lessons learned

inversanda

Active Member
This is a true account of something that happened to me in my early years as a stalker. I was taking out a Middle Eastern guest out to the hill .After the usual formalities of riffle zeroing etc I was happy he was a competent shot and we set off for the days stalking. To cut a long story short we ended up at 2500 feet 3 miles from the road where I spotted a mature switch red stag. We duly stalked him until we were at 60 to 70 yards (no rangefinders in those days). I should mention here that we did discuss shot placement (we didn’t have such fancy word usage it those days) I basically told him we wait until the stag is broadside, go up front leg to midpoint between back and brisket, 2 inches toward the rear of the beast (avoiding shoulder damage), and I would tell him when to take the shot. We got a good position he was comfortable and steady, the stag was perfectly broadside. I said shoot now, ‘boom’ the stag dropped like a stone, rolled for a wee bit and disappeared into a gully. I saw only the hooves from our position a couple of kicks and then still. The usual congratulations followed. After making sure his chamber was empty, we made our way down the hill to the stag. still congratulating each other on a good stalk. The stag was upside down with one antler jammed into the bank of the burn it body feet upwards bent over at an angle, no sign of movement . I grabbed the other antler and pulled the head lose from the bank. To this day I still remember the sheer terror of the feeling of this ‘dead’ stag coming to life!! The sheer power it had. The next bit is just a blur in my memory as I was acting on instinct, I threw the stag sideways grabbed the riffle off the guest chambered the round and shot it in the head. The guest told me this bit as I still can’t visualise it. What had happened was , the shot had gone low and passed thru both forelegs just above the joint , causing the stag to drop like a stone .It then rolled because of the steep ground and I believe its wind pipe had got restricted so it was unconscious , hence no movement. I learned several valuable lessons that day. The main one was ‘never trust a deer that drops like a stone’. Perhaps some of the experienced stalkers on here could point out the other things that I learnt that day, for the benefit of the novice stalkers on here.

I must mention this is my first thread on this site, so I am a novice too!! (Computers that is). But so far I’m very impressed with it. Thanks for letting me join.

Inversanda
 
Probably best not to shoot reds three mile from a track - it makes for a long day! :lol: Nice account, good to read. :thumb:
 
I'd rather be getting at them miles from a track than not getting a go at them at all - like I am these days.

Nice read Inversanda, I bet you had the heart rate racing for a while there.

DC
 
Are you another one, a bit like me who always has a length of rope in the game pocket.. just in case...
 
Good post and welcome to a very informative site.

I will be in the highlands from sunday on sika, red and roe and to say i'm excited is an understatement.

Hopefully I'll have some pictures and a report once I get back.
 
well it was nice to get some replies as im a newbie here . Sorry about the pdf, file but kept getting time outed , im just getting the hang of two fingered typing.To finish what i started,The other things that i learned that day was, always keep your eye on your deer from the moment of the shot untill you reach it , let the man with the riffle go first,make absolutely sure the deer is dead before handling it (eye contact with stick to test blink reaction.The other one was DONT shoot it in the head if you are with a client. The guy was well ****ed off!!!! One mans cull could be anothers 'trophy',especialy if he is paying. Also keep a tube of superglue in the larder at all times.
 
nice read Inversanda . . I have been stalking now for 12 years and the most important thing i have learnt about deer stalking is NEVER Assume anything !


Chill
 
nice read Inversanda . . I have been stalking now for 12 years and the most important thing i have learnt about deer stalking is NEVER Assume anything !


Chill

Agreed! .......... I've been in this game now for 3 decades, and I learned the only thing predictable about wild deer stalking is it's UNPREDICTABILITY!

Good story Inversanda,

Regards Mike
(Jelen Deer Services) www.jelendeer.com
 
Thanks guys. I have many more such tales ,as im sure you guys have too. My philosophy is dont be afraid to air your past mistakes because others could learn from them as you had to.I will share some of them in due course.If you cant laugh at yourself,others will just take the ****!
 
Back
Top