 

[sussex 5,776]

4 hours ago, Yokel Matt said:

Really poor head for such an otherwise decent sized animal. 

There’s another one with exactly the same head Matt but even bigger body weight , had him in the scope tonight but couldn’t get a backstop . Some how he’s holding about twenty doe’s, and I watched him chase a much better buck off , hopefully something will do the same with him ..

[j j m 6,480]

nice bud

[The one 8,396]

Nice write up and picts mate , its always a nice feeling it you can end there suffering hope you catch up with the buck soon