Last Day On The Does.

[sussex 5,777]

Last day in the doe's today on this estate, after yesterdays disapearing act i decided i was getting sloppy,i was cutting the timeing to tight,so i was up at 5am,quick coffee ,filled flask & was out the door by 5.20 arrived unloaded quad etc ,drove only half way to were i nomally dump the quad and got into stalking mode straight away.I made a slightly different approach to the normal route ,swung left up to the stables and followed the wall down to come out mid way along the office.weather wise it was what my wife calls drecht ,windy wet overcast ,i was on the pathway peering into semi darkness at the small field below the car park unable to make out any shapes that looked even remoatly like deer.Plan A was'nt looking good ,I waited for 10 min or so & edged foward ,lighter now i still could see nothing ,but as i moved in closer i could see a back ,slightly left and below me ,no more than 35m ,as the light increased i could see more deer , they were feeding on the bank from the carpark to the field tucked in tight the 1st deer was no more than 15 m away, i was laying down by now (getting very wet) .Nearly 20 min passed before they drifted out into the field ,very slowly i moved to line up the dot on a yearling doe ,she just crashed down , the others paniced and fled in every direction , then decided they should'nt have gone that way tore back into the field ,only to go out the same way again.no chance of a second shot. Checked the yearling ,did'nt need to touch the eye i pulled her from veiw , bled her out ,and carried on.

 

My plan now was to check the field behind the lake ,wind was the right way to stalk it so crossed the field i was in, through the next field past the high seat down through the wood at the side of the lake and come up the bank to look slightly down on a much opened view,they have been felling at lot of fairly big silver birch & ash to open the field .In the summer this will be deer heaven .!

 

As i glassed the field there was nothing obvious but after a few minutes i spotted the head of a fallow doe sticking out from behind a pile of logs,i opened the bipod and waited for her to appear,as soon as she moved i could see she had a problem with a hind leg ,as she cleared the log pile i could see exactly what that was,the lower bone of the leg was sticking out through the skin by 3 or 4 inches as pointed as a knife ,the foot hanging down she was in a proper mess,her suffering ended instantly.

pictures taken i checked the leg although in a mess there did'nt apear to be any infection,it was clean inside ,there was a lot of muscle wastage so she had been carrying it a while,,It is quite amazing how they manage to carry on with such injuries.back up for the quad ,pick the two deer and gralloch ,the injured one showed no abnormalaties in the lymph system .

 

Its now just turned eight and im away home till later ,they have an event on later in the week and there are some guys setting gear up for a few hours so i leave them to it .Pleased with my morning i wash tag and chiller them.The injured one i will keep to top up my freezer,i dont mind a withered leg .!!!

 

Come 4 pm i'm back for one last go in the high seat.1 hour later and a little colder(not as bad as last night) a doe appears just beneath the seat but unlike last night she came straight out followed by 18 of her mates ,she went diagonally away from me at a trot , never slowed she led the line straight across the field and disapeared.Still light 4 buck fawns showed front and right at 120m,as i watched them another fawn and doe came out to join them ,as i waited for her to get clear a movment on my right but much closer grabbed my attention,2 does walked out at about 60 m as they started to walk away i coughed to stop them ,no responce ,louder cough, nothing , OHY ,front doe stopped took a slight turn to look behind and instantly fell,her mate left her for dead..she was.....checked out i packed up the seat walked back to get quad ,the doe loaded i gralloched it at home 20 min later......Does finished ........I must find out how to post pictures ,the one of the leg is unbelivable.I did send a phone pic to hutchey but thats the limit of my abilities with these machines....

Edited February 28, 2013 by sussex

[The one 8,493]

Nice way to finish mate

[hutchey 147]

i can put it up on here if you want Sussex. It was impressive!

[hutchey 147]

[sussex 5,777]

Wish i could do that....cheers ......i have managed to get the pics of my browny box camara on to the computer ,but when the windows open they fall on the floor......

[Art 20]

Sussex, you should write a book someday. Your write ups always put me in the mood to get back to the field. Thanks. And thanks for putting up the pic Hutchey. Really something that bone sticking out.

[seprim 32]

teamwork

Andrew