Reverse Stalking

cervus

Well-Known Member
How often have you stalked up a bunch of deer,such as in the rut and watched the action,and for one reason or another back tracked your stalk leaving them in peace? Got to within 20yds of three sika hinds and a pricket tonight all fast asleep! Left the pricket to dream as he was just over my boundary:camo:
 
A number of times.

Sounds very trite, but most of my top ten ( so far! ) stalking memory moments revolve around not having taken a shot.

Well done for raising the topic :tiphat:
 
i only have stalking for roe and in the summer when im after bucks i always like to leave does with small young in peace and i managed to see for the 1st time this year a young one actualy suckling never seen it before and was nice to see from just 50yrds away but how she was made it really hard to get out without disturding her but still made it a nice stalk
 
Quite a few and more so now than in yesteryear, don't get the wrong idea I'm no bleeding heart and can do the deed as well as the next man, its just that for me stalking is about much more than killing deer. Great idea for a thread, it will be interesting to read others thoughts.
 
Many times when I am out alone.

If I stalk into a nice bunch sitting out in the field then I always backtrack and leave alone but different story if I come across a loner.

We even had a youngster that used to eat the cider apples over night and then spend all day, probably with a bad head, sitting in a little paddock where I used to keep my bees. He was there for several weeks and even returned the following year for his apples and he never ran away from us when we went to check on him.

On one occasion, the farm owners sister said she would like to come round the fields with me to watch me shoot and before we got through the first gate I noticed a large buck which looked like it was trying to rip up a big round bale of hay with his antlers so decided to take him out. Range was about 120 metres so decided on a neck shot. Shot taken and the deer remained fighting with this bale so I decided to move in a bit closer. Range now down to about 50 metres and tried again but again the buck continued to fight with the bale. Looking through my bino's I could now see clearly why he was fighting with the bale, he was well and truly tangled with the mesh that covers the bale and could not get free. I walked over to him and leaned my rifle against the fence, (after making safe) and could see that he had probably been there for at least a day as all the ground around him was very worn. He was very quiet for an animal that had just been shot at twice and probably spent the night and day connected with the bale and probably exhausted so I was able to check his whole body for any signs of a bullet strike but found not a scratch on him. I took my knife and started to cut away the bindings from around his antlers whilst holding on to them and finally he was free. He got up from his knees and stood there for a moment just looking at me with his eye's wide open and then turned and ran about 100 meters before stopping and looking back. I don't know what was going through his mind but I know it made me feel really good inside and when I got back to the landrover the farmers sister said when I went for my knife she thought I was going to just stick the buck but was really glad to see the buck released.

As for why I missed him twice, I had picked up the wrong rounds which were not zeroed to the rifle and were shooting about 6 inches high. If I had taken a chest shot then the buck would have been hit, albeit 6 inches higher than I would have liked. Lesson learned, I always keep my current rounds in my bino case in my cabinet.
​ELMER
 
Some are see it, must shoot it merchants some aren`t.
Always good hear of someone who could of took the shot but chose not to, i suppose it`s called .. humanity.
 
One of the best days stalking I ever had was without a rifle. Guy I knew had been born, brought up and lived in the city all his life. I took him out to see the rut in action, and it couldn't have been better. Stalked in on a group of about 60 hinds with a big stag and about half a dozen smaller stags chancing their luck from all sides of the herd. Sat and watched for about 2 hours at about 150m, while the big fella ran himself ragged, trying to keep the rest at bay, with a couple of the pretenders being chased to within 10 metres of us. Crawled back out again without them ever knowing we'd been there.

On the walk back we spotted a stag with about 10 hinds. Gave him a wee roar and he walked right up to us. Had to stand up to stop him coming over the top of us. And after that he came back for another look.

It was a good few years ago now and the bloke is still telling the story. Not only was it an enjoyable day due to what I had seen, but I knew that the person I had taken with me had truly appreciated what he had witnessed and had the experience of a lifetime.
 
fairly normal on open hill reds, stalk in to a likely stag decide he's too good or an improver and back out again leaving him in peace and look elsewhere. A tougher task I think is to stalk through sheep without moving them, to get at deer.
In the rut it is also useful to know when you can bump deer out of your way. Moving hinds and calves can be risky unless you can shed them away unseen from the group your trying to close on . but bumping staggies at this time seldom gets a second look as they are being chased from pillar to post anyway.
 
Back
Top