Please forgive me this is the 1st time iv done a write up but felt I wanted to share.
During the Christmas period I had a visit from a life long farmer friend and he offered me my dream come true of 30+ years the permission to control his out of control deer issue on his rather large (for where we are here in Devon) farm. It is approx. 500 acres and basically ring fenced ranch (when my dad moved here in 1952 his father was told 14 mile walk to walk the fence line of your closest neighbour) of fields and woodland also encompassing a large forestry commission out of bounds area, however fences are a bit of a myth and to be taken as a gesture piece of wire, string or a old bit of tin for this lovely chap so boundaries are to be specified by word of mouth and google maps. This land joins my own and the start of it is a 2 minuet walk from my front door.
Obviously I was quick to take him up on this offer of a lifetime and set the wheels in motion getting permission slips signed etc. This land has a lot of public footpaths and bridleways on it so keeping the slips on me and licence at all times is a must in my book.
I have walked this land since I was a small child up to the precent day so I have a rough understanding of its make up and what to expect, my friend had given me the low down on what was happening and where they have been seen lately and what damage to crops they had been causing him over the last 12 months so I had a good idea where to start.
I loaded up my 10 month old in her backpack carrier, convinced the wife a walk would do us all some good so we set off on a bit of a recon family walk. starting through some marsh by a river it was quick to see deer slots everywhere of all shapes and sizes, crossings over the rivers and stream etc and the scale of the problem was quite evident. The (fences) I have already mentioned flatted in various places and deep prints and tracks crossing them at various places, this is just the 1st 5 acre field!
We move further into the permission and off the beaten track up into some other smaller pieces of pasture where I had been told by my friend the deer like to be, beside the forestry commission land and surrounded by his own deciduous woodland. this field was some what of a shock to see, it was so heavily covered in slots we could not believe our eyes, every inch of this probably 2 acre spot was covered! some small, Roe and mostly large Red slots for sure. big scrapes where Stags had been pawing at the earth etc etc, at this pint I'm like a child in a sweet shop! my daughter on my back thinks its hilarious me walking from spot to spot gasping in disbelief of what I'm seeing.
while I'm up here I will take a look in the woods and see if anything is laying up, i walk into a clearing and all i can here is rustling leaves, its squirrels and hundreds of them, if you see 1 its 5, all chasing each other on the floor and up and down the old oak trees, i haven't seen squirrel number like this since i was a kid. we wind through going as quiet as we can and eventually i bump a Roe doe and she is off at some speed. Not seen any Red mind, but plenty of signs of highways in and out of this forestry commission. the wife has had enough now so off home we go, me full of anticipation and wonder and the wife tired and full of worry that she wont ever see me again knowing this is 2 minuets from my front door.
I decide that the wind is in my favour tomorrow and will do a morning stalk, take the old 30-30 for a walk. I'm up before its light and over the lane and I'm too early cant see bugger all, i sit on the footpath bridge and wait to be able to see some more. i stalk the same path as yesterdays walk, takes me a good 30 mins to get into the spot i expect to see something. i hear leaves on the move in the wood to my right, out pops 2 dogs not on leads (face palm moment) the i see more dogs in the path and 2 people, the wonders of zero dog control and footpaths on ground! i sit still and everything moves off in the distance i have just come from so maybe something will still be up over the top in the field i was in yesterday. i work my way up through some cover as cheerfully as i can and can see into the field and its empty, nothing at all. fresh marks in some mud but no deer here now, they have been here, but when? i work my way into the woods i was in yesterday, big holly bush 50 yards ahead of me and i can see a white bum, Roe! i glass the bush and can see 6 bledy more of them laid up under it chewing the cud! my mind is working and I'm thinking wind is in my favour and its a safe shot, just want one to stand up! before i get chance to do anything they are all up, heads and ears looking into the forestry commission to the left of me. what have i done i think? i haven't moved a muscle, under the fence and brush pops the smallest westie dog iv ever seen, Roe are off at speed followed by this little s***. where did it come from? footpath is 200 yards behind me, it come from the right? god only knows, someone in the forestry walking a dog i guess! the little b**** pops back out and looks at me, wagging his tail and then disappears back into the fir tops and off into the forestry.
well i walk the rest of this bit of wood, watching squirrels and following the slots of the Roe to a little glade and 5 woodcock burst out and i get to see a lot more signs of deer numbers etc, stalk over for the day, I'm not chasing the Roe to find them in the next wood, i will be 3 miles from home in a minuet if i get carried away! its been a lovely morning out and a long time since i have felt this way about going out for a stalk!
Debrief with the wife and wind is still in my favour tomorrow morning so i will go again, got the nod from the wife!
Today I'm going to take a different trip and gun, .270 today as I'm expecting a longer shot required. the field i expected them in yesterday is north facing side of a stream valley, the other side south facing field is much bigger and a good 350 yards from the top fence line of yesterdays field. I'm going to go up here and look across, see if they are in the field from a distance today and walk on to a crossing point and sit and wait. off out again a little later than yesterday, a nice quiet walk up over some woods and into the top of the south facing field, i can see shapes in yesterdays north facing field but its too dark to make out exactly what, but by the size, its Red! i work my way along the hedge line to the closest spot and range it, 359 yards to the south facing top fence! i sit down and wait for the light, i check in the range finder its Red, one stag and 2 hinds right up the top corner against the forestry and one roe down the bottom corner, 291 yards to the Roe. down i go, bipod out get settled and happy. Now I'm confident with this rifle, i often do 330 yards on paper and know my drops etc i can do a 4 inch group at 330 off bipod prone all day long so i know i can do the Roe but the Reds are a bit far for me to be happy and its the Reds I'm supposed to be sorting, but anything deer needs to go apparently! the Roe Doe is in the scope, paralax has been set range has been checked I'm happy. one last look over the scope and i see 4 red Hinds walking up the same field from the tree line below, ok these are what i want! they walk up just above the Roe, stop and start grazing. ok picked the target, rage 310 yards, scope corrected, squeeze. Bang! Thwack! the noise of bullet hitting deer we all know!, bolt cycled and next one in the chamber in case its needed, she runs about 10 yards towards the wood on the left, stops, sways falls down ad starts rolling down the hill. job done! eyes up over the scope, what the hell, another 12 hinds running up over the field! they all group up at the top, no safe shots due to pass through onto another etc so they are left to go another time.
right this is my 1st Red, I'm a Roe man usually and this is not small! call the old man, get him to come over with tractor and link box, call him up stand up and see 12 Roe bellow me running along! the issues here are bigger than expected! i have my work cut out!
we pick her up, take her home and hang her off the swing shovel to get the skin off, separate her up into 5 bits and hang for a few days. 30Kg of meat we got of that Hind, split between 3 families.
a few days i will never forget here, some of the best shooting of my 37 years of life. to share it with my 10 month old, my wife, my friends and 76 year old father I'm truly blessed.
Thank you for reading this, I'm terrible at writing so please forgive me for the bad English etc. i jut wanted to share this with like minded folk.
During the Christmas period I had a visit from a life long farmer friend and he offered me my dream come true of 30+ years the permission to control his out of control deer issue on his rather large (for where we are here in Devon) farm. It is approx. 500 acres and basically ring fenced ranch (when my dad moved here in 1952 his father was told 14 mile walk to walk the fence line of your closest neighbour) of fields and woodland also encompassing a large forestry commission out of bounds area, however fences are a bit of a myth and to be taken as a gesture piece of wire, string or a old bit of tin for this lovely chap so boundaries are to be specified by word of mouth and google maps. This land joins my own and the start of it is a 2 minuet walk from my front door.
Obviously I was quick to take him up on this offer of a lifetime and set the wheels in motion getting permission slips signed etc. This land has a lot of public footpaths and bridleways on it so keeping the slips on me and licence at all times is a must in my book.
I have walked this land since I was a small child up to the precent day so I have a rough understanding of its make up and what to expect, my friend had given me the low down on what was happening and where they have been seen lately and what damage to crops they had been causing him over the last 12 months so I had a good idea where to start.
I loaded up my 10 month old in her backpack carrier, convinced the wife a walk would do us all some good so we set off on a bit of a recon family walk. starting through some marsh by a river it was quick to see deer slots everywhere of all shapes and sizes, crossings over the rivers and stream etc and the scale of the problem was quite evident. The (fences) I have already mentioned flatted in various places and deep prints and tracks crossing them at various places, this is just the 1st 5 acre field!
We move further into the permission and off the beaten track up into some other smaller pieces of pasture where I had been told by my friend the deer like to be, beside the forestry commission land and surrounded by his own deciduous woodland. this field was some what of a shock to see, it was so heavily covered in slots we could not believe our eyes, every inch of this probably 2 acre spot was covered! some small, Roe and mostly large Red slots for sure. big scrapes where Stags had been pawing at the earth etc etc, at this pint I'm like a child in a sweet shop! my daughter on my back thinks its hilarious me walking from spot to spot gasping in disbelief of what I'm seeing.
while I'm up here I will take a look in the woods and see if anything is laying up, i walk into a clearing and all i can here is rustling leaves, its squirrels and hundreds of them, if you see 1 its 5, all chasing each other on the floor and up and down the old oak trees, i haven't seen squirrel number like this since i was a kid. we wind through going as quiet as we can and eventually i bump a Roe doe and she is off at some speed. Not seen any Red mind, but plenty of signs of highways in and out of this forestry commission. the wife has had enough now so off home we go, me full of anticipation and wonder and the wife tired and full of worry that she wont ever see me again knowing this is 2 minuets from my front door.
I decide that the wind is in my favour tomorrow and will do a morning stalk, take the old 30-30 for a walk. I'm up before its light and over the lane and I'm too early cant see bugger all, i sit on the footpath bridge and wait to be able to see some more. i stalk the same path as yesterdays walk, takes me a good 30 mins to get into the spot i expect to see something. i hear leaves on the move in the wood to my right, out pops 2 dogs not on leads (face palm moment) the i see more dogs in the path and 2 people, the wonders of zero dog control and footpaths on ground! i sit still and everything moves off in the distance i have just come from so maybe something will still be up over the top in the field i was in yesterday. i work my way up through some cover as cheerfully as i can and can see into the field and its empty, nothing at all. fresh marks in some mud but no deer here now, they have been here, but when? i work my way into the woods i was in yesterday, big holly bush 50 yards ahead of me and i can see a white bum, Roe! i glass the bush and can see 6 bledy more of them laid up under it chewing the cud! my mind is working and I'm thinking wind is in my favour and its a safe shot, just want one to stand up! before i get chance to do anything they are all up, heads and ears looking into the forestry commission to the left of me. what have i done i think? i haven't moved a muscle, under the fence and brush pops the smallest westie dog iv ever seen, Roe are off at speed followed by this little s***. where did it come from? footpath is 200 yards behind me, it come from the right? god only knows, someone in the forestry walking a dog i guess! the little b**** pops back out and looks at me, wagging his tail and then disappears back into the fir tops and off into the forestry.
well i walk the rest of this bit of wood, watching squirrels and following the slots of the Roe to a little glade and 5 woodcock burst out and i get to see a lot more signs of deer numbers etc, stalk over for the day, I'm not chasing the Roe to find them in the next wood, i will be 3 miles from home in a minuet if i get carried away! its been a lovely morning out and a long time since i have felt this way about going out for a stalk!
Debrief with the wife and wind is still in my favour tomorrow morning so i will go again, got the nod from the wife!
Today I'm going to take a different trip and gun, .270 today as I'm expecting a longer shot required. the field i expected them in yesterday is north facing side of a stream valley, the other side south facing field is much bigger and a good 350 yards from the top fence line of yesterdays field. I'm going to go up here and look across, see if they are in the field from a distance today and walk on to a crossing point and sit and wait. off out again a little later than yesterday, a nice quiet walk up over some woods and into the top of the south facing field, i can see shapes in yesterdays north facing field but its too dark to make out exactly what, but by the size, its Red! i work my way along the hedge line to the closest spot and range it, 359 yards to the south facing top fence! i sit down and wait for the light, i check in the range finder its Red, one stag and 2 hinds right up the top corner against the forestry and one roe down the bottom corner, 291 yards to the Roe. down i go, bipod out get settled and happy. Now I'm confident with this rifle, i often do 330 yards on paper and know my drops etc i can do a 4 inch group at 330 off bipod prone all day long so i know i can do the Roe but the Reds are a bit far for me to be happy and its the Reds I'm supposed to be sorting, but anything deer needs to go apparently! the Roe Doe is in the scope, paralax has been set range has been checked I'm happy. one last look over the scope and i see 4 red Hinds walking up the same field from the tree line below, ok these are what i want! they walk up just above the Roe, stop and start grazing. ok picked the target, rage 310 yards, scope corrected, squeeze. Bang! Thwack! the noise of bullet hitting deer we all know!, bolt cycled and next one in the chamber in case its needed, she runs about 10 yards towards the wood on the left, stops, sways falls down ad starts rolling down the hill. job done! eyes up over the scope, what the hell, another 12 hinds running up over the field! they all group up at the top, no safe shots due to pass through onto another etc so they are left to go another time.
right this is my 1st Red, I'm a Roe man usually and this is not small! call the old man, get him to come over with tractor and link box, call him up stand up and see 12 Roe bellow me running along! the issues here are bigger than expected! i have my work cut out!
we pick her up, take her home and hang her off the swing shovel to get the skin off, separate her up into 5 bits and hang for a few days. 30Kg of meat we got of that Hind, split between 3 families.
a few days i will never forget here, some of the best shooting of my 37 years of life. to share it with my 10 month old, my wife, my friends and 76 year old father I'm truly blessed.
Thank you for reading this, I'm terrible at writing so please forgive me for the bad English etc. i jut wanted to share this with like minded folk.
