A few months ago, my good mate 243varmint told me that he and Bandit Country would like to invite Charlie - my son - down to Herefordshire for a crack at getting him onto another deer (Charlie has had a red hind previously). Well it would have been downright churlish to turn down such a generous offer wouldn't it 
.....and so we hatched a plan for heading down to picturesque Herefordshire from the Northern Badlands this weekend just gone.
A B&B was booked, and after around 10 days of corking weather, it seemed like my weather jinx was being its usual consistent self, with forecasts predicting a mahoosif wodge of rain sweeping across the country for pretty much the entire weekend. Best chuck in some extra waterproofs.....
Saturday rolled around - and hang on a mo'!! What's this? A gap in the rain? A gap that should take in Saturday evening and Sunday morning?? Vive to that and an éclair for all of us, game on!
We arrived at Jon's at around 4.30pm, had a brew and a piece of home-made cake (...oh alright, I had two....
....I blame Jon's wife for being too good at cooking....), and we split into two pairs, Jon taking Charlie out on the upper reaches of the ground we were heading to, me accompanying BC to the corresponding 'lower' ground; fallow thoughts were front and centre, however roe buck was also a possibility - and there was always the chance of fox.... (I was confident in Charlie's shooting ability, and we had done some more practise off sticks the prior weekend at "dynamic targets" - some vigorously shaken cans of pop and a bag of reduced price pears, both targets which are FAR more entertaining to shoot than a boring old square of paper 
. Both give a suitably satisfying reaction when you connect!
)
Saturday evening did indeed turn out to be beautiful - just a pity that the deer didn't play ball. We did see deer - but each party saw roe does with youngsters, with BC and I having a staring contest with a doe with a youngster at foot at a range of about 25 yards before she decided enough was enough and bounded off. With no deer to deal with, and the onset of darkness, we retired to Jon's for a well-received Chinese takeaway....I think we were all hungry enough to eat a scabby dog!!
The arrangements for the following morning were made, and Charlie and I turned in at the B&B - and it felt like no sooner had our heads touched our respective pillows than the alarm was going off for 4:30am......
.
We switched patches this time, with Jon taking Charlie to the lower part of the ground; BC and I taking the uphill route. (Thoroughly enjoyable as my stalk was, I shan't dwell on it as this was Charlie's weekend, not mine; in brief, BC and I saw deer again - this time including a very respectable roe buck on the wood edge, however he was a black-belt at managing to obscure himself with a tree, bush, barbed wire, and on the best opportunity I had - with safety snicked forward and trigger finger on trigger - a youngster jumped right in front of him
......and then he melted back into the wood. At no point did I feel comfortable with taking a shot, so there was a figurative tipping of hat in his direction and a continuation of a stalk along the woodland edge).
At one of our many pauses to scan with binos, I was quite literally just about to say "...well we've not heard a shot from down the way...", when BC had an incoming text.......
Buck down.
Charlie had indeed got a buck on the floor!
As time was rolling on, BC and I headed back to the truck and met up with Jon and Charlie to see his buck and get the full story.... Jon may give a fuller account if he gets time, but it sounded like a VERY challenging stalk, culminating in a 100yd shot off sticks - and the buck hitting the floor like a bag of hammers.
The buck was a 5-pointer.....would have been a 6-pointer, but one upper tip was broken off. I think the boy done good....
After a hearty breakfast at Jon's, we headed home, with a cape in the boot of the car - possible shoulder mount when funds permit - and a healthy admiration for the quantity of tea which BC can consume in one sitting.....
We had a great weekend. I owe a both 243varmint and Bandit Country a huge thanks and owe 'em both a pint. Not least for the fact that they contrived to keep the rain at bay. in all seriousness, it was very generous of them both to give up their time and offer their hospitality so that Charlie could try for a buck, and they are great company. Cheers chaps. Really appreciated
.
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.....and so we hatched a plan for heading down to picturesque Herefordshire from the Northern Badlands this weekend just gone.A B&B was booked, and after around 10 days of corking weather, it seemed like my weather jinx was being its usual consistent self, with forecasts predicting a mahoosif wodge of rain sweeping across the country for pretty much the entire weekend. Best chuck in some extra waterproofs.....
Saturday rolled around - and hang on a mo'!! What's this? A gap in the rain? A gap that should take in Saturday evening and Sunday morning?? Vive to that and an éclair for all of us, game on!
We arrived at Jon's at around 4.30pm, had a brew and a piece of home-made cake (...oh alright, I had two....
....I blame Jon's wife for being too good at cooking....), and we split into two pairs, Jon taking Charlie out on the upper reaches of the ground we were heading to, me accompanying BC to the corresponding 'lower' ground; fallow thoughts were front and centre, however roe buck was also a possibility - and there was always the chance of fox.... (I was confident in Charlie's shooting ability, and we had done some more practise off sticks the prior weekend at "dynamic targets" - some vigorously shaken cans of pop and a bag of reduced price pears, both targets which are FAR more entertaining to shoot than a boring old square of paper . Both give a suitably satisfying reaction when you connect!)Saturday evening did indeed turn out to be beautiful - just a pity that the deer didn't play ball. We did see deer - but each party saw roe does with youngsters, with BC and I having a staring contest with a doe with a youngster at foot at a range of about 25 yards before she decided enough was enough and bounded off. With no deer to deal with, and the onset of darkness, we retired to Jon's for a well-received Chinese takeaway....I think we were all hungry enough to eat a scabby dog!!
The arrangements for the following morning were made, and Charlie and I turned in at the B&B - and it felt like no sooner had our heads touched our respective pillows than the alarm was going off for 4:30am......
.We switched patches this time, with Jon taking Charlie to the lower part of the ground; BC and I taking the uphill route. (Thoroughly enjoyable as my stalk was, I shan't dwell on it as this was Charlie's weekend, not mine; in brief, BC and I saw deer again - this time including a very respectable roe buck on the wood edge, however he was a black-belt at managing to obscure himself with a tree, bush, barbed wire, and on the best opportunity I had - with safety snicked forward and trigger finger on trigger - a youngster jumped right in front of him
......and then he melted back into the wood. At no point did I feel comfortable with taking a shot, so there was a figurative tipping of hat in his direction and a continuation of a stalk along the woodland edge).At one of our many pauses to scan with binos, I was quite literally just about to say "...well we've not heard a shot from down the way...", when BC had an incoming text.......
Buck down.
Charlie had indeed got a buck on the floor!
As time was rolling on, BC and I headed back to the truck and met up with Jon and Charlie to see his buck and get the full story.... Jon may give a fuller account if he gets time, but it sounded like a VERY challenging stalk, culminating in a 100yd shot off sticks - and the buck hitting the floor like a bag of hammers.
The buck was a 5-pointer.....would have been a 6-pointer, but one upper tip was broken off
. I think the boy done good....After a hearty breakfast at Jon's, we headed home, with a cape in the boot of the car - possible shoulder mount when funds permit - and a healthy admiration for the quantity of tea which BC can consume in one sitting.....
We had a great weekend. I owe a both 243varmint and Bandit Country a huge thanks and owe 'em both a pint. Not least for the fact that they contrived to keep the rain at bay. in all seriousness, it was very generous of them both to give up their time and offer their hospitality so that Charlie could try for a buck, and they are great company. Cheers chaps. Really appreciated
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