Some time last year there was an auction on here organised by Fred aka “Bushpig” to raise money for Cancer Research. Wayne Davies kindly offered up the opportunity to hunt for a muntjac with him as one of the lots, which I’m pleased to say I was fortunate enough to bid for and win.
I met Wayne at his house on Saturday afternoon after an easy drive up the M5 from Cornwall.
We quickly checked the zero on my rifle before heading out into the Herefordshire countryside towards where we were going to be stalking for the evening.
After a short, scenic drive we arrived at a gateway near the south eastern tip of a large mixed woodland area. We had a quick chat about tactics and then deployed out quietly to begin stalking in to a high seat that was positioned some way into the wood.
Trudging up the red clay track, it was obvious by the thousands of miniature slots, that we were in the middle of muntjac central!
We tried to move as silently as we could, avoiding stepping on twigs or into areas of mud that could alert anything to our presence....Once your boot has pressed into this clay-mud there is no easy way to avoid the squelching noise made when you attempt to lift your boot back up!
We had allowed plenty of time to get into the high seat so we were stalking along very slowly, scanning into the trees either side of us for a hint of a muntjac.
Less than 100yds along the track, Wayne spotted a deer couched up amongst a web of branches and brambles no more than 30yds to our right, up on a fairly steep slope, but with no way of getting an ethical shot at this animal we pushed on along the trail towards our destination. The many pheasants moving about in the wood kept us on constant alert, sometimes a cock bird melodramatically bursting from some nearby hiding spot with a great deal of crowing and wings clattering through branches would temporarily halt our progress.
As we reached a fork in the path, another animal was identified, very close by, down to our left, slowly meandering towards us in some very dense stand of young timber. Wayne got his binoculars up and whispered that it was a buck and began to set up the quad sticks in anticipation but before the animal reached a point where it would present a shot, it either winded us or spotted us, or both, but anyway it decided it was time to depart in the opposite direction and slunk off away through the wood.
We reached the double highseat overlooking a flat straight ride directly in front of us with another track going down off to the left. We clambered up and settled in to the seat. After about half an hour, a cock pheasant casually walked out onto the ride in front and was busy feeding around on the grass..... I kept looking around the tree behind us on the path where a miniature muntjac motorway crosses the ride (I’m a bit paranoid like that) then Wayne whispered “muntjac straight in front, back behind the pheasant!” I quickly got the rifle positioned, found the muntjac in the crosshairs at about 100yds, identified it as a female that looked pregnant with no sign of a follower, then sent the 100grain soft point bullet on its merry way! The doe flipped straight over at the shot, then kicked its way out of sight to the left, I chambered another round and covered the area where she disappeared from view but she re-appeared after a few seconds, kicking with her hind legs and flopping about on the ground, then disappeared again completely from view.
I was confident of a clean chest shot, as I was very steady shooting from the rail of the highseat but the animals reaction was unusually dramatic so we made the decision to get down and check the shot site out while we still had plenty of light left.
As we approached the shot site a loud bark came from the ground in behind where the doe had disappeared and we spotted a buck standing on the opposite bank through the trees. The cover was too thick for a shot so we pressed on to find the doe, stone dead from a good chest shot, just a metre or two from where she was initially standing. We headed back to the highseat and sat out until dark with nothing else showing itself.
We got back to Wayne’s hunting lodge, where we enjoyed a delicious meal of venison burger with chips and salad, we had a good chat about the various interesting and impressive trophies decorating the lounge area and the accompanying stories of how they were taken and then we turned in ready for another stalk the next morning.
We were out again just as it became light, on a lovely dry, bright and still morning, this time we would stalk slowly through another very picturesque woodland area with the hopes of finding another muntjac somehow amongst the thick undergrowth. We worked hard trying to get a shot at several animals that we found and although we came very close and quite a few deer were still moving around well after first light, there was never a clear opportunity for a responsible shot so we eventually retired back to Wayne’s place for some bacon sandwiches before I set off back to Cornwall with a nice muntjac carcass to stock up my venison supplies for a day or two.
A big thankyou to Wayne for offering up such a great lot for the auction. Wayne is a terrific guide and stalker and a superb host. The accommodation he has there is first class and perfect for hunters.
Stalking the muntjac on foot through woodland is great fun and also quite challenging. It’s no wonder these little animals are so numerous now.
I met Wayne at his house on Saturday afternoon after an easy drive up the M5 from Cornwall.
We quickly checked the zero on my rifle before heading out into the Herefordshire countryside towards where we were going to be stalking for the evening.
After a short, scenic drive we arrived at a gateway near the south eastern tip of a large mixed woodland area. We had a quick chat about tactics and then deployed out quietly to begin stalking in to a high seat that was positioned some way into the wood.
Trudging up the red clay track, it was obvious by the thousands of miniature slots, that we were in the middle of muntjac central!
We tried to move as silently as we could, avoiding stepping on twigs or into areas of mud that could alert anything to our presence....Once your boot has pressed into this clay-mud there is no easy way to avoid the squelching noise made when you attempt to lift your boot back up!
We had allowed plenty of time to get into the high seat so we were stalking along very slowly, scanning into the trees either side of us for a hint of a muntjac.
Less than 100yds along the track, Wayne spotted a deer couched up amongst a web of branches and brambles no more than 30yds to our right, up on a fairly steep slope, but with no way of getting an ethical shot at this animal we pushed on along the trail towards our destination. The many pheasants moving about in the wood kept us on constant alert, sometimes a cock bird melodramatically bursting from some nearby hiding spot with a great deal of crowing and wings clattering through branches would temporarily halt our progress.
As we reached a fork in the path, another animal was identified, very close by, down to our left, slowly meandering towards us in some very dense stand of young timber. Wayne got his binoculars up and whispered that it was a buck and began to set up the quad sticks in anticipation but before the animal reached a point where it would present a shot, it either winded us or spotted us, or both, but anyway it decided it was time to depart in the opposite direction and slunk off away through the wood.
We reached the double highseat overlooking a flat straight ride directly in front of us with another track going down off to the left. We clambered up and settled in to the seat. After about half an hour, a cock pheasant casually walked out onto the ride in front and was busy feeding around on the grass..... I kept looking around the tree behind us on the path where a miniature muntjac motorway crosses the ride (I’m a bit paranoid like that) then Wayne whispered “muntjac straight in front, back behind the pheasant!” I quickly got the rifle positioned, found the muntjac in the crosshairs at about 100yds, identified it as a female that looked pregnant with no sign of a follower, then sent the 100grain soft point bullet on its merry way! The doe flipped straight over at the shot, then kicked its way out of sight to the left, I chambered another round and covered the area where she disappeared from view but she re-appeared after a few seconds, kicking with her hind legs and flopping about on the ground, then disappeared again completely from view.
I was confident of a clean chest shot, as I was very steady shooting from the rail of the highseat but the animals reaction was unusually dramatic so we made the decision to get down and check the shot site out while we still had plenty of light left.
As we approached the shot site a loud bark came from the ground in behind where the doe had disappeared and we spotted a buck standing on the opposite bank through the trees. The cover was too thick for a shot so we pressed on to find the doe, stone dead from a good chest shot, just a metre or two from where she was initially standing. We headed back to the highseat and sat out until dark with nothing else showing itself.
We got back to Wayne’s hunting lodge, where we enjoyed a delicious meal of venison burger with chips and salad, we had a good chat about the various interesting and impressive trophies decorating the lounge area and the accompanying stories of how they were taken and then we turned in ready for another stalk the next morning.
We were out again just as it became light, on a lovely dry, bright and still morning, this time we would stalk slowly through another very picturesque woodland area with the hopes of finding another muntjac somehow amongst the thick undergrowth. We worked hard trying to get a shot at several animals that we found and although we came very close and quite a few deer were still moving around well after first light, there was never a clear opportunity for a responsible shot so we eventually retired back to Wayne’s place for some bacon sandwiches before I set off back to Cornwall with a nice muntjac carcass to stock up my venison supplies for a day or two.
A big thankyou to Wayne for offering up such a great lot for the auction. Wayne is a terrific guide and stalker and a superb host. The accommodation he has there is first class and perfect for hunters.
Stalking the muntjac on foot through woodland is great fun and also quite challenging. It’s no wonder these little animals are so numerous now.
