A quick write up…..
Having been out Thursday in torrid rain all day, game shooting (barrels still clean this season) followed by a few hours stalking, today was glorious in comparison. Going under tyre was wet and sticky to say the least but ground was covered but no cullable roe - the few matures I saw each had a buck kid and we don’t orphan and their locations made taking all 3 in “one” challenging to say the least. I did bump a nice maiden doe with a buck but they ran and ran. The only other shootable maiden took to her heels at 300m into dense woodland - that sort of day.
I did spy a muntjac doe grazing across a valley on the edge of some gorse and resolved to give it a try. Down valley, up valley drawing heavily, I closed to 100m using a lone tree as a block - she was oblivious, head down grazing. Up on sticks, catch breadth and wait for a better broadside and
, she was down where she stood - a 110gr TTSX at 3000+ from the .270 doesn’t take prisoners.
A quick bleed and I decide to press on further down the valley to see if I could find that maiden and buck. Another roe buck bumped in the dense hawthorn/blackthorn scrub as I turned to start the circular route back more into wind when I spot a small heat signature across a parallel valley in a wood. I closed the ground to 200m, mount and watch. A muntjac buck - bang That’s a brace - not roe but the day is getting better.
I head back into wind heading towards the edge of some dense gorse where I had seen a group of 3 roe and a loner, not far from the first muntjac. I quickly spot first one, then two then three heads from that group now couched at the edge of the gorse 115m away. Three pairs of eyes solidly staring at me with no certainty that the younger 2 were does. I move left parallel to the gorse - they stay couched watching me pass. That loner is now 3 - similarly tucked in at the edge of the gorse, 2 clearly visible through binos, one a definite buck kid. I move on, heading back towards the muntjac doe.
As I scan back to the last trio, I suddenly catch sight of a smaller hot spot moving out of an small clearing in the gorse - binos show yet another muntjac buck, tripping steadily along the edge some 120m away. Quickly up on sticks - no reliable clear shot due to the long grass and ragged gorse edge. I quickly close the distance to 65m hoping he doesn’t look my way and track his steps along the edge - bang. I walk up to discover the shot’s further back that I wished - bugger, that’s not good 
Third muntjac in 35 minutes, all within a kilometre square. I do love stalking them, mentally tracking an ambush point but hate the effort expended in gralloching them and subsequently skinning/butchering. These were no exception and a mental note to self to spend time over Christmas sharpening up both my Mora and G4 as the “going” was hard. The real bonus was that the last was clean - no green spilt despite it being more of an oblique shot than I had realised at the time
Not the day I expected, but still a good one and all three will go to friends as welcome Christmas gifts.
Having been out Thursday in torrid rain all day, game shooting (barrels still clean this season) followed by a few hours stalking, today was glorious in comparison. Going under tyre was wet and sticky to say the least but ground was covered but no cullable roe - the few matures I saw each had a buck kid and we don’t orphan and their locations made taking all 3 in “one” challenging to say the least. I did bump a nice maiden doe with a buck but they ran and ran. The only other shootable maiden took to her heels at 300m into dense woodland - that sort of day.
I did spy a muntjac doe grazing across a valley on the edge of some gorse and resolved to give it a try. Down valley, up valley drawing heavily, I closed to 100m using a lone tree as a block - she was oblivious, head down grazing. Up on sticks, catch breadth and wait for a better broadside and
, she was down where she stood - a 110gr TTSX at 3000+ from the .270 doesn’t take prisoners.A quick bleed and I decide to press on further down the valley to see if I could find that maiden and buck. Another roe buck bumped in the dense hawthorn/blackthorn scrub as I turned to start the circular route back more into wind when I spot a small heat signature across a parallel valley in a wood. I closed the ground to 200m, mount and watch. A muntjac buck - bang
That’s a brace - not roe but the day is getting better.I head back into wind heading towards the edge of some dense gorse where I had seen a group of 3 roe and a loner, not far from the first muntjac. I quickly spot first one, then two then three heads from that group now couched at the edge of the gorse 115m away. Three pairs of eyes solidly staring at me with no certainty that the younger 2 were does. I move left parallel to the gorse - they stay couched watching me pass. That loner is now 3 - similarly tucked in at the edge of the gorse, 2 clearly visible through binos, one a definite buck kid. I move on, heading back towards the muntjac doe.
As I scan back to the last trio, I suddenly catch sight of a smaller hot spot moving out of an small clearing in the gorse - binos show yet another muntjac buck, tripping steadily along the edge some 120m away. Quickly up on sticks - no reliable clear shot due to the long grass and ragged gorse edge. I quickly close the distance to 65m hoping he doesn’t look my way and track his steps along the edge - bang
. I walk up to discover the shot’s further back that I wished - bugger, that’s not good Third muntjac in 35 minutes, all within a kilometre square. I do love stalking them, mentally tracking an ambush point but hate the effort expended in gralloching them and subsequently skinning/butchering. These were no exception and a mental note to self to spend time over Christmas sharpening up both my Mora and G4 as the “going” was hard. The real bonus was that the last was clean - no green spilt despite it being more of an oblique shot than I had realised at the time
Not the day I expected, but still a good one and all three will go to friends as welcome Christmas gifts.
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