My week's stalking

[jon15 14]

My last week’s stalking!

 

Last Wednesday I went with a friend to a new piece of ground to cull a doe or two, on arrival the farm was under a foot of snow and after a good half an hour of crunching through the snow we saw a doe and a buck near a hedge which backed onto a huge fallow stubble field just below the Wiltshire Downs. We set about stalking them, but they just kept on moving further and further away, the buck was very jumpy and as soon as we got are ourselves into shooting position he spooked and took the doe with him running down the field and up the hill behind. As the weather and wind was against us we decided to call it a day and head back towards the yard, on walking past some old game cover a doe and her yearling doe kid jump up and ran out into the stubble, they settled to look back at 300yrds I was now prone and let the first ground off, the doe dropped on the spot the yearling moved about 10yrds further on and then stopped, I missed it with the next two shots and my friend said I was over its back as he could see the bullets hitting the snow, I readjusted and the third struck home. We walked out to the pair lie in the snow, the doe was hit a little high and had taken the lungs and a shoulder out the yearling was hit through the lungs and the liver.

That night I drove to Scotland through the night with another friend for a few days on the hinds, the drive up was ok and we were in Fort William within 8 hours, on the Thursday my friend had arranged for us to stalk a bit of forestry ground near Inverness, we arrived at the 400acre block of mix woodland which was covered in as much snow as we had left down south and were told that there were Reds and Sika throughout, we were also told to shoot any highbreds on sight. I opted for a walk and stalk policy while my friend sat in a high seat, the snow showed that the deer had been active and of I set, I walk for about an hour stopping and glassing as I went but to no avail, until I saw a large dark shape about 100yrds below me in a small group of Silver Birch, I lay down and glassed him for a minute my first impression was that he was a young red stag and then he turned his head and I could see is antler formation and the lighter coloured V of his forehead, the owner who was stalking with me agreed so I got my rifle ready. The stag was facing away from me and had his head turned half looking back I was not happy taking a head shot, so I waited until he looked directly away which allowed me to shoot at the whole of his neck and the back of his head, I squeezed the trigger and he fell on the spot I had shot him through the top/middle of the neck, I got a bit of a sweat on dragging him out of the wood, but he did weigh 54Kg dressed. My friend shot a hind from about 60yrds and we both retired for a hot bath and a beer.

The next day found us on the rugged hills of the west coast of Scotland about 20miles west of Fort William, after a good hike and a bit of leg burning we made it up the first hill and were now able to start stalking on the undulating plateaus. Early on we came across a lone calf who was looking rather poor so the stalker asked for it to shot, my friend borrowed my rifle as his does not have a moderator and shot it as 220yrds it dropped and it rolled about 10 yards, he shot it through both lungs. We stalked on and came across a big herd of hinds that were about 500yrds away so we double backed and went around a back of the hill to come in to them from the other side, it took us about forty minutes to get back and around them, when we came to the edge of the valley to look back in they had moved almost to the stop we were originally at. A few expletives coloured the air and then the stalker decided that a straight forward stalk down the valley was the only way the wind was in our favour, eventually we made it to a small snow cover knoll which we were able to use as cover, from there got my ranger finder out and checked the distance the lead hind was about 200yrds but the majority were about 150yrds, we settled ourselves and with bipods out we both took shots, my hind jump and kick before walking 15yrds and then going down, I had hit her through both lungs, my friends just stood there shaking a front leg he had hit her through the heart and lungs she hardly moved a step before going down. Again, the drag out was hard work and by now the light was beginning to go so that was the end of the day.

The next day the weather was beautiful, sunny with a light wind, we went on the other side of the loch and it was much easier climb up which my legs appreciated. We quickly came across a small herd of hinds more by luck than design, we back up and then climb to get a better look at them and a better shooting position, my friend lay down and shot a yeld hind at about 80yrds who went straight down, it was straight in the engine room, the herd run a little but stopped as they could not work out where the shot came from, the stalker chose another and I shot her at 200yrds, she moved about 5yrds as she hit in the heart and lungs. It was an easy drag down and we were finished by 12 noon, so the three of us then hung the beasts and made good of rifles and had a quick wash before settling down to watch a rather uninspiring England rugby performance.

Last night I went to friends farm for a few hours evening stalking, on arriving I was amazed at how much snow he still had around, so I decided that instead of walking about making a lot of noise I would sit in a high seat and wait, on approaching the seat a good buck and doe spooked from the set-aside in front and went into the wood, a minute or so later a doe and two yearlings came out and ran across the field into the other wood I can only assume the buck and doe disturbed them. I was quietly waiting in the high seat when I notice a small doe stand up in the middle of the field near an old thistle patch, she was about 200yrds away, she slowly move in various directions and was proving to difficult to get a good shot at as she was always standing at the wrong angle or had heavy grass tufts between us, finally she presented a shot and I squeezed, she walk about 15 yards and went down I had hit a back and had just caught the lungs but the majority of the damage was to the liver. After the shot a young buck stood up from the same thicket and ran a little way he was reluctant to leave and only finally left when I was about 30yrds away.

That is the end of my memorable weeks stalking, all the deer where shot with a Blaser R93 and factory federal 95gr ballistic tips.

Happy Stalking.

Below are a few pictures of the hill in Scotland taken when i was up there last year.

Edited February 14, 2009 by jon15

[FOXHUNTER 5,021]

What a fantastic week , I bet you were knackered but well worth it

[Guest remmy]

sounds like you guys had a fantastic time, but where are all the pictures?get some slapped up alb remmy.

[jon15 14]

sounds like you guys had a fantastic time, but where are all the pictures?get some slapped up alb remmy.

 

Sorry Remmy, did not take any.

[wboulter 3]

if only i had half your luck well done

Edited February 13, 2009 by wboulter

[Squirrel_Basher 17,102]

Good read mate .Wish i had that amount of stalking to go at .

[bignoel 14]

good write up well done .noel

[the Verminator 0]

a very, very good weeks stalking if you ask me!