The message came through on Monday night - ‘Busy tomorrow? Fancy an afternoon call for roebucks then off for a look for fallow afterwards?’. After a millisecond’s deliberation, I graciously agreed & a meeting time was arranged for the following afternoon.The mixed woodland we were heading to first is beautiful but renowned for its tick population, so I made sure I’d got permethrin-treated clothing on and fully doused myself in DEET (including a good splash of it onto the gaiters for good measure).
The wind was a pain in the backside, moving almost constantly from in our faces to on our necks and cheeks as we moved up a valley and across a ridge. We stopped and called in a couple of likely spots, my friend back-to-back with me, both covering one 180 degree arc each, with him using the buttolo. Nothing responded so we kept moving in a large vaguely circular loop, our plans being altered by a trespassing dog walker (it’s amazing how quickly they looked up from their phone when I unloaded with maximum bolt noise
). We moved back around towards the truck, seeing a couple of does, and some of this year’s youngsters bouncing around. We stopped for a final call, with me tooting on the cherrywood caller this time. After 5 mins or so, a hiss alerted me to a yearling buck coming in over my right shoulder which I’d not noticed due to a tree in just the wrong position.
He stood glaring at us from 50ish-yds out, so quick reposition of the sticks allowed a front-on high neck shot as that’s all I could see above the bracken.
I dragged him out to the trucks & gralloched him there, avoiding the multiple ticks moving across him.
Kit away and it was a 15 min drive across to another farm & forestry block that my friend manages the deer on. We settled under a tree in a grassy field with the wind in our faces, with a good view of both forest and fields out in front of us. A roe buck appeared at about 200yds but didn’t seem at all interested in coming to the call or stopping, disappearing into the forestry.
After about 30mins, a deer ambled out where the roe had disappeared; a quick check showed that it was a dark fallow pricket, and he’d got some smaller & lighter friends with him too.
There wasn’t a shot on from where we were, so using dead ground and a bit of crawling, we made our way forward to about 120yds. Getting the sticks ready, I stood & plonked the rifle on top as smoothly as I could. Miraculously, he hadn’t noticed me & carried on grazing, allowing me to drop him pretty much on the spot with a heart shot.
The 3 smaller prickets he was with fled, unfortunately only pausing in positions that didn’t offer a shot until disappearing back into the forestry.
Getting over to where he lay, it was obvious he was a much bigger bodied deer than the others; a second-year pricket with simple spikes but the beginning of coronets alongside.
We dragged him to the forestry where a track allowed vehicle access, and I was left to the gralloch while my accomplice took the scenic route back to the truck to see if he could get another. I’ve only ever shot one fallow before, and gralloching them solo is certainly different to the muntjac that I usually shoot, but much easier when it comes to sorting out the bumhole/bladder side of things (especially with my sausage fingers).
I’ve kept the head to sort out today too; it may only be small but it’s my first fallow buck and is definitely going up in my office at home!
