Took a mate out for a Muntjac........

[martin 332]

A friend of mine came over to see if I could put him on a Muntjac as he had never shot one,so,I obviously took him over the other side of our valley to 'Muntjac City' which is a wood above a couple of market gardens with some scrubby fields in between the two.It was a lovely evening,and,I put my mate in a position that I thought would be a definite Muntjac spot where he duly got nestled in,and,got ready for a bit of a wait.I got in the next field,and,settled in some long grass watching over a filed that is disected by a very scrubby hotch potch hedgeline with a few large trees in for good measure.

I sat in the long grass with the inner tube rubber pulled down low on my Hazel sticks so I could use them from a seated position,and,waited.I didn't have to wait very long at all,as a Muntjac Buck glided out of the blackthorn hedgeline at the very top of the field,it always amazes me how these creatures can emerge from what looks to be a totally impenetrable wall of thorns.He wandered down from the hedgeline,and,he was a trully wonderful gold colour enhanced by the warm glow of the evening sun,he was approximately 200yds away as I put the crosshairs on him,but,as I rested the crosshairs right on the boiler room something spooked him(he didn't know I was there)and,he skittered off down the field and out of sight.I did think for a moment at least that that might of been my chance gone for the evening,but,I settled back down,and,just carried on enjoying the countryside in front of me.There were a handfull of jackdaws searching for grubs,and,I immediately thought of the longrange guys that would be in their element,and,a Heron circled above and then swung down and landed in a tree opposite me,and,took the lookout post over the valley.

I love this valley,it is a beautiful place especially when the sun shines,and,time just ebbed away..........but,what was that,a movement on my left side,which I was lucky to see with my blindspot,there he was,another Muntjac Buck,or maybe the same one,I wasn't sure.I adjusted my self into a position to enable me to get a bead on him,I rested the Remington on the sticks,and put the crosshairs on him,and,just as I was going to squeeze off a round,there was a CRACK!!!! My mate had taken a shot,and,the Muntjac had picked his head up.I think he was unsure where the shot came from,but,he was certainly making his mind up to do a runner,so,I took my chance,he jumped into the air,and,then done that low jinking run around a Hawthorn bush and dropped stone dead,I guess he got about 20yds,it was a lung shot that also blew the heart away from its anchoring point leaving it totally seperate in the chest cavity...........

They are amizingly tough little critters,and,I am blessed being able to shoot them so close to where I live,anyway,I gralloched him,and,then thought that I had better check on my mate as he had text me that he had dropped a Roe Buck.I text him that I was coming through to his field,and,as I came to the dividing fence,I saw him looking through the scope of his rifle at something at the top of the field which was out of my sightline.He motioned to me that there was something there and that I should stalk around the other side of the field to intercept it,so,I squeezed behind a line of Hawthorn bushes,and,then along on my belly through stingers,and,I got to a point where I could see a Young Buck that was nearly cleaned off,but,almost totally in his Summer pelage.He looked up as if he saw me,but,I think he just had a feeling someone was watching him(as they do),I brought the rifle round to set up the shot,and,he fell to a shot,it was my mate,he thought that the Buck was about to bound off so he decided to take it himself.I will add at this point that he was in a perfectly safe positon to do so,and,he knew exactlty where I was at all times.So,having brought him over for a Muntjac I was the only one to see one,but,on the up side,he didn't do too bad with 2 x Roe Bucks,so,all in all a very enjoyable evening,oh,nearly forgot,while my mate was waiting for his Buck he saw a Hare,which to some of you out there might not mean a lot,but,over here,it is amazing,it is definitely the first Hare seen in this valley as far as I can remember ever,so,good news all round.

On inspection of the Roe Bucks,it was plain to see they were both fairly young,and,both almost cleaned off all bar a few little 'Bob Marley' style dreadlocks,but,what stood out most was the fact that one was in Winter pelage and the othe rvirtually in his Summer pelage,and,both off the same bit of land,just a bit odd i thought............

 

................Martin.

[scent 509]

nice one martin you are getting some decent shooting pal

[ArchieHood 3,692]

your mate did well,2 roe and an excuse to come back for another go at the muntjac

[Guest Sheamus.]

Well done Marty though for one minute i thought my eye`s were playing tricks on me

That was until i read the post and confirmed what i had initially thought. You`v gone and invested in some Pro sticks, welcome to the club

I knew it was only a matter of time before you took those steps to fit in with me

Edited May 4, 2009 by Sheamus.

[weejohn 3]

i must say martin that was a fantastic write up, well done

[Squirrel_Basher 17,100]

Decent write up there mate and a good evening by the sound of it .The truck is still off the road at the mo' but i'll be in touch as soon as its running .

[adbirdy 14]

Well done Martin. Fantastic write up, a great read and good news on the hare as well

 

 

Ade

[Squirrel_Basher 17,100]

double posted

Edited May 4, 2009 by foxdropper

[David 9]

well done martin that place of your's never seem's to fail for you, another good result

[ferreter.al 22]

looks like you had a grate time

[Gimli 0]

Great read and good shooting.