Michael`s October swap hunt-Part II-

.... Next morning, a lovely Sunday morning, found me on Stansted Airport....
Its always a pleasure to travel with the most crappy airline of the world.. R...air...:confused:
Early as it was, only a few desks were openend and thanks to their great customer service, lovely about 150 people were already in an endless queue, waiting to drop off their luggage. Finally I made it one counter, just to be told, that it would cost me another 50 GBP or unloading my suitcase, because of 2 kilos overweight...
What a senseless issue, my boots went into my carry on backpack, so its the same weight on the flight and the hand luggage storing space is even a bit more filled..:doh:

OK, a quick flight and a smooth touch down in Dublin. Easy check out and when leaving the building there was already my good mate Ross waiting for me:lol:!
Great to see him again, but what the h... happened to his face??
He looked like the most hairy, red bearded Irish I could think off, but I had to admit, he looked "professional" somehow..:old:
After leaving my worries and fear somewhere, we headed to the B&B, stopped for a nice lunch
gui.jpgand soon enough, I was ready for the first stalk in the Wicklow mountains!

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When leaving the truck, it was a nice afternoon, a little breeze, some clouds, but nothing to be worried about...
We made our way uphill, entered the forest and while whisteling from time to time, we climbed uphill.
Then it started to rain, I mean RAIN...:confused:
Man, it was pooring down, the wind picked up and I got a truely "Welcome to Ireland!"....
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Ross, sure enough just checking out, if I was able to follow him and stand this weather, kept going, uphill...
We reached the treeline and got hit hard by the wind, which obviously changed into a storm by now...
Bloody hell, definetively no deer moving under this circumstances.
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I guess, Ross realized, I wasnt this bad in hill climbing, so we made our way downhill again, looking for some shelter.

The wind calmed down, the rain stopped and after a couple of minutes, it wasnt this bad at all any more...
Thanks to high quality gear, I was dry and warm, and the outer layers started to dry already!

When crossing a little creek we spotted an Hybrid hind and her calf, grazing along the creek, so where are the boys??
Ross then spotted two stags almost on top of the next ridge, I told him, that in my eyes, it would be a tough uphill stalk again and we may be up there just around sunset, which wouldnt make me feel too comfort to take a quick shot under fading light...
So we left them in peace and I sneaked around another hill climb for this day!:D

We made our way into the forest again and bumped into a group of Sika after just another couple of minutes...
Now we stalked even slower, checked out the area and the wind constantly and spotted another small stag and a pricket grazing along a little forest road. Good to see them, but also a couple of whistles didnt bring in any bigger stags.
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The sun went down, we called it the day and got home safe, of course, the heavy rain was back...


Next morning first light, back up into the Wicklow mountains, a nice sunset, but still heavy clouds around, promising not the best weather…
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We slowly stalked uphill, following a forest road, stopped here and there to give it some whistles, but nothing showing up.
We reached a very unique and beautiful open scenery, settled in next to a larger spruce tree and scanned the heather around us. Sure enough, there was a whistle not too far away, but only once. We stood passioned, Ross gave it some tries, and then... A movement from the right… Only a single hind checking us out, no stag following her…
After a while we went back downhill, reached the local pub for a full Irish breakfast and took a very scenic ride back to the area from the afternoon before.
According to the wind direction, we figured our stalk, and off we went, sure enough, and exactly the opposite than my local “Professional” had told me, we bumped into a group of Hybrids (hinds) grazing on a clearfell, what they of course usually never do…

We continued into the forest, and man, there were some hinds around, warning signals again and again, but no stags showing themselves.
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Another loop around the area from the day before, lots of deer sign, but nothing showing up, so again, back home.

The evening was specialized with a nice dinner together with Ross`lovely family, which was a true pleasure to meet and got me hooked in thoughts about my family back home that night.

Next morning, a very different ground and area, we went to the Irish midlands to give it a try for a fallow buck, if speaking about a nice buck, that is something missing on my list for so far…
First daylight, little frost on the ground, a beautiful sunset in a countryside offering large meadows (like parks), steep valleys and hardwoods covered and brushed up by hazelnutbrushes.
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When leaving the truck we saw two does crossing the road, entering the first large meadow, obviously heavy travelled by deer, our eyes got caught by a group of hares, which were chasing and fighting each other again and again. Very special to watch, good fun!

A nice stalk along a river, crossing several patches of woodland and goarsh fields, plus several meadows holding a bunch of horses on them brought no deer in sight, but the tracks were telling us, they were there, somewhere…
Ross got really disappointed by this point and called his friend Roddy, who usually should have taken us out on that lovely piece of ground, but couldn’t do so, according to an eye injury, to ask for support…
A quick ride to another, large cattle farm, a long stalk around, another view on loads of deer tracks, but nothing showing up…
I thought, one of the reasons might have been the full moon, at home they turn nocturnal and are heading back for cover early in the morning…

We left this farm and met Roddy and his wife, had a cuppa and some breakfast (thanks for your hospitality!) and drove back home.
The afternoon was used to gather some fitness by a long nap, an extraordinary long shower and some efforts to dry out all the gear.

When feeling better, it was time to meet my good friend Glendine for dinner and beer in Dublin!
What a pleasure to see him again! Glendine, the great news about your wife made my evening, I felt so happy for her!!
We had a good chat, Ross and Glendine met for the first time also (yes, they had their first time…), good food and some good drinks in the famous STAGS HEAD got me ready for the next day!

The next morning Ross and me stalked again uphill, following the forest road to this nice large open area on top of the hillside.
Again it was pretty wet, a little rain, mist and heavy clouds.
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On our way up we spotted some Sika hinds, a little pricket and reached the top after a calm and silent approach. I felt pretty confident for some action to happen sooner or later, but no whistle, no deer, no nothing…
I could feel Ross getting slightly concerned about the development, but all of us know, that’s hunting!
I had very similar thoughts and emotions when Ross was over with me in May and I had a hard time getting him on a roe, we didn’t even manage to bag him a nice buck…

So, another stalk back to the truck, another nice breakfast (somehow the same meal got 4,00 € more expensive than the day before…?) and another drive back to the other ground…
When arriving there, the weather got better and better, very warm again, but not raining yet.


This time we went right, another forest track leading onto a large clearfell.
When approaching the uppest end of it, we spotted a group of hinds and calves grazing along the forest road. Great!
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We settled down in the tall grass and started to scan the huge clearfell laying in front of us. Soon enough we saw other Sika along the forest edge, some hinds, some prickets and also some whistles coming out of the forest.
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After a while we decided to move on, carefully and silent onto the clearfell to get into any usefull shooting position. We bumped into another group of hinds and crossed the clearfell. This clearfell was covered with deer tracks, droppings, bedding areas.. It seemed to be THE hot spot!
We reached a little rock formation, only about 120 m to the forest edge, I got ready on the sticks, some whistles nearby and some hinds crossing the forest track below us. It looked very promising and I could feel the adrenalin raising.
I scanned the forest edge again and again, deer coming out and disappearing into another patch of foresty, some right in front of us, when Ross told me a stag coming on the right hand side, about 80 m away, heading straight towards us to check us out.
I had to turn around and get the rifle ready on the rock I was sitting on, the stag still coming closer, now only about 40 m away, eventually he turned broadside and a shot on the shoulder made him stumble about another 40 m before going down.
Wow, that happened quickly again, and while the emotions started kicking in, I could hear and feel some big stones of pressure falling off from Ross!

Well done, and an heartly Waidmannsdank for a couple of days out in the beautiful Irish scenery, stalking different grounds for different species and finally bagging a nice Sika!

After giving Ross a well earned “Waidmannsdank”, we inspected the beast, did the usual ceremony with showing some respect to the bagged creature and took loads of pictures again….
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Then Ross left to bring in the truck, while I did the gralloching and dragging the stag to the forest track nearby.
Another ride to the larder, sure enough with a quick stop to collect some well earned beer for me, home to the B&B, and another evening with Ross` lovely family, this time only the adults and a very relaxing Pizza plus Red Wine and a good talk to Ross wife, while the old, still bearded professional almost fell asleep… The pressure was off!

After avery short night I got delivered to my final outing with Glendine, who was finally able to take me out this last morning…
Another Thank you and ByeBye to Ross, who offered me some truly great days outdoors (we got to work on the weather next time my friend…), and off it goes, together with Glendine and one of his mates up the ride into the ground which I easily remembered from last year…
Heavy rain came through (again…), so we stood in the car and waited for it to dry up a bit, so finally, it got brighter and dryer, so off for the final stalk!

We sneaked into the forest and I got settled into a little highseat, while Glendine started to whistle…
After a while some hinds and two little stags came in, which I left in peace, Glendine knew a big boy around, which hopefully would show up…:eek:




After an hour or so we left, stalked back but stopped after Glendine had spotted a stag crossing a steep drainage above us…
Back to the little highseat, up again, but no big boy showing up…. Bugger…

Then a shot!

A moment later Glendines friend informed us, that he just had taken his first Sika stag ever!! Great result and Waidmannsheil!

We stalked to another, a little open ground, got ready, but nothing moving.
So we went to meet the happy hunter and his stag!:tiphat:

Some pictures, and then we left him alone to stalk straight uphill to reach another patch of forest land, to search for some more Sika.

Next to the hut which some of you may remember from my last years write up, we spotted a hind and a calf, on our way further uphill we bumped into another larger group of Sika, but no stag with them…
On the top of the hill, right on the edge of the forest, we got ready and Glendine gave it several tries to call in something, but we drew a blank, unfortunately.

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Finally it was time to leave and get ready for my ride to the airport, again, after a couple of fantastic days in the beautiful Irish countryside, stalking together with friends and enjoying their hospitality.

A true and heartly Waidmannsdank to you, my friends, I hope to see you soon here in Germany to host you on some hopefully successful swap hunts!
 
That wasn't real rain, that was just a soft Irish day, ya big softie! It was a pleasure to have you over, we hunted hard, it was a pity the rut wasn't in full swing. But thats hunting. I'm still convinced there are only 2 roe and no boar in Germany :rofl: As for the "professional" title, if I had that little Danish huntress that we met out with me then I would gladly take the title, rather than the cheeky fella I had:lol:
Next year one of those hybrids, back on those hills...
 
That wasn't real rain, that was just a soft Irish day, ya big softie! It was a pleasure to have you over, we hunted hard, it was a pity the rut wasn't in full swing. But thats hunting. I'm still convinced there are only 2 roe and no boar in Germany :rofl: As for the "professional" title, if I had that little Danish huntress that we met out with me then I would gladly take the title, rather than the cheeky fella I had:lol:
Next year one of those hybrids, back on those hills...


Cant wait to be back....
get this huntress booked!!!
 
Great Write up Michael,

I really enjoyed your company and already looking forward to the next trip.

Regards,
Glendine.
 
Nice one guys.

Michael nice to see you have bothered to do your write up about your trips with your "new friends" and not mine :gheyfight:
 
Nice one guys.

Michael nice to see you have bothered to do your write up about your trips with your "new friends" and not mine :gheyfight:

Nice one indeed, I have not wrote a story about my trip to Wayne and Andy due to a jobchange and other bother. I promise i will do better in future.:oops:
 
Nice one indeed, I have not wrote a story about my trip to Wayne and Andy due to a jobchange and other bother. I promise i will do better in future.:oops:

Ha ha no problem my friend I'm only trying to wind Michael up as usual, hope your well say Hi to Charlie.


atb


Wayne
 
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