Bad Start To A Good Day

[sussex 5,777]

Sunday morning see me up at 5am .Kit packed ready ,quad loaded it was down to coffee making & out. Weather wise it was pants ! The ground was white, absolutely freezing my least favourite stalking conditions .But having said I would have a look over a mates place (he was away) I had to go and try .Arriving at the farm I wasn't holding out much hope given the frost, the only chance I might get would be on the edges of the woods, if the frost hadn't got under the tree line .I spent 2 hours glassing every bit of woodland ....nothing...not a deer fox or even a rabbit...the only thing stupid enough to be out was walking round was me .By now the sun was up ( sun = big yellow ball in the sky) & a little warmth filtered down as I left the farm .

 

On the way back I see a few deer moving out from cover to take in the early sun so decided to look in on my place close to home. As I pulled up in the wood 4 doe's walked across the ride ,this could be good news I thought. As I made my way through the wood to get to the little paddock ,a favourite with the deer on a sunny day the dog stopped & sat down ,I spent 10 min glassing every inch of that wood & could see nothing ,but this dogs nose is not wrong very often ,& just as I was about to move 11 deer crossed heading towards the paddock .I gave them time to clear and moved forward to the big water tank belonging to the pheasant shoot , I climbed the ladder to look over the top of the tank onto the field , 31 deer ,of which 25 were doe's the rest buck fawns ,not a single buck or even a pricket amongst them .Shite......backed away & did the rest of the place but with no joy at all ..All in all it wasn't a bad morning .Home for breakfast ,unload motor & get the tractor on the grass cutting....................

....................................1pm ..a phone call from the farm on the kent /sussex border to tell me about some lab pups,he knew I was looking for one, general chit chat before I ask seen many deer about ,? there every where ,every field came the reply ,i'l come over I said ....bit of the history on this place.The whole farm is in stewardship scheme ,they have a few sheep ,grow wild flowers for seed ,& have a few hundred acres of grass, surrounded by woodland .Normally jan & feb the deer pile on there when all the ground around as is ploughed , this year when everything is behind the deer are still here in big numbers.

 

Plan of action.......ring round get 3 or 4 guns out with me & see what we can do , late notice I know but see who's about.....

.......not a single taker...up & on I load all the kit & go, I got to the farm at about 5 ,there are 6 or 7 deer as I pull in the drive next to the gate field.As I drive down the track I glass up the fields to my left , another small bunch laying by a hedge in the sun.I parked in the yard & set of ,my plan was to go up to the top field and look down on the whole farm , see were the deer where & go from there...5 min later i'm crawling in the ditch to get on a bunch of deer above me , only to find their all doe's & youngsters, I moved on deciding to take the middle track up the hill, two hedges planted 5 years ago they have just started to offer a little cover from the lower fields, getting to the end I can turn right & get to the top unseen .Just as I got to the end the dog stopped in her tracks ,down on all fours I moved forward and looked left & down , a pricket with its head in the undergrowth & arse facing me at 60 mtr ,5 or 6min pass before I can get the shot. He dropped .I bleed him & left him there , change of plan now , Instead of going up hill I turned left ,then over the fence into the field , back parallel to the track I had just come up , to a new pond where I lay down facing the woodland 120 m away .This gave me a much bigger field of vision than from a seat.As the light started to fade the deer started to move , I could see 40 + out in the very bottom field 360m away ,as I watched another bunch started out from the corner of my field ,dropping down to join the others, no bucks..

 

The light now going fast ,two bucks came out one trotted straight towards the does the other stopped,turned left and walked slowly across in front of me at about 100 m ,he jumped straight up as the 6.5 hit run 20 or so mtr before collapsing .Now the fun starts, go back , get quad,load gralloch.etc .Dog loves this bit its reward time ! I left the farm at 9.30 .Must have seen well over 100 deer.

 

Back home washed & in the chiller they went 72lb & 89lb ...busy old day ..poor start good finish

[the scudd 82]

sounds like you have good ground, next time you need a hand pm me and i will see what i can do . great write up

[Philluk 181]

That's it rub it in. I had a day out with the dog and a .22, just as I sat back for a nice dinner I got a call from a friendly farmer who got my number from a friend to say he had a lot of deer on his crops would be interested and could I go down there and then, what could I say it's a new farm so off I went, I didn't really want to shoot one it's too warm for my chiller to work.

 

As I waited for the shot I got a txt to say my mate would love a fallow, so deed done new farm, no mess happy mate all round result,

 

So not a wasted night, be with you next time

Edited April 8, 2013 by Philluk

[The one 8,469]

Sounds like you have landed on your feet with your new ground mate