Last Roe Buck of the season

stuey

Well-Known Member
Well, the gun is ready, my gear is out and I'll be heading out early doors for a wander and see if I can get a Roe Buck. Been a bit frost here last night and I think tomorrow will bring the same, so looking forward to a fresh morning.

Anyone else got any stalking planned as we reach the end of the Buck season here in England.

Looking to the doe season, there have been plenty flushed by the game shoot the past few weekends so I'll problably be out Sunday for a look for the first Does of the season.

cheers

Stu
 
Stu

I was out last Sunday morning and evening - the last trip out for roe bucks this season. The morning was blank (wet, windy, why did I bother getting out of bed ;) ) but the evening was clear.

At last light, standing by the edge of a conifer wood and looking across a field, out comes a doe, closely followed by a buck. He hops over the low fence into the field and very obligingly stands broadside on about 60 yards away. The shot off the sticks was good and after a run of 20 yards the last buck of the season was in the bag.

What pleased me the most was that my young cocker spaniel - who was out on her first stalking trip ever - sat by my side the whole time. After the shot I took her out to where the buck had originally been standing and she followed the short trail up to the beast. This made up for her "mad minute" earlier in the evening when the lure of all those pheasants hiding in the bracken proved a temptation too far :lol:

I've seen plenty of does the last couple of weeks, but I'm sure come next weekend they'll be far less obvious and far less likely to stand and stare ;)

willie_gunn
 
I'm going out for a Roebuck tomoroow night and Friday morning. I was hoping for one last weekend - we got a Fallow pricket and a Munty, so a Roe would have rounded it off well - that's all I've got on my ground!

The does and fawns that I've seen look in good condition, but as you say, I'm sure they will soon vanish when November starts!

Good luck everyone.

Mark
 
Well, I arrived at my patch just as the sun was coming up. a beautiful sunrise warming my back as I headed into the wind to my favourite spot, a little hollow, surrounded by trees on 2 sides and warmed by the sun. As luck would have it, the farmer had also left some of his crop as cover for the pheasants and I'd guess a potential lure for the deer.

As I stood in the shadow of a large oak, my attention was drawn to the pigeons landing above my head and the subsequent shower of acorns their flapping dislodged.

Attention back on the deer, I scanned the field and the woodland edge I was standing in, and was eye to eye at no more than 15ft with a lovely fit looking doe. It retreated to a safe distance, watching the area it had sensed me for a minute before trotting off across the field. Looking back into the field, 2 more does had now appeared at about 50yds and were browsing the heads of corn left by the farmer. I watched them slowly creep further into the field before moving back into the wood, their tails helping me to track them through the undergrowth.

As the sun got up, I headed to another spot of woodland, but it was head on into the wind and no deer apparent. Entering the woodland was also a no no at the moment with the game shoot under way so I headed back around the perimeter scanning as I made my way back to the car. A couple of snipe and a covey of Grey Partridge making their presence known as I crunched along the still fozen ploughed field.

So I think that will be ther buck season for me but I'll be out on Sunday morning to try for one of the does, especially as they keep getting into the feeders and eating the grain. Got to keep Mr. and Mrs. Pheasant happy!!!


Good to hear of your success Willie and that of your Spaniel. Is it a deer dog or a jack of all trades, as I am in the process of getting a Cocker myself to use a a general shooting dog and would love to hear your experiences.

cheers

Stu
 
Stuey, I have one in the chiller from last week (see Articles) the result of several mornings and evenings knowing he and a younger one were there.
We were beating an outlying area on Saturday which should have been ploughed. However still in stubble and will look there tonight.
I was all set to go yesterday eve but raining stair rods and a cold wind, so little point.
The ground is only 15 minutes from my work so leave at 16:30 and will just have time to look round before dark.
I could do with one more to round off the season but am not under pressure.
 
Stu

She's still very young - only 18 months - but the plan is that she will be the proverbial Jack of all trades. She's yet to go out after game either beating or picking up, but she's already hunting and quartering the ground like a demon. I took her stalking because (a) I'd taken my normal 'stalking' lab out in the morning and she was still recovering, and (b) the cocker is generally better at sticking at heel than the two labs!

I've not done any 'proper' deer dog training, but I'm planning on getting to the deer dog day in February.

What I would say is that, having always considered that lab's are the be-all and end-all of the gundog breeds, I am absolutely besotted with my cocker! Even more bizarrely, so is my wife, and she was reluctant to have a cocker in the first place.

But who can blame her......

Sika.jpg


willie_gunn
 
willie_gunn

I've had cockers for 30 years and once you are hooked you'll never have another breed. They are the most fantastic of all working dogs and when you think you've trained them to perfection.................. beware !!

BliisandKit2.jpg
 
Blot

Your black cocker in the foreground is the spitting image of mine.....but not quite so pretty ;)

I can't see from the photo if it's a dog or a bitch, but if it's a dog I have a bitch who I'm sure would be delighted to get to know him :D

willie_gunn
 
She's a bitch willie_gunn - and so is the gold dog. Both were bred by Peter Clulee at Larford Gundogs - they're father is Larford Cateran who won the Cocker Championship is 1999. They are half sisters and are really good dogs. Gold dog is Bliss and is aged 5 and the black dog is Kit aged just 2 years.

I told Kit about the "not so pretty" remark, which of course offended her particularly as the picture was taken when she was out working so she asked me to send the attached picture of her when she'd had her hair done ! :)



Kit.jpg


Regards

Blot
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Blot

Apologies to Kit! She is uncannily similar to Sika. To prove it, here's one of my three monsters together:

MotleyCrew.jpg


Twigg on the left - we bought him part trained, if only we could figure out which part
Sika in the middle - too clever by half!
Fallow on the right - shifts from "Stalking Superdog" to "Hound from Hell" with reckless abandon

willie_gunn
 
DSC00297.jpg


willie-gunn

I think you have a relation to one of my cockers, my little black and white bitch is a spittimg image. She works deer and feather and I found that training her on deer and blood tracking first really steadied her.
 
Cockerdog

They do look very similar....

If you have any pointers on the basic stages of training on deer and blood tracking I'd be very interested to hear them. Sika is a cracking little dog, and getting better all the time (now there's tempting fate!) but I'd like to get some of the basic deer discipline in early if I can. I've never trained a dog on deer, so I'm all ears on this one.

willie_gunn
 
willie-gun

I missed out on the first one due to other commitments.
Looking forward to this one in Feb.

hopefully see you there and others off the site

Jonathon
 
Just to bring it back on topic a bit :rolleyes: ;)

I went out this morning for a last look round for a Roebuck. Saw six Roe in total (one doe with a fawn, then a family group containing a doe, a buck and two fawns). I got pretty close to one group, but they didn't present a safe shot unfortunately (or perhaps I'm going soft in my old age!). It was a cracking morning if a bit chilly and I did some sitting and mobile stalking. If nothing else it has shown me that there is some good healthy buck stock about for next season and plenty of does to be craking on with over the winter.

It's always a bit sad when the Roebuck season ends, but I am more enthusiastic about my stalking than ever before. What a great end to the season.


Doe and fawn


The buck is leading the way with a doe next, then buck fawn and doe fawn bringing up the rear!

I hope you all had a good morning if you were out this morning.
 
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