Proud Dad.

[Squirrel_Basher 17,100]

Friday evening saw myself and my son heading out for what was to be his first proper stalk. The weather and wind were perfect for where i had in mind ,a farm of 300 acres on the outskirts of a town.Id previously seen three bucks here with a handful of does and the chances of finding one were enhanced by the weather .We set off up the farm track away from the buildings having nodded to the farmer washing down the yard after milking .The time was 7.30 .The first field that held a buck and doe previously now held cattle so required no more than a glance before heading off to what is known as the pylon field .Nothing here either or so i thought .The grass is getting up a bit now in what will be hay later and i missed a doe in the bino scan, couched in the right side hedge but she never missed us and as we rounded a mound of soil that was the spoil from a long disused dead pit ,she bolted into the middle of the field.No buck followed and she ran into the next field ,which made me cuss .Approaching this field ,we saw her skip on again as she saw us but we went on regardless.George ,my son,pointed out several hares squat tight in this field and a couple very close to us .They have never been shot here so have nothing to fear and rarely go far .A steady stalk down the right hand hedge took us to the far gateway and after establishing the next field was empty we climbed over ,observing safety with the rifle by unloading .George has spent hours with me on paper and knows the safety drills inside out which puts me very much at ease.Turning left here we had to cross a wet gateway to get to another field that is knee high in grass too and where i was now sure the deer would be. Crouching along the hedge that leads to this field ,i crept around it to glass and sure enough there were two deer up the left hand hedge , a buck and a doe .The buck was not one id seen here previous mind but a buck all the same .George studied them in the bins and i whispered our plan of approach .We first had to crawl to a trough about 20 yds away which would give us cover to study further and make sure they were alone .That done i described our route through the patchy long grass that would take us to within 50 yd of the pair,a crawl of maybe another 20 yds or so .The grass height lent itself perfectly to a high bipod shot which George has practiced time and time again .Stopping to check the position a couple of times we arrived at the spot and i slowly got the rifle up on the pod and George sat comfortably behind it .The scene was set .The doe suddenly shot her head up and stared at us .We were froze to the spot but above the grass i guess a bit and off she went at a trot taking the young buck with her out to the middle of the field .Years of evolution have not been kind to the roe and they stopped as they do ,mid field to have a last look and George, having shuffled round to follow shot the buck in the chest to which he ran a bit ,folded and lay still .We waited a bit ,daring not to move in case it got up but finally moved in to see his prize .It was a young buck with shreds of velvet still hanging but at that moment it was better than a royal stag .Big hand shake sealed the moment and a phone call to his Mum .The gralloch revealed a shot through the heart which pleased us both as its so easy to get caught in the moment when excitement is high.

 

 

 

 

Dragged the buck to a dry gateway for collection with truck and made our way back to the farm .Didnt get too far when i spotted a fox coming around a far hedge and getting George on the high pod again and comfortable ,i squeaked to which it came running .We were well exposed where we were but no time to move .Charlie was committed mind and came to within 50 yd before i stopped it and George squeezed off the second round of the evening to dispatch what was a scrawny dog covered in ticks .How proud was i .............

[Astral 253]

Ah welldone to the youngster!

 

Great clean shot, beautiful looking buck. Bet it could not have been better. Welldone him controlling the excitement and placing such a good shot. It is so easy to become mega excited at the prospect of a shot and fluff it up, especially on the first stalk!

 

Welldone, steak for tea then?

[Squirrel_Basher 17,100]

Down the dealers mate with the money in his back pocket .

[Millet 4,497]

Brilliant stuff..

[j j m 6,551]

very nice i love to read stories like this id be proude to

[b53hunt 15]

good work and a nice buck for his fist atb b

[the monkey 339]

well done young man

[toby63 1,236]

great read and well done george .its good to see youngsters into hunting and general fieldsports

[sussex 5,777]

Excellent ,well done , hope that's the first of many ..... :toast:

[hutchey 147]

congratulations to the lad!

[Gratz 8]

Brilliant start. Well done to the lad!

[ArchieHood 3,692]

How we all wish it could be............

[stando 177]

Well done young man

[The one 8,486]

Nice going the youngsters are the future of or sport

[jack68 628]

That was a really good read and picks bet the young un was made up,,jack