First Doe Of The Season

[Psyxologos 2]

t has been a few weeks since my last visit to my syndicate's ground in Scotland, and finally last week I made arrangements so I could do so today. I arrived at 07.30. It was a very cold (-3) morning, but the beautiful winter scenery made up for it. Sunny as it was, it was a good day to fully explore the capabilities of my new Zeiss Rangefiner binoculars. So I was using them more often than usual (a good thing, of course) during my progress through the ground. I might have gotten a bit carried away with my new toy, as I caught myself shifting my attention to my new toy maybe a bit more than I should. Once I got back on track (pun intended) I got on with my stalk. And a good thing it was, as I spotted a single doe feeding some 400 yards away from me, into a sun drenched ravine. Immediately I stopped and assessed the situation. I could see the white patch on her posterior, as she was feeding facing away from me. With the wind on my face, I knew I had the advantage. Slowly I made my way closer to her, and at around 85 metres I decided I would set up my sticks and wait for her to present her side for a shot. With a soft incline on the ravine behind her, I knew I had a safe shot, so all I needed was for her to turn. She did so after 3-4 minutes (I had already been stalking her for maybe 10 minutes) and 150 grain from my .308 connected with her heart. A perfect shot saw her drop on her shadow. To say that I was pleased with myself is a gross understatement. It was very satisfying to see the beast drop dead instantly, knowing that no suffering at all took place, and that my morning was a success. It was 10.20 when I shot her, which meant I could be on my way home sooner that I had expected (which is a good thing as I was not 100% over a persistent chesty cough which affected my breathing and my mood). I set to carry out the gralloch, which turned out to be a lengthier affair than I had hoped or wanted, but this being the first gralloch I performed completely on my own without anyone offering advice and/or help I needed to make sure I took my time and did everything (disease inspection and actual gralloch) correctly and safely. My new bone saw helped a lot, as I opted for a full gralloch since there was a lot of blood in the chest cavity (there was no heart left, it had all exploded which reassured me on the effectiveness of my bullet choice). As I have no larder facilities at home, I hang the carcass for 4 hours on a sheltered corner in my back yard, and proceeded to skin and butcher the carcass this evening. The meat is currently in my fridge (I tend to keep it there for a week after processing on the day of the kill) and will go in my freezer sometime next week.

Picture attached

[sussex 5,777]

Congratulations on you 1st , hopefully the 1st of many .....

[Caprelous 217]

Well done and you must have taken your time as well in that frost its an achievement to connect in such conditions well done, and well done carrying out your first unaccompanied field gralloch.

Stu

[hutchey 147]

Good going, i guess you like your new toy a lot then

Was it difficult remembering what to do on your own for the gralloch?

[The one 8,477]

Nice going mate you will always remember your first

[Psyxologos 2]

Thanks guys. It was a lovely day, and I surely will remember this successful stalk! Hutchey, it was not that hard to remember what to do. The hard part was to actually do it, as there seems to be an ocean of difference between knowing what to do, hot to do it etc, and actually doing it...

[stevie67 42]

well done im sure thats a stalk you will always remember. good going in the frost and great read aswell