Big Boy & Barn Owl

[sussex 5,777]

Daylight is as im sure you have all aware is noticeable earlier, with this in mind i set the alarm for 5.am ,ten to five i'm awake switching the clock of to stop it waking my wife,dont know why i bother really by the time ive banged & crashed loooking for kecks,pants socks etc ,she the dogs ,the people at the end of the lane,uncle tom cobley & all know i'm up...she still pretends to be asleep. I was suposed to be helping a pal with some woodwork to day but he managed to flood the gaff so woodwork was of plumbing was on ....not my fortte.Unloaded the tools , loaded the toys for the morning,so quick coffee ,grab gun ,dog,bag with binos,rangefinder ,gloves etc & go

 

5min later i am at the entrance to the farm .i stop in the little layby get all the gear ready,open sticks,binos out range in pocket ,ammo in mag ,just about every thing i need apart from gun .its 5.35 as i drive down track to the farmyard, lights off i can make out the concrete road easy enough.As i pull up next to the barn i only have to quietly open the door ,step down ,dog out ,rifle from slip ,quietly close door ,we are away.

 

Just the faintest north east wind with an almost cloudless sky ,the ground frozen overnight crunched under every footstep.this was going to be noisy.Did my useual walk down the side of the field next to the A22 , got to the bottom & turned right glassing the fields as i went,not really expecting to see them out on the frozen clover , i more fancied them be under the tree line.When i got to the bottom i turned right , few yards right again then left 200 m got to edge of my land ,over the fence onto the bit i've got permission to cross ,along the fence line ,all the time glassing the wood were im going to ,nothing,as i start to near my wood there is a small strip of land that had been part of the field i was in,to my left,then a thick hedge with a gate in the middle , the hedge lead up to the wood 50 or so metres to the right.As i glanced left through the gateway i could see some movement,leaning on the sticks i watched as one after another the group of bucks i see last week walked by ,there numbers now increased by 4 to 17 ,one of which was the big old boy i left .Hes joined this group which pleased me to some extent, but worries me the big group is more noticeable than a singleton..As i watched them pass, a barn owl floated along the hedge across the strip of land to pass within 20ft of me ..i could'nt help think of the differance from where i grew up in the east end of london to the scene before me now in sussex.

Having watched the deer walk by 50 m away (out of bounds) i continued into the wood ,again lots of slot ,buck & does but no siteings,checked the paddock to the left(always expect to see deer in it) nothing ,did'nt need to check field to right because i had come that way , i checked it anyway just in case 1 had walked out, nothing, pushed on through till i came to power line were they had cut a new firebreak ,checking left & right i broke cover ,crossed the ride & started down keeping tight to the cover on my left,if any thing crossed i was in the right place.200 m down i happened to look behind a doe & fawn were broadside on but with only bright blue sky & a little mist as backstop the shot was never going to happen. Although chiller wise we blanked every other way was as good as it gets ....back out later with a mate same place .

 

7.30 pm ....just got home from evening in the high seats, put my old mate in the seat near where i see the deer this morning, there was a lot of slot as well by the seat so i fancied this was the pound seat.! It was a bit of a slog for the old timer(this will piss him of when he reads it) but he managed to make it unaided,they were pulling timber out earlier in the year the ruts need to be seen to be believed .,another mate calledby as we were just about to leave so he tagged along as well ,i put him in the seat we call the royal box, 6x6 x5 high ,nice bench seat & a shooting rest , it dont get better ! its 8ft of the ground as well . It looks over a 12acre field of grass surrounded on 3 sides by woodland.

 

I took the single seat in the paddock,which i discovered someone had removed the rachet strap from , there was no time to go back for a spare & as the seat was pretty rigid i climbed gingerly up , then we all waited for something to happen , i had a roe doe & well grown buck fawn twins creep along the tree line ,they were safe enough ,we dont have many roe.then a crack from behind and a one word message on the radio "charlie" , as light was fading another crack from the bottom of the wood ,another one word message "doe" ..the old fellow had got one.the next hour was spent getting in ,gralloching ,and getting out of the wood ,at times it seemed up to our necks in mud..the old fellow doing his fair share of moaning about the mud, he even accused me of deliberatly spining the wheels on the quad to soak him ,thats gratitude next time he can drag it out himself .all cleaned and in the chiller.great evening .

Edited February 15, 2013 by sussex

[bryson 562]

Unlucky not to get a shot off mate but it still sounds like you had a good morning

[Art 20]

Keep the posts coming Sussex. With our season over I have to live vicariously. Nice write up mate.