Big Mistake But A One Off On The Grass.

[Squirrel_Basher 17,100]

Stalking first light today with Matt .I chose to put him in a seat with the chance of a muntie but unfortunately for him none showed .I on the other hand shot a buck in a corn field as the first proper rays came through and i was able to identify what i was looking at through the bins in the half light .Moved from him to do a circuit to where Matt was but didnt get that far .Stalking along a hedgerow and glassing well out in front i spotted the tell tale flick of ears and antler sat out in the yet uncut corn.Roughly 200 yds so a steady walk in to get a better look .About 90 yds ,the deer had other ideas and rose to its feet facing me .A good hard look through bins showed a head still in velvet and a very scrawney body.Nothing at this stage lead me to believe it was none other than a very old ,thin buck ,top of the cull list .It stretched and turned broad side to which i shot it with no second thoughts.It ran to the nearest hedge and collapsed in the ditch .On report a roe kid got up from the same spot as the shot deer and ran the opposite way making me watch it for a while, bemused a bit i have to say . It ran to the far hedge ,maybe 300 yds away and stood ,an orphan maybe i thought clinging to the first deer it saw .Tracked the shot deer to its resting place and was horrified to find an antlered doe of some years .Realisation now kicked in and i retraced steps to find the kid before the gralloch .It had come some way bavk as they do and i admit i hurried a shot off sticks at about 130 but missed .I then emptied the mag at it on the run but missed totally.Matt phoned and i explained the situation which had him with me in no time at all to look for this kid .Luckily it was now in a field of linseed and stood out well.Matt ,bless him offered to do the deed whilst i gralloched the doe.Shortly after a single crack from his rifle finished the ordeal and we were able to study what is strictly a rarity in the roe world despite claims every year .This mishap ended well but could have so easily gone wrong with a follower left on its own .

[air gun ant 1,666]

Well done on finding the kid and finishing the job! Is it a genetic thing for roe does to grow antlers? Or is it a lack of something? Hormones, vitamins etc could there be more around your stalking ground?

Atb ant

[Squirrel_Basher 17,100]

It seems to a hormone imbalance in old does .This one was probably the oldest deer ive seen around me

[seprim 32]

Thanks for posting foxdropper

Andrew

[martin 332]

Not your usual day in the field,but ended ok,and well done to our Matt.

 

Martin

[glogin 87]

I dont envy you the feeling when you found out it was a doe... Thanks for posting

[The one 8,477]

Looking head on you would think it was a buck , but you sorted out your mistake mate which is the main thing

[firthy 54]

That's mental didn't realise doe's could grow antlers?

[Yokel Matt 918]

Not my finest hour but one of those things - still, a nice bit of tender venison for the freezer.

 

That doe was something you don't see every day, maybe a broken foreleg had something to do with it? As for tender thats one word you won't be able to use for her!

 

Edited September 2, 2013 by Yokel Matt