East Sussex with Robin and sikamalc

After a very kind invitation I headed off down to East Sussex on Friday morning to meet up with Robin and sikamalc for a bit of stalking on Robin's ground and hopefully with a view to getting my last DSC2 witnessed stalk signed off.

The weather didn't make it easy for us, with Robin and Malc experiencing thick fog on Friday morning and we got onto some very twitchy deer on Friday evening (I nearly got a shot after closing the gap and scrabbling through a muddy hole under the hedge!). It didn't bode well on Saturday when we awoke to torrential rain. However, the decision to spend an extra hour in bed was a good one and we arrived shortly after the rain had stopped.

The deer were still not emerging so we opted to walk through the wood to see if anything would stir and Robin (who as acting 'Senior Guide' :lol: had nobly gone rifle-less!) found an 80 odd strong herd of fallow with some beautiful bucks, meanwhile at our end of the wood Malc and myself spotted a line of fallow coming out but instead of heading to the lower ground (where the backstop was!) they opted to u-turn and head back into the wood, never leaving the brow of the hill.

Still, for someone who doesn't stalk fallow often it was great to see a good size herd of deer amongst which were very nice animals indeed!

Moving onto the next patch of ground on Saturday it finally came together and I managed to get onto a fallow doe and Malc got a doe and a calf on the same ground. Amazingly, as we were extracting the carcasses Robin's well trained deer had come back to watch us! Tempting though it was we decided that 3 deer was enough so Robin's remaining stock was safe for another day!

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Robin and his wife Cherry for their excellent hospitality and also to Malc for witnessing my last DSC2 stalk and all the paperwork that entails!

And a big thanks to Robin for letting us loose on his ground which truly is a deer paradise! Now he is retired (did we mention Robin is retired now? ;) ) I dare say he'll be spending lots of time on there and I must say, I'm envious!

Cheers guys! :thumb:

East Sussex 001 (Large).JPG

all the best,

Alex
 
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Alex,
It was a pleasure mate, we enjoyed your company,
it was a shame we couldn't get one of those master bucks, perhaps next time.
Now that I'm retired :D I will have time to get them trained, into lining up, in order of age and sex as you require:thumb:
That is of course if Malc isn't there first, or those other reprobates.
Regards
Robin
 
well done robin (acting senior guide) i kept on trying to grab a few minutes to give you all a call but you know how it is. but then again i had someone who kept on mithering i mean phoning me and keeping me upto date on what you 3 were upto. plenty of fun was had then :cool: well done all of you and alex on finishing your level 2.
 
Well done you lot, glad you got the last one finished off Alex. When I spoke to Malcolm you had not connected yet and he had retired to bed after breakfast, waiting for Robin to run his bath I think :D.

Well done Robin sounds as if you did them proud mate, congrats on your retirement although I do feel sorry for Cherry!

John
 
Well done Alex on getting the last one signed off , just waiting for that phone call now..
 
Well done Alex on finishing your Level 2 with the help of Malc. Good on you (Butler),:lol: i mean Robin for putting up with em and offering to take them on your ground.;)

wadas
 
Well done Alex on getting your last one signed off. sounds as you have some good ground down there Robin and all the best for your retirement
David
 
Cheers guys, yep feels good to get the DSC2 stalks done. It's been a bit of a slog actually. You read about people getting all three done in one day, well not me.... I think overall it's taken ten stalks with a witness in tow between August and now to achieve it due to weather, no deer, wrong species, wrong sex, wrong trousers or combinations thereof! :lol:

I should also thank IanF (and Jo) for witnessing the first two for me. They've got a great setup down there for staying the weekend and getting some stalks in.

Well done Alex on finishing your Level 2 with the help of Malc. Good on you (Butler),:lol: i mean Robin for putting up with em and offering to take them on your ground.;)

Wadas, Robin tried to confuse us by putting out road closed signs and taking us a roundabout route to the ground but it's ok 'cos Malc got a GPS fix on his truck so we're good to go. We even bumped into the landowner on the ground on Saturday but Robin spotted us before I could get my cheque book out! :lol:

Joking aside though, it really is a great spot for stalking. No livestock, grass cut once per year for hay, acres of broad leaf woodland - pretty much as deerish as you can get!

Alex
 
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Good to see you at the weekend Alex, and thank you to Robin (the butler) for allowing us to stalk his ground, plenty of Fallow about thats for sure:D

Hope to catch up with you later in the year, and as I said before you are very welcome to come over to West Sussex for a go later in the season, or Dorset for Sika.

Thanks again to Robin. (He didnt run my bath for me JAYB, but he did bring us tea in bed) very civilised :lol::lol:

ATB

Sikamalc
 
good write up alex,
well done for finishing the level2 also,
having had robins pleasure stalking at sd 2010 you are in good hands.
Malcs spot on with his write ups too for the l2 as he also did one for me (thanks).
well hope you get it away and dont wait long for it to return with the L2 certificate mate.

atb f.
 
Hi Malc and Alex,
Glad you both enjoyed the weekend, don't expect tea in bed every time cos you won't get it.
Looking forward to the next time, apparently my dear wife is looking forward to some sensible conversation,:cuckoo: for a change.

Jaybe,
Cherry is only just finding out how lucky she is having me around all the time:british:

Frank,
thanks for the kind words if we meet up again we must try harder to get a bigger beast.

ATB

Robin
 
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