It's been a while since I had any outing worth posting about but that all changed last night in epic fashion!!
My lad, Josh, who is now 9 and a half, has been badgering me for a while about joining me stalking and I was waiting until I thought he would be patient enough and also old enough to understand the stark facts about taking an animals life in reality. He's seen me bring all sorts home since he was really young but being present when something is actually shot is a different ball game.
We went out a few weeks ago on a small area I shoot which has Muntjac and Roe and we called a young Munty buck to within a few yards before being winded and it barked and ran off. It was too close to shoot with him there as it would have been a bit of a mess and not the way I wanted him to see his first animal grassed. His comment about his heart nearly thumping out of his chest made me chuckle and I knew he was hooked!
He also asked if we could go in the evening the next time as he didn't like getting up so early!! 
These were taken on his first outing but unfortunately we never saw anything else! (The rifle was unloaded with the bolt open!
)
Now onto last night!!
I had given the rifle a good clean so needed to re-zero and it was the first time Josh had been with me when I had actually shot the .308 which he thought was ace!!
I gave him his safety brief and explained what we were to do and where we were heading on my main permission, which involved stalking around some lakes ending up in a spot where we nearly always see something where deer cross from the neigbouring land onto ours. We stopped to give him the chance for a little call with the Buttolo half way round just to keep his interest up but nothing showed. I also spotted some signs of fraying and what looked like bole scoring which I explained to Josh about and he took in with real enthusiasm. I did tell him that I'd seen some Sika on the ground but not for a while but it looked like they may have been back recently.
He was sort of blending in!!
Around 7.50pm saw us heading up the ride to where I wanted to end up to lay in wait around 80 yards from the crossing point and on the way a young Muntjac Doe appeared to our left. We both froze but it spotted us at the same time and after a few seconds trotted off into the undergrowth. Again it got his heart racing and was a good omen for things to come.
We arrived at the spot and I got set up on the quad sticks with him tucked in to my left away from the rifle. After a few minutes a Roe Doe emerged at the regular crossing point so i gave a little squeek to get it to stop so Josh could see it clearly. He whispered to me 'shoot it then dad!!' so I explained after it had moved on about the seasons briefly and that we needed it to be a buck!
He was starting to get a bit fidgety so I said we would wait until 8.30pm as I didn't want to be searching for a deer on last light with him and it end up being a real late night. Then it happened!!
Movement a bit further on from the usual crossing point and from the left some antlers appeared, followed by the head of a fine Sika stag!! I've mentioned them before on the SD and also to local countrymen and some have disputed that they are still around in Cambs!! On this particular perm the only deer I haven't seen now are Fallow!! Not bad within 20 mins of my house!!
It was partly obscured by some cover preventing a clear body shot and was looking straight at us so was unlikely to emerge further. Knowing my zero was bang on after doing it earlier and being on quad sticks I decided to take a low neck shot and it dropped straight down on the spot! That's when I started shaking as I had never shot a Sika and Josh thought it amusing that I was shaking as much as he was!!
We waited a while and I explained to Josh what we needed to do but unfortunately when I approached and checked the eye with my sticks I got a reaction so had to do a follow up shot. This has re-enforced my opinion of waiting until a clear heart and lung shot presents itself and in hindsight I think I was over eager to take the neck shot because Josh was with me. All part of the learning process I guess!! He watched intently as I did the gralloch and struggled to get the lump into the back of my truck!! It was in superb condition with an amazing amount of fat and had obviously enjoyed the summer feeding!!
Not a bad first deer to shoot with the old man and proof we have all 6 species in Cambs wandering around wild!!
I haven't had chance to weigh it yet as it was late after clearing up and I had to cut it in half to get it in my chiller. Partly due to the size but mainly due to the weight as I couldn't lift it in and my winch arrangement needs a tweak!
Also I have no idea how Sika are measured but I think he's a cracker!!
Overall a memorable night for many reasons and something me and Josh will remember and talk about for many years to come!!
Stratts
My lad, Josh, who is now 9 and a half, has been badgering me for a while about joining me stalking and I was waiting until I thought he would be patient enough and also old enough to understand the stark facts about taking an animals life in reality. He's seen me bring all sorts home since he was really young but being present when something is actually shot is a different ball game.
We went out a few weeks ago on a small area I shoot which has Muntjac and Roe and we called a young Munty buck to within a few yards before being winded and it barked and ran off. It was too close to shoot with him there as it would have been a bit of a mess and not the way I wanted him to see his first animal grassed. His comment about his heart nearly thumping out of his chest made me chuckle and I knew he was hooked!
He also asked if we could go in the evening the next time as he didn't like getting up so early!! These were taken on his first outing but unfortunately we never saw anything else! (The rifle was unloaded with the bolt open!
)Now onto last night!!
I had given the rifle a good clean so needed to re-zero and it was the first time Josh had been with me when I had actually shot the .308 which he thought was ace!!
I gave him his safety brief and explained what we were to do and where we were heading on my main permission, which involved stalking around some lakes ending up in a spot where we nearly always see something where deer cross from the neigbouring land onto ours. We stopped to give him the chance for a little call with the Buttolo half way round just to keep his interest up but nothing showed. I also spotted some signs of fraying and what looked like bole scoring which I explained to Josh about and he took in with real enthusiasm. I did tell him that I'd seen some Sika on the ground but not for a while but it looked like they may have been back recently.
He was sort of blending in!!
Around 7.50pm saw us heading up the ride to where I wanted to end up to lay in wait around 80 yards from the crossing point and on the way a young Muntjac Doe appeared to our left. We both froze but it spotted us at the same time and after a few seconds trotted off into the undergrowth. Again it got his heart racing and was a good omen for things to come.
We arrived at the spot and I got set up on the quad sticks with him tucked in to my left away from the rifle. After a few minutes a Roe Doe emerged at the regular crossing point so i gave a little squeek to get it to stop so Josh could see it clearly. He whispered to me 'shoot it then dad!!' so I explained after it had moved on about the seasons briefly and that we needed it to be a buck!
He was starting to get a bit fidgety so I said we would wait until 8.30pm as I didn't want to be searching for a deer on last light with him and it end up being a real late night. Then it happened!!
Movement a bit further on from the usual crossing point and from the left some antlers appeared, followed by the head of a fine Sika stag!! I've mentioned them before on the SD and also to local countrymen and some have disputed that they are still around in Cambs!! On this particular perm the only deer I haven't seen now are Fallow!! Not bad within 20 mins of my house!!
It was partly obscured by some cover preventing a clear body shot and was looking straight at us so was unlikely to emerge further. Knowing my zero was bang on after doing it earlier and being on quad sticks I decided to take a low neck shot and it dropped straight down on the spot! That's when I started shaking as I had never shot a Sika and Josh thought it amusing that I was shaking as much as he was!!
We waited a while and I explained to Josh what we needed to do but unfortunately when I approached and checked the eye with my sticks I got a reaction so had to do a follow up shot. This has re-enforced my opinion of waiting until a clear heart and lung shot presents itself and in hindsight I think I was over eager to take the neck shot because Josh was with me. All part of the learning process I guess!! He watched intently as I did the gralloch and struggled to get the lump into the back of my truck!! It was in superb condition with an amazing amount of fat and had obviously enjoyed the summer feeding!!
Not a bad first deer to shoot with the old man and proof we have all 6 species in Cambs wandering around wild!!
I haven't had chance to weigh it yet as it was late after clearing up and I had to cut it in half to get it in my chiller. Partly due to the size but mainly due to the weight as I couldn't lift it in and my winch arrangement needs a tweak!
Also I have no idea how Sika are measured but I think he's a cracker!!
Overall a memorable night for many reasons and something me and Josh will remember and talk about for many years to come!!
Stratts
