The drought is over

[Gimli 0]

At last, three months after shooting my first two deer and two months after getting my new Remington I've finally christened it with a fallow.

 

I'd stayed the night at the Woodfalls Inn, just inside Wiltshire on the northern edge of the New Forest. Excellent Ringwood beer and a meal to clog your arteries but warm your soul - a bacon, goat's cheese and black pudding stack followed by homemade steak and kidney pudding and more beer.

 

Up at six to a surprisingly light frost and off to meet Nick the stalker. We started before dawn, walking through mixed woodland to a two man high seat. Cold but not freezing. An hour and a half up there and no sign of a deer. Back to the car for coffee and then off through the woods. After about 20 minutes we startled a couple of sika hinds but they made heavy cover not giving us a chance of a shot. So, on towards some open fields on the edge of the wood. Nick reckoned that as the sun got a bit higher, deer would come out to the edge of the field to warm up and feed. He was dead right. As we neared the field we could see a fallow doe feeding 5 yards into the field. It was then slow, careful progress across dry leaves to a high seat overlooking the field - not to climb up but to use the ladder as a gun rest. It took us 15 minutes to cover about ten yards from the wood track to the ladder. I got there without the doe noticing, she was about 75 yards away. As I lined her up, a doe we hadn't seen, sitting in the edge of the wood, saw a movement or sensed something and stood up. The feeding doe tensed up and they both moved off about 40 yards further away and stopped. They weren't sure what they were afraid of but had an idea there was something in our direction. One turned towards us and stopped, giving me an angled shot at her chest. I took it, heard the impact and she disappeared, I thought into the edge of the wood. The other doe went off across the open field. I followed her with the sight but she was never side on and never still.

 

But the first doe was down and dead, 2 yards from where I hit her. We waited ten minute saw but no movement from her. Nick used his rangefinder - 115 yards.

 

We went over, I'd hit her smack through the ribs. When we gralloched her, the bullet (Remington .243 core lokt) had destroyed one lung, scored the edge of the heart and clipped the edge of the liver before exiting just under the spine. Massive and imediate blood loss and dead before she'd moved the two yards. Very pleased with the shot.

 

As I haven't got much room to hang her for long, I'll start skinning and butchering when I log out.

[outdoors kid 1]

well done mate sounds like a cracking shot

[Guest remmy]

nice one mate, weldone one the shot placement and a good doe for the freezer, i bet you cant wait until april 1st all the best remmy.

[martin 332]

Nice one Gimli,I used to belong to a stalking syndicate down there,it is a great place to stalk................martin.

[SNAP SHOT 194]

good result,

[Gimli 0]

Thanks guys - a great day out.

 

Butchered the doe y'day. With the bones in some of the cuts still, I got 14 KG of meat.

 

Cooked venison ribs wih chilli and maple syrup sauce and coconut rice last night. Delicious with a good bottle of Oz Shiraz.

 

Happy New Year.

[J Darcy 5,871]

Sounds a great way to spend your morning...good stalk...can't beat getting close to deer.....