First Chinese Water Deer

[Simoman 110]

Very interesting read matey, congratulations.

[the Verminator 0]

very good read that. cant wait till im a bit older and more experienced with rifles then i will go after deer

[darrell jnr 16]

not a shooting man myself but found your account bloody fascinating mate..well done ..all the best ..darrell.

[Guest Catcher]

All of you who told me I'd get a completely new experience stalking CWD were dead right - what a day!

 

The day actually started badly - I've got a horrrible feeling I triggered a speed camera going through a grotty in dustrial estate area between Luton and Dunstable. let's hope not.

 

Arrived at the stalker's place north of Aylesbury on time and he showed me some of the heads he'd got game shooting in Africa - a fantastic gemsbok, a good kudu skull and even a baboon. Then off to the estate.

 

We transferred from a 4x4 to a quad bike as the field margins were very wet and the estate owner didn't want them churned up. Almost immediately we spotted a deer in the middle of a huge rrape field - sitting watching us but unperturbed by our presence. The trouble was, it was slap bang in the middle and there was about 300 yards of open ground. So we marked it down for latter stalking and moved on. A beautiful day with plenty of sun. If I'd had my shotgun with me, I could have had a couple of hundred pigeons without any trouble. There were thousands of them on the rape - and they seemed to take little notice of the quad until we were well within range.

 

The most glorious sight of the day was the mass of hares on the fields - hares of all different shades, from sandy to ginger and almost chocolate brown. For the first time (other than on TV accompanied by the witterings of that fat twat Oddie) I saw hares boxing.

 

But back to the deer. After the first CWD, we regularly spotted deer on the fields. Some just stayed lying down and ignored us and offered no chance of a safe or responsible shot, others were very skittish and headed off at the sound of the quad. But then we saw a buck sitting under an oak tree along a hedge line. By taking a big loop we were able to get on to his side of the hedge but out of his sight about 400 yards from him.

 

We started stalking slowly along the hedge. We got to a bend in the hedge about 60 yards from him. Once round the bend he and we would be in full sight. So down on the ground, bipod legs extended and ready to shufffle out. Bill, the stalker, was able to peer round without being seen and confirmed tthe buck was there.

 

At that moment, a bloody dog walker who we'd seen earlier several hundreds yards away and who had clearly seen us with a gun, crossed an open space a couple of hundred yards behind along with three dogs. As I shuffled along to get the shot, the deer saw the walker, and maybe me too, and was up and off before I could get a bead on it.

 

So back on the quad. Moved to tthe south side of the estate and flushed a deer out of some dried up maize on a game strip. We marked where it went and then spotted another deer lying out on some plough. We got to with 200 yards on the quad and stalked along the blind side of a hdge until we were within about 100 yards. The deer just stayed in the sun. I set up in prone with tthe gun sighted to where the deer would be if and when it stood up. The ground was so flat that there was no chancce of a shot until then. We waited. And waited. And waitted. It twitched its ears a bit but that was all. So Bill went further up the hedge line and walked into the field in the hopes that it would get up at least to look at him. Nothing - didn't budge. Bill even whistled and shouted, not a movement from the deer.

 

I moved up along the hedge tto where he was, moved through a gap and had a perfect view of it lying down but it would have been an irresponsible and unsporting shot. We moved further on hoping movement might get it to stand. It did, but it stood and leapt off in one movement as we were moving. So no shot.

 

We circled around again to see if we could find any we'd moved from cover earlier. No luck, until we spotted a buck feeding under a big oak on the edge of a copse. We were a couple of hundred yards away, up a hill and with a hedge between us. The problem was, the only gap in the fence was too near for me to get through and aim before it was bound to scarper and the wind would carry my scent to it.

 

After watchning for a while, we realised it was moving slowly towards us as it fed. So, I tunneled tthrough the base of the hedge, clearing out dried up brambles and sticks. Somehow I cleared a narrow space (too narrow for my prop forward's frame but I squeezed in somehow) and set up under the hedge and sighted the deer through the scope. It was still moving in our direction despite all the noise I thought I'd made clearing the gap.

Eventually, I judged it was a decent distance and I waited for it to move side on. After what seemed an age it did - wham, a .243 bullet just under the ribs and down it went (shot was a trifle low but far enough forward that it didn't hit the gut and instead seemed to get the bbottom of the heart and an artery. It went down straight away and didn't get up again. A plump 2 year old. Didn't know what hit him and didn't suffer. It would have been good to hit him 2 inches higher as I wouldn't have ruined tthe meat around one foreleg!

 

Great day out with a fine stalker.

 

 

Well done mate look,s like you had agreat day.atb catcher

[adam5079 0]

Enjoyed reading that mate Congratulations on your 1st CWD

 

Was the cost reasonable as a lot of CWD stalking is extortionate !!

The basic stalking fee was good - £50 but then £150 for shooting a cull buck.

Who did you stalk with? Would like to know as Im know green eyed with envy!

[Yokel Matt 918]

Great weekend by the looks of things - fantastic write up. I sympathize for you with the dog walkers

[LEWIS123 449]

i wish they had these round my way for the dog to track

[wildfowler-2007 0]

Cracking write up enjoyed the read

 

Regards

[danielforresttikka 0]

Only just read your first cwd story and loved and would love to have a go at cwd myself any chance of sending me the details so i could book up myself ready for november 1st well done again matelovely write up

[danielforresttikka 0]

thanks for the details mate much appreciated and i'll have a chat with tommy .nice one