I was due to fly back to Norway on Friday so I though I would sneak out for one last stalk on Thursday evening with my brother James as the weather was good. We arrived at the terrain quite early so we could have a quick scan around before setting up in an area where we had previously seen two small bucks. Having carefully scanned the surrounding fields nothing was showing so we made our way towards the target area, I had decided that we would lie out in the middle of a field hidden by a small rocky patch and some reeds approximately 150 meters from the forest edge.
After about an hour and a half of scanning with the binoculars I spotted a deer on the forest edge, but it was too far away to identify if it was buck so James got the video camera ready to get some close up footage and it quickly became apparent that the deer was a doe. She eventually came out into the field to graze and did so for over an hour and a half totally unaware of our presence and allowing us to get some nice footage.
After about one hour of watching her James spotted another deer on the forest edge and we could clearly see that this was a buck, but unfortunately it slipped back into the forest without presenting a chance for a shot. We lay in the field and continued to watch the roe doe as the temperature got colder and as the light slowly began to fade, then suddenly out the corner of my eye, I spotted a dark figure creeping out into the field about 200 meters away. Up with the binoculars I could see the horns above the ears so I knew it was a buck, quickly and quietly I positioned myself with the rifle whilst James readied the camera, both of us trying desperately not to spook the doe who was now only 75 meters in front of us. After what seemed like 10 minutes of slowly positioning myself I was finally comfortable and had a steady rest with the buck in my cross hairs, James gave me the nod and I took the shot.
I was standing on sticks and my brother was lying on the ground filming so the camera angle is deceptive, the bullet having passed through will have grounded out in the ground infront of the stone wall.
The shot was high and clipped the spine causing the animal to drop on the spot, I quickly reloaded but there was no further movement, so we gave him 5 minutes before making our way over. When we got there he had expired so we quickly took a couple of photo's and I lasered the range which was 175 meters.
A big thank you to both Steve & James for all their time and help during my stay, I'm already counting down the days to my return in the summer.
After about an hour and a half of scanning with the binoculars I spotted a deer on the forest edge, but it was too far away to identify if it was buck so James got the video camera ready to get some close up footage and it quickly became apparent that the deer was a doe. She eventually came out into the field to graze and did so for over an hour and a half totally unaware of our presence and allowing us to get some nice footage.
After about one hour of watching her James spotted another deer on the forest edge and we could clearly see that this was a buck, but unfortunately it slipped back into the forest without presenting a chance for a shot. We lay in the field and continued to watch the roe doe as the temperature got colder and as the light slowly began to fade, then suddenly out the corner of my eye, I spotted a dark figure creeping out into the field about 200 meters away. Up with the binoculars I could see the horns above the ears so I knew it was a buck, quickly and quietly I positioned myself with the rifle whilst James readied the camera, both of us trying desperately not to spook the doe who was now only 75 meters in front of us. After what seemed like 10 minutes of slowly positioning myself I was finally comfortable and had a steady rest with the buck in my cross hairs, James gave me the nod and I took the shot.
I was standing on sticks and my brother was lying on the ground filming so the camera angle is deceptive, the bullet having passed through will have grounded out in the ground infront of the stone wall.
The shot was high and clipped the spine causing the animal to drop on the spot, I quickly reloaded but there was no further movement, so we gave him 5 minutes before making our way over. When we got there he had expired so we quickly took a couple of photo's and I lasered the range which was 175 meters.
A big thank you to both Steve & James for all their time and help during my stay, I'm already counting down the days to my return in the summer.