Rough Day ..

[sussex 5,777]

Having only limited access to one of my permissions I don't like to miss a chance to get there so when I see the weather forecast for today I was a bit pessimistic to say the least. But up at 6am the motor loaded the night before , quick coffee I was on the farm track at 6.40 ...The wind was blowing a hooley , the rain was coming across the field in sheets ..not good .

By 7 .15 the rain had eased & I decided to have a look round , with no need to test which way the wind was blowing I set of to the bottom wood on the quad , parking up I made my way through the wood to come out at the field edge , peering out I could see20+does & fawns in the middle of the field , no young bucks or prickets , as I glassed them the reason there was no young bucks to be seen was now obvious , a huge buck stood there , in charge of all the girls , this was his field ..I had seen him before , right at the end of the rut last season , a big square headed set of headgear this was definitely the same buck .

Leaving them undisturbed I cut right, back in the wood to some scrub wood about 400yds on , glassing up the whole time I made out some movement through the trees , a young buck , poor in size & poorer still in head was herding a single doe & fawn through the scrub , the rain started again as I rested the sticks against a tree & waited for the chance , it came as he turned to see what was rattling a branch , he never found out as the round hit him ..a poor beast , infested with ticks .I went back for the quad, returning I gloved up to gralloch him in the pouring rain ..hence the fuzzy picture ..

That done & him loaded I went round to the valley , the rain stopped , I left the quad & slowly made my was along the top track looking down into the valley , with the cover still high there where only a few clear patches that wood offer a chance of a shot but tt would also offer me cover to get down lower , half an hour later I'm on the bottom track glassing through the scrub wood & chestnut trees ..a white doe gave the game away & as my eyes adjusted to the distance the other deer became visible slowly grazing through the trees there was about 15 , a couple of prickets , a sorrel & an older buck + doe's ...one of the prickets had two good straight 9 or 10inch points , he was safe , any of the others I could get a bead on would be in trouble , the trouble befell the older buck ..necked at 60m ... checked , I went for the quad , still dry & the wind dropping I returned to gralloch number two , safely loaded in the motor I was just about to set of when the sky blackened ,I decided to call it a morning , just stopping to erect a highseat for this evening I left ....

 

The 1st buck weighed in at a poor 82lb , the other was better at 97lb ...both are now cooling nicely !

[Rob58 1,599]

nice one rich always on the money!!

[sussex 5,777]

Blanked tonight , but the big boys were grunting like mad , there was one buck holding doe's in the top field , the big one I see this morning in the bottom field was back & making sure every one new ..plus a couple in the valley ...back out tomorrow .

[Jake w 232]

Good write up mate

Edited October 21, 2014 by Jake w

[j j m 6,539]

well done mate

[The one 8,475]

Aye another nice read mate