Two stalks with Davo.

This is a story of two stalks, one evening and one morning.
A couple of weeks ago Davo contacted me and asked me up to stalk with him, what a great gesture, and when I had time to arrange it and Davo giving me a nudge we made it a date and I set off to Bonny Scotland just after breakfast on Tuesday morning. Apart from the pain in the but road works on the A1 the journey up was uneventful and I arrived at Davo's house at about 1:15pm, only to be told that he'd already been out that morning and shot a nice buck. Well done mate. We had a good natter and a much needed cuppa before going to book in at my digs for the night (well 3.5 hours!) and then back to Davo's pad for tea. I'll tell you something at this juncture, Davo is a cracking cook! :D

Right lets cut to the chase. 6:15pm and we're on our way to go shooting, the weather forecast is for blustery winds and showers but hey, it's only a bit of Scotch mist!
Davo dropped me off at his new high seat and told me the safe shooting areas etc, and then went on his own way to try and find another deer. He'd mentioned that he'd seen a buck earlier that day in this patch so I knew that there was trade in the area. I quickly settled in, I looked above me and a Buzzard circled above the field, I looked at him and thought, 'Your a bit premature mate!' Within maybe 5 minutes a buck came out into the opening, I watched him through the scope, but he didn't want to turn broadside, he was quite content grazing on the local fauna and eventually after he had covered about 60 to 80 yards he presented me with a shot. I let the Hornady hollow point loose and the buck felt it's full weight, he jumped up into the air, did a mid air roll onto his back and dropped like a stone, I quickly reloaded and waited for any movement, there was none, but I couldn't see him either, he was amongst the reeds that populate this field and they were obscuring my view. My phone vibrated letting me know that a text had arrived, it was Davo, he'd heard the shot and subsequent report and he wasn't even at his high seat yet! I waited the obligatory 5 minutes and went to look for him.

This is how I found him, untouched by human hands. I was really pleased with this animal as it was my first shot at a Deer with this rifle and indeed this load that I had made, only small wounds and an instant kill. Perfik! ;)

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I sent this photo to Dave and within minutes I think that half of the stalking community of Yorkshire knew that I had grassed a buck! :lol:
We decided to stick it out til the death but nothing else showed for either of us and at 9:00pm the Scotch mist got heavier and we called it a night.
We returned to Davo's house and larded the Deer, he was 31lbs dressed out, a nice little 6 pointer, thanks Dave.

Now, when you go to Davo's house his hospitality knows no bounds and he cracked open a bottle of red and poured me the biggest glass of wine that I'd ever seen, the best thing is though, it was bloody good wine too! :p We discussed tactics for the morning and chewed the fat for a while and before we knew it the time was 11:30pm and we were going out again at 4.00. :doh:

Well Dave had drunk his Stein of wine and kindly Mrs Davo offered me a lift to the digs, *thanx* I must have hit the sack about 12:15 and as I laid down (with the alarm set for just over 3 hours later) I reflected on the evenings events and I fell asleep a happy and content Mouse!

The bloody alarm clock burst into life and woke me from a fantastic dream, I must admit that I could have easily turned it off and turned over but Davo was going to be on his way soon and so I got dressed and made my way down stairs, Dave turned up right on the button and we headed off to the wilds again.
As we arrived at this mornings destination we drove onto a rough field and as we parked up and started our walk Dave saw a fox leg it away from us but before I could get him in my sights he had managed the 10 yard sprint into the conifers. Davo pointed me in the direction of my high seat and as I approached it there was a deer stood next to it, it was a doe, she saw me as I saw her and she was most dis chuffed that I had disturbed her breakfast, she barked her annoyance at me and fled towards the woodland and out of site, barking at me as she went.
This is the high seat and the view.
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To the left.
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In front.
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And to the right.
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I climbed into the plastic chair that is secured into the high seat and had a good scan around, daylight was already upon us and the colours were starting to come to life, I could hear a Cuckoo not to far away, the occasional Cock Pheasant made his presence known and the Crows called as they headed out for their first feed of the day. Then from the far left hand corner of the field all Hell broke loose, a buck crashed out of the trees and ran as fast as he could along the tree line, I readied my rifle and as he made it to the trees directly infront of me he turned left and back into the woods, I quickly looked left again to see what had chased him out, I almost expected to see a bigger buck flexing his muscles, but if he was he was doing it inside the woods. Just then I heard the previous buck bark, he kept having a grumble and he sounded quite upset by everything but this was fine as it allowed me to track his movements even though I couldn't see him. He had now made his way to my right and as sure as eggs are eggs he made his way out into the opening, there were some bushes in the way at first but he was settling down now and starting to put his head down and feed. He did keep looking back towards where he had first come from and I kept waiting for a shot. Eventually that time came, he turned broad side at about 100 yards, I took aim and sent my bullet over to stop him, he jumped into the air and fell behind the bush that he'd just come from behind. Again my phone gave me a tickle in my pocket!!! *giggle* and it was Davo asking what I had shot, again I'd not been there 15 minutes and Dave had only just got to his location. Again I waited the 5 minutes and went to get my prize. The time was just after 5:05am.
Again this is how I found him.
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and a closer look at him.
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He weighed 36lbs dressed out .

That was it, two in the bag in two outings, I was delighted, I spoke with Dave and this was a great result as between us we have a 100% record on our trips out together, and long may it continue! ;)

Nothing else showed up this morning and at 7:00 am the wind had got up and the rain was coming down (well across) and the tempriture had plummeted I was frozen, and it's May! We decided that enough was enough and headed back to Daves house for a smashing breakfast. :D (Notice, food again :lol: )
Now there is another little story that is connected with this last buck, it's a mystery really but thats for another thread. Keep your eyes skinned for it because it should raise a few eyebrows and also will hopefully be a good debate.

Anyway that just leaves me to say a great big thank you to Dave, your not only a gentleman but your a great cook too, thanks again mate and I look forward to the return match in June at my place. :D
 
Cracking write up and a great gesture, im still waiting to get my first nice roe buck im sure the time will come. Very nice bucks as wellwhats the story on the last one?
 
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