Things you see out of a high seat

chill123

Well-Known Member
I have just spent an hour and a half in a high seat , freezing to death ,seeing nothing but a Pheasant and a Rabbit . My mind wondered back to the time i was sat in a high seat in Sussex and down the hill in front of me ran a very startled looking Rabbit followed closely by a large Mink . I watched the chase cross the ride twice to my right . I dont now if the Mink caught the Rabbit but it was very interesting to watch.
From the same high seat i saw i fox catch a mouse .Carry it into the middle of the ride then for the next two minutes repeatedly pounce up and down on the mouse . After this wonderfull
display i decided against the shot and let the fox walk away.
Anyone else got any tales ?
Chill
 
About 8 or 9 years ago I was sat in a seat over looking a fairly young poplar plantation, we occasionally used to see the odd barn owl nearby.
On this particular evening I was lucky enough to have a pair of them flying and hunting virtually underneath me.
It only got better, as out the corner of my eye one of the pair landed on an old high seat which was not six feet from me.
It had caught a mouse and just sat there eating it, the only trouble was I could not move a muscle as it was so close. Which meant I could only see it out of the corner of my eye. I would have loved to have got a picture but had no camera, and as it was so close it probably would have spooked any way.
They are such amazing birds almost magical the way they fly.
I will never forget that night.:D:D

Atb

Nick
 
This summer just gone I sat in a high seat in the early hours of the morning and a barn owl, which I'd seen in the field a number of times before and which had spent the last 5 minutes hunting, decided to alight on the rifle rest in front of me with a mouse in its jaws. I sat there, not daring to move a muscle, as it looked at me. Eventually I had to blink and with that it flew off and landed in the nest oak tree along.

A magical moment.

willie_gunn
 
I have been fortunate in seeing some brilliant stuff. In my first morning in a high seat my friend and I were visited by a barn owl, landing on a branch not three feet from me. We have seen it every time we have been in that seat in the morning.

But my absolute favourite was this year in the summer, I saw a cock pheasant harrassing a fox. It flew out of the hedge after making a lot of noise, closely followed by the fox. The pheasant kept flying up and away from the fox, landing then walking back, aggressively kicking up grass and flicking its wings, towards the fox. When the fox dashed at the pheasant it would repeat the process, flying up and away. It kept this up for 5 minutes or more. Eventually it flew slowly, and just out of reach, into the wood I was sitting against, with the fox running below. With the pheasant up in a tree the fox huffed and snorted and eventually walked back out into the field, where I gave it the benefit of a Hornady 129gn SST.

ft
 
Have seen a couple of strange things while in one of my seats waiting
on wild bore just out watching one night with the old guy that works
at gamedeeler had a few piles of food out and fox sneaked out of nearby
bracken and started to feed on old bread on one pile , we watched for
couple of minutes and a big old sow flew from the bracken and put foxy
3 or 4 feet in the air not sure who got the bigger fright the fox or us
 
Waiting in a lean to highseat for a fox one evening this summer I had a Roebuck come past very close. He sighted my dog who was sat a little way from the foot of the ladder, he circled around and eventually ended up stood under the highseat, between the tree and the ladder, and almost eyeball to eyeball with the dog ! Not a young daft buck either but a nice mature animal. He did'nt half shift though when the dog could stand it no longer and stood up!
 
Not high seat but sitting in a ditch looking down a ride...
A Robin using the barrel as a perch...ever seen a Robin nearly having a coronary?:)
 
Out along River Usk the other day walking with dog gun and mate came across dog otter playing about and fishing between 20 to 40 m wathed him for about 20 mins great bit of veiwing
Paul D
 
Three or four years ago, I had gone out with my .17HMR after rabbits. It was raining so I stayed in my 4x4, parked alongside a wood ,looking down the edge, waiting for any unfortunate rabbits that might come out.
One rabbit came out, over 100 yards away, and I shot him through the head. I left it where it was and waited for another.
The field had been ploughed with furrows, and not too long later another rabbit came out of the wood. It was in a furrow so I couldn't get a clean shot at it. It made its way toward the dead rabbit. When it got to it, it stopped for a few seconds, then the strangest thing happened. I was watching it through the scope ,set on about 7x magnification. The rabbit started the give the dead rabbit a damn good thrashing, with its back legs. There was fur flying up in the air and it was all so violent looking, I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
What was that all about ?
 
Three or four years ago, I had gone out with my .17HMR after rabbits. It was raining so I stayed in my 4x4, parked alongside a wood ,looking down the edge, waiting for any unfortunate rabbits that might come out.
One rabbit came out, over 100 yards away, and I shot him through the head. I left it where it was and waited for another.
The field had been ploughed with furrows, and not too long later another rabbit came out of the wood. It was in a furrow so I couldn't get a clean shot at it. It made its way toward the dead rabbit. When it got to it, it stopped for a few seconds, then the strangest thing happened. I was watching it through the scope ,set on about 7x magnification. The rabbit started the give the dead rabbit a damn good thrashing, with its back legs. There was fur flying up in the air and it was all so violent looking, I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
What was that all about ?
Must have been playing
myxomatosis or the Irish version of the Gay Gordons
more like that they were two bucks though establishing territory definition
 
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A few years ago I was on a hare day up on the wolds, smallish day only about ten guns in each team. Anyway on this particular drive I was a walking gun and as we approached the standers there was just one live hare left and pretty much surrounded. He weighed up his options, looked around, hopped over to one of his dead companions, and proceeded to give her a right good humping !!

Unfortunately for him he tried to break back through the walkers after getting his leg over and it was lights out. Talk about going out with a bang !
 
At dusk while waiting on a little bit of a hill, a pheasant got up on my right and started to fly down the hill to some far off cover where he was going to spend the night
He landed some 50 yards short of the cover and very close to a ditch with barbed wire running on one side.
In the ditch was quite a bit of cover as harvesting was ongoing
As soon as he landed a fox shot out and grabed him
I sent off a bullet as the fox was killing his prey and in all the comotion the fox moved and the bullet missed him
I quickly reloaded and sent another bullet on its way
The fox disapeared into the ditch with the pheasant.
I worked on the principle that if the fox had been hit he would have dropped the pheasant.
So never went over to see.
 
i had the most annoying encounter from a high seat i'm afraid, stalking fallow down in shaftesbury on friday, was sat in a high seat in the last half hour of light, seen fallow all day but none provided a safe shot, backstop wise, get into this high seat with me mate, settled down i watched to the left occasionally looking infront he did the same but looking right and infront. all of a sudden i got a sharp jab in my ribs, "fallow, infront!! " sure enough there they were 3 common doe's two melanistic buck fawns and a melanistic doe, a nice little family group. i decided to take the smaller weaker looking black buck fawn at the back of the group, put the crosshair of the meopta 2100 3-12x50ir sat on top of my friends mannlicher scout .308 dead on just behind the buck fawns front shoulder, safety off, taking up pressure on the trigger, literally just about to loose the round off " Wo, Wo dont shoot!! " i pulled my finger back and held on the trigger guard, looking at my friend " what, what, i'm ready for the shot" he just pointed forwards saying "look" no sooner had i looked back and there was a springer spaniel and two german pointers chasing the deer off, closely followed by a middle aged bearded man waving the leads frantically at them shouting ever swear word under the snow filled clouds and tripping over his own feet as if they would'nt go quick enough. obviously the deer were gone followed by the dogs and the exhausted flattered man out for a quiet walk. i must add the rifle was back on safe then and pointing into the air away from the target area. me and david then looked at each other in a rather surprised yet bewildered expression and just both burst out laughing!!
the moment was priceless!! :) never loosed off a round all the day but that moment lasting no longer than 60 seconds made our day completely!! we went back to the larder greeting the head stalker empty handed, and after telling him of the man and dogs that "oh that bloody ******* thats only the third time this week!! needless to say me and david looked at each other yet again and burst out laughing :) so we toted the days unsuccesful but priceless day of stalking with a small thimble of whiskey with the head stalker and we were on our way.
how i cannot wait til the next time at Shaftesbury :)
hopefully more luck next time but a trully brilliant day.

All the best
Secret
 
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once found two queers up a seat , one holding the rail and his mate trying to push him over it , i never used that seat for months after
 
Up a seat waiting for a young roe buck in a large oak wood I saw a Woodcock carrying it's young, priceless.
 
This year so far, a Barn owl hunting ground in front of me at dusk with me sitting under an old oak in the middle of a field waiting for a fallow buck when the owl dropped down next to me on the ground 3 feet from my legs and sat there resting for 3 or 4 minutes just as the buck appeared. Did not move an inch until he took to the air again and continued his hunt while i continued mine. Had a Buzzard fly up a ride with a squirrel hanging from his tallons and land on a branch level with me to start his breakfast. lastly i was in a high seat a few months ago and i could hear movement to my rear, i turned to see brock bounding along and then pounce on an unsuspecting pheasant, catch it and munch it, not as magical as the first two but just as gripping !
 
Up a seat waiting for a young roe buck in a large oak wood I saw a Woodcock carrying it's young, priceless.

Hello

Did it carry them on its back or between its legs? I have seen them take off and the young just vanish so I am sure they do carry them but I never knew where or how.

Mark
 
I actually had a little bird, some sort of finch I think sit on my shoulder, be it for a nano second this morning whilst up a high seat.
 
Well this morning i saw this big beauty out of one of my seats, been after him for months. felt a bit sad really we have being cat and mouse all this time now its come to an end .
He is huge and in fantastic condition and will be off up to monarch after xmas to be mounted . DF
View attachment 3931 View attachment 3932
 
Gorgeous Fox DF. Congratulations on bagging him after your Cat and Mouse hunt with him! - Look forward to receiving him after Christmas. ATB, Bill. (nice rifle too)
 
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