Lovely Evening Stalk

[jf1970 328]

hi folks, after doing a bit of cutting and splitting timber this morning and sitting down for a bit of lunch, i decided that since it was such a nice sunny afternoon that i would head out to a local area that holds a good population of fallow, i was hoping that i would see a few out sunning themselves. this area is about 2000 acres of woodland, but dotted in and around it are 8 small 2-3 acre open areas where the deer come out to graze, i parked the van up and made my way quietly through the woods which are made up of Hazel, Beech and some areas of pine, i got to the first open area and had a quick look, nothing here. i then made my way across and down a gully, follow the stream down about 400yrds and it opens out to the largest of the open areas, in the corner is an old stone building ( old farm house) that is sheltered by 3 hazel trees, if i sit here i can see all the field in front and to the side of me, i didn't have to wait long (about 30 mins) before i seen movement, but it was in the next field about 300yrds ahead, it was 2 does, i didn't have a clear shot as there was a row of trees seperating the 2 fields, so i waited to see if they would make there way into the area in front of me, no such luck, they were picking away but heading in the opposite direction, so i got down on my stomach and started to crawl through the reedy field, only stopping when they lifted there head, by the time i had got half way through the reedy field another 4 deer had jumped the dry stone wall and had joined the other 2 that had now got to the brow of the hill and were heading out of sight, when the last of them had went out of sight i got up and walked down the tree line, crossed the stream, under the barbed wire fence and again got down on the wet ground, i made my way to a small clump of reeds about 30yrds to the front of me, through the reeds about 50yrds away were 4 does a pricket and one of this years bucks, i picked out an old doe that was to the left of the group and fired (i went for heart and lung shot as iam inexperienced) she ran 10yrds, jumped back over the dry stone wall and out of sight, i waited a few minutes before making my way over to the wall and she was lying only 10ft the other side, gralloched and then the hard work began dragging it all the way back up the hill to the van, this is my first season with my own rifle and although i have only shot 6 before today, this was the hardest and most enjoyable one yet, cheers......john.

[kruby01 114]

congratulations mate, sound like a nice day

[sussex 5,777]

Excellent .Well done ,there nothing as good as stalking up on them & getting a profesional finish ,good post .

[jf1970 328]

congratulations mate, sound like a nice day

thanks kruby,

[jf1970 328]

Excellent .Well done ,there nothing as good as stalking up on them & getting a profesional finish ,good post .

thanks sussex, i really did enjoy the stalk, the kill was a bit of an anti climax if you know what i mean.

[sussex 5,777]

If you dont get the !st bit right the shot dos'nt happen, getting close enough to take a sensible shot is deffinatly the best bit ,cant think how many times in 30 years i've got up on deer and decided not to shoot for some reason or another.

[seprim 32]

Excellent .Well done ,there nothing as good as stalking up on them & getting a profesional finish ,good post .

+ 1 Its what its all about

thanks for posting john

Andrew

[jf1970 328]

 

Excellent .Well done ,there nothing as good as stalking up on them & getting a profesional finish ,good post .

+ 1 Its what its all about

thanks for posting john

Andrew

thanks for reading