Huge Buck

[sussex 5,777]

Had a touch of good fortune in the week ,on one of the farms i stalk close to home (1 1/2 miles) my southern boundry has allways been of limits because the owner dos'nt agree with killing deer. He own's several hundred acres as well as the 60 odd acres that border my boundry that he does nothing of note with(he's a property developer) i noticed the 60 acre plot for sale the other week and in no time a sold sign appeared.It transpires it was bought by a neighbour who i had mentored 4 or 5 years ago...A quick call secured me permisson to cross his fields to get into the wood on my stalking,in all only a couple of hundred acres but it can be quite productive.(see earlier post ,all going right quickly)

 

With the slight northerly this morning the new way on to the land was the best way,duly parked i walked into the field and around the hedgeline till i got to the back edge of my wood.Rest my leg on the top strand of barbed wire so the dog could get over, i dont like her jumping barbedwire,i followed ,we worked slowly through the wood ,whilst there was lots of fresh slot ,bucks & does we saw nothing .Half way through, the farm land either side of the wood is part of my stalking so the plan was to check out the fields to the left of the wood , double back to check the right hand side , then forward to check the fields in front.

 

Left hand side was clear which suprised me because there is a paddock that the deer love,doubled back to through the wood to the right hand fields nothing again , not looking good we moved back into the wood and started slowly forward again.As we got to the edge of the wood i was intending to exit through a gate turn slightly right and go down the hedge line, as i started to open the gate( no bailer twine here!) the dog stopped in mid stride,i becond her forward , nothing , just very slowly sat down, and shivered,having had this dog 10 years there is no mistake there is deer very close by..

 

I opened the sticks, rested the rifle, & waited .....i faced the wind and from my right were we were going a single buck walked right to left in front of me , no more than m, i watched him through the scope and slide the catch on the 6.5. what a buck..!! big ,good condition ,but what a head,perfectly symetrical hugh span ,great palmation.a stunning animal.This was without doubt in the top 3 wild bucks ive seen in thirty years stalking......pulling the safty on i let him carry on his way....not into trophys...we have plenty of poor heads round here so no point shooting the good ones..the dog looked disapointed though .. no liver treat ...one other bit of good news ,they have cut the fire break under the power lines, this gives a 600 m clear path through the top edge of the wood.new high seat in the middle next week .

 

After all that we blanked.........nice morning though..

Edited February 10, 2013 by sussex

[Art 20]

Excellent post! Thanks Sussex.

[beast 1,884]

lot of folk would have taken that trophy

[sussex 5,777]

Beast if you were to see my "trophy wall"your'd laughyour socks of .....30 years worth amount to a silver medal roe head that i only shot because it was such a poor head,, a fairly big fallow head thats been in a scrap or two that was dragging a back leg,a red that my pals wife wont let him have on the wall at his.....thats it....I've just never been into trophys.But in 30 years i've had some fabulous stalking .

[Lost Generation 93]

Had a touch of good fortune in the week ,on one of the farms i stalk close to home (1 1/2 miles) my southern boundry has allways been of limits because the owner dos'nt agree with killing deer. He own's several hundred acres as well as the 60 odd acres that border my boundry that he does nothing of note with(he's a property developer) i noticed the 60 acre plot for sale the other week and in no time a sold sign appeared.It transpires it was bought by a neighbour who i had mentored 4 or 5 years ago...A quick call secured me permisson to cross his fields to get into the wood on my stalking,in all only a couple of hundred acres but it can be quite productive.(see earlier post ,all going right quickly)

 

With the slight northerly this morning the new way on to the land was the best way,duly parked i walked into the field and around the hedgeline till i got to the back edge of my wood.Rest my leg on the top strand of barbed wire so the dog could get over, i dont like her jumping barbedwire,i followed ,we worked slowly through the wood ,whilst there was lots of fresh slot ,bucks & does we saw nothing .Half way through, the farm land either side of the wood is part of my stalking so the plan was to check out the fields to the left of the wood , double back to check the right hand side , then forward to check the fields in front.

 

Left hand side was clear which suprised me because there is a paddock that the deer love,doubled back to through the wood to the right hand fields nothing again , not looking good we moved back into the wood and started slowly forward again.As we got to the edge of the wood i was intending to exit through a gate turn slightly right and go down the hedge line, as i started to open the gate( no bailer twine here!) the dog stopped in mid stride,i becond her forward , nothing , just very slowly sat down, and shivered,having had this dog 10 years there is no mistake there is deer very close by..

 

I opened the sticks, rested the rifle, & waited .....i faced the wind and from my right were we were going a single buck walked right to left in front of me , no more than m, i watched him through the scope and slide the catch on the 6.5. what a buck..!! big ,good condition ,but what a head,perfectly symetrical hugh span ,great palmation.a stunning animal.This was without doubt in the top 3 wild bucks ive seen in thirty years stalking......pulling the safty on i let him carry on his way....not into trophys...we have plenty of poor heads round here so no point shooting the good ones..the dog looked disapointed though .. no liver treat ...one other bit of good news ,they have cut the fire break under the power lines, this gives a 600 m clear path through the top edge of the wood.new high seat in the middle next week .

 

After all that we blanked.........nice morning though..

Well done, I wish more stalkers took your attitude.

[The one 8,474]

I think you made the right choice mate let him breed and take him when he starts to go back

[themightybuck 9]

I wish some people round here took to that opinion! Any fallow gets flattened, we cover about 15,000 acres of stalking and most of that is commercial with the rest being managment ground, and we don't shoot any thing under 3 years old unless injured, I'll etc. we let our bucks grow to their prime, through managing this way we regularly shoot a lot of medal heads the biggest one last year was 920 grams and 32 cm tall a perfect symmetrical roe head stunning! But all around the boundary there are recreational stalkers and they flatten every thing that moves very frustrating!!!

[beast 1,884]

Beast if you were to see my "trophy wall"your'd laughyour socks of .....30 years worth amount to a silver medal roe head that i only shot because it was such a poor head,, a fairly big fallow head thats been in a scrap or two that was dragging a back leg,a red that my pals wife wont let him have on the wall at his.....thats it....I've just never been into trophys.But in 30 years i've had some fabulous stalking .

ha! sounds better than mine, a pair of canines from the first water deer I ever killed (good but not exceptional) and a small but nicely formed roe skull. Missus wont even let them in the house!!

[seprim 32]

Nice post Sussex ! Sounds like a great day, and well done for gaining the extra shooting area

 

Andrew

[sussex 5,777]

Andrew ,i never gained any extra land just the right to cross it , but that gives me a big advantage when we have a north wind. dont have to walk down the boundry and across to keep the wind right,i can now get in the wood by a direct route.

[Philluk 181]

I wish some people round here took to that opinion! Any fallow gets flattened, we cover about 15,000 acres of stalking and most of that is commercial with the rest being managment ground, and we don't shoot any thing under 3 years old unless injured, I'll etc. we let our bucks grow to their prime, through managing this way we regularly shoot a lot of medal heads the biggest one last year was 920 grams and 32 cm tall a perfect symmetrical roe head stunning! But all around the boundary there are recreational stalkers and they flatten every thing that moves very frustrating!!!

 

know how you feel, i have a chunk of land in the middle of one of my woods that I cant shoot as its let and the guy who has the rights lets anyone who is willing to pay have a day out. it means a lot of novices and lots of deer shot because they could its not monitored. its frustrating to see when i leave a few nice ones and then am aware they have been shot in this middle bit, but there is nothing I can do. I have put in a high bid to buy the rights later in the year, I am hoping that will work but what will be left then??

 

Sussex is right to leave but thats what comes with experience, I am sure 20 years ago he may have been a bit keener and tempted. I have a lovely white stag around here have had him in cross hairs 3 times this season just watching him its great.

[Yokel Matt 918]

Great account of your outing Sussex and I admire your restraint. Im no a trophy hunter despite bumping into a few nice roe and a fooking great goat but an opportunity like that would be too good to resist for me if it were my own land. I appreciate the management aspect but an exceptional beast in those circumstances would have had it if im honest. Fair play though mate, sounds like a peach of a bit of ground you have and you're doing it the way you want to

 

Where abouts in Sussex by the way... my old stomping ground used to be Bolney (off A23 near Burgess Hill).

Edited February 13, 2013 by Yokel Matt

[sussex 5,777]

Hi mat This bit is only small , around 200 acres but its a good mix , bit of arable,(70 acre red clover) bit of grass & woodland (60acre) so its quite good.At times there are a lot on there , same time you might not see any .They were hitting the wheat the other year with a vengence ,thats in clover now for 2 years (this is 2nd year) and i noticed the other day the 1st signs of growth so will be keeping an eye out .I left that buck because it is the only decent one i've seen,the fact it was so good was a bonus,all the others whilst big animals ,have head that are all spikes & fishtails so to leave him was no big deal.

A pal of mine stalks the land to my western boundry who is not a shoot everything stalker,east of me is A22 ,north is'nt shot , south is but minimal so he might carry on being lucky,so far so good.The other thing that makes it easier to leave is i get to stalk a lot ,and not just this place.Other people are not as fortunate and only get to stalk on a limited basis ,in these circumstances it would be a much tougher call...!

[Rob58 1,599]

hi sussex great post shame you you didnt drop that one i would have enjoyed working on that one hope you havent forgot me cheers.

[Philluk 181]

Hi Matt

 

Burgess Hill not far from me sussex is a bit more east..