First doe of the season

It has been a few weeks since my last visit to my syndicate's ground in Scotland, and finally last week I made arrangements so I could do so today. I arrived at 07.30. It was a very cold (-3) morning, but the beautiful winter scenery made up for it. Sunny as it was, it was a good day to fully explore the capabilities of my new Zeiss Rangefiner binoculars. So I was using them more often than usual (a good thing, of course) during my progress through the ground. I might have gotten a bit carried away with my new toy, as I caught myself shifting my attention to my new toy maybe a bit more than I should. Once I got back on track (pun intended) I got on with my stalk. And a good thing it was, as I spotted a single doe feeding some 400 yards away from me, into a sun drenched ravine. Immediately I stopped and assessed the situation. I could see the white patch on her posterior, as she was feeding facing away from me. With the wind on my face, I knew I had the advantage. Slowly I made my way closer to her, and at around 85 metres I decided I would set up my sticks and wait for her to present her side for a shot. With a soft incline on the ravine behind her, I knew I had a safe shot, so all I needed was for her to turn. She did so after 3-4 minutes (I had already been stalking her for maybe 10 minutes) and 150 grain from my .308 connected with her heart. A perfect shot saw her drop on her shadow. To say that I was pleased with myself is a gross understatement. It was very satisfying to see the beast drop dead instantly, knowing that no suffering at all took place, and that my morning was a success. It was 10.20 when I shot her, which meant I could be on my way home sooner that I had expected (which is a good thing as I was not 100% over a persistent chesty cough which affected my breathing and my mood). I set to carry out the gralloch, which turned out to be a lengthier affair than I had hoped or wanted, but this being the first gralloch I performed completely on my own without anyone offering advice and/or help I needed to make sure I took my time and did everything (disease inspection and actual gralloch) correctly and safely. My new bone saw helped a lot, as I opted for a full gralloch since there was a lot of blood in the chest cavity (there was no heart left, it had all exploded which reassured me on the effectiveness of my bullet choice). As I have no larder facilities at home, I hang the carcass for 4 hours on a sheltered corner in my back yard, and proceeded to skin and butcher the carcass this evening. The meat is currently in my fridge (I tend to keep it there for a week after processing on the day of the kill) and will go in my freezer sometime next week.

Picture attachedIMAG1470.jpg
 
It has been a few weeks since my last visit to my syndicate's ground in Scotland, and finally last week I made arrangements so I could do so today. I arrived at 07.30. It was a very cold (-3) morning, but the beautiful winter scenery made up for it. Sunny as it was, it was a good day to fully explore the capabilities of my new Zeiss Rangefiner binoculars. So I was using them more often than usual (a good thing, of course) during my progress through the ground. I might have gotten a bit carried away with my new toy, as I caught myself shifting my attention to my new toy maybe a bit more than I should. Once I got back on track (pun intended) I got on with my stalk. And a good thing it was, as I spotted a single doe feeding some 400 yards away from me, into a sun drenched ravine. Immediately I stopped and assessed the situation. I could see the white patch on her posterior, as she was feeding facing away from me. With the wind on my face, I knew I had the advantage. Slowly I made my way closer to her, and at around 85 metres I decided I would set up my sticks and wait for her to present her side for a shot. With a soft incline on the ravine behind her, I knew I had a safe shot, so all I needed was for her to turn. She did so after 3-4 minutes (I had already been stalking her for maybe 10 minutes) and 150 grain from my .308 connected with her heart. A perfect shot saw her drop on her shadow. To say that I was pleased with myself is a gross understatement. It was very satisfying to see the beast drop dead instantly, knowing that no suffering at all took place, and that my morning was a success. It was 10.20 when I shot her, which meant I could be on my way home sooner that I had expected (which is a good thing as I was not 100% over a persistent chesty cough which affected my breathing and my mood). I set to carry out the gralloch, which turned out to be a lengthier affair than I had hoped or wanted, but this being the first gralloch I performed completely on my own without anyone offering advice and/or help I needed to make sure I took my time and did everything (disease inspection and actual gralloch) correctly and safely. My new bone saw helped a lot, as I opted for a full gralloch since there was a lot of blood in the chest cavity (there was no heart left, it had all exploded which reassured me on the effectiveness of my bullet choice). As I have no larder facilities at home, I hang the carcass for 4 hours on a sheltered corner in my back yard, and proceeded to skin and butcher the carcass this evening. The meat is currently in my fridge (I tend to keep it there for a week after processing on the day of the kill) and will go in my freezer sometime next week.

Picture attachedView attachment 34882
Well done it just shows if you put the time in you get the end result nice short but to the point write up keep them coming
DJC
 
@ surely at 85m you would of neck shot the beast?

Why ??? Best practise is H&L shot..... anything else is down to the shooter. His stalk / deer - his decision where to shoot it. Each to their own. Live and let live....
 
Why ??? Best practise is H&L shot..... anything else is down to the shooter. His stalk / deer - his decision where to shoot it. Each to their own. Live and let live....
+1 Too many keyboard warriors wanting to pull other people apart! Getting piffed off with it!
 
Congratulations from one who has yet to do this! Looks like quite a fat doe too. Are you by any chance the same Psyxologos as the one on the wildfowling forum?
 
It has been a few weeks since my last visit to my syndicate's ground in Scotland, and finally last week I made arrangements so I could do so today. I arrived at 07.30. It was a very cold (-3) morning, but the beautiful winter scenery made up for it. Sunny as it was, it was a good day to fully explore the capabilities of my new Zeiss Rangefiner binoculars. So I was using them more often than usual (a good thing, of course) during my progress through the ground. I might have gotten a bit carried away with my new toy, as I caught myself shifting my attention to my new toy maybe a bit more than I should. Once I got back on track (pun intended) I got on with my stalk. And a good thing it was, as I spotted a single doe feeding some 400 yards away from me, into a sun drenched ravine. Immediately I stopped and assessed the situation. I could see the white patch on her posterior, as she was feeding facing away from me. With the wind on my face, I knew I had the advantage. Slowly I made my way closer to her, and at around 85 metres I decided I would set up my sticks and wait for her to present her side for a shot. With a soft incline on the ravine behind her, I knew I had a safe shot, so all I needed was for her to turn. She did so after 3-4 minutes (I had already been stalking her for maybe 10 minutes) and 150 grain from my .308 connected with her heart. A perfect shot saw her drop on her shadow. To say that I was pleased with myself is a gross understatement. It was very satisfying to see the beast drop dead instantly, knowing that no suffering at all took place, and that my morning was a success. It was 10.20 when I shot her, which meant I could be on my way home sooner that I had expected (which is a good thing as I was not 100% over a persistent chesty cough which affected my breathing and my mood). I set to carry out the gralloch, which turned out to be a lengthier affair than I had hoped or wanted, but this being the first gralloch I performed completely on my own without anyone offering advice and/or help I needed to make sure I took my time and did everything (disease inspection and actual gralloch) correctly and safely. My new bone saw helped a lot, as I opted for a full gralloch since there was a lot of blood in the chest cavity (there was no heart left, it had all exploded which reassured me on the effectiveness of my bullet choice). As I have no larder facilities at home, I hang the carcass for 4 hours on a sheltered corner in my back yard, and proceeded to skin and butcher the carcass this evening. The meat is currently in my fridge (I tend to keep it there for a week after processing on the day of the kill) and will go in my freezer sometime next week.

Picture attachedView attachment 34882


well done..whilst I don't blame you for pulling the trigger on the first doe..did you check for kids/followers? she seems awfully healthy/well conditioned not to have had young with her?
 
well done..whilst I don't blame you for pulling the trigger on the first doe..did you check for kids/followers? she seems awfully healthy/well conditioned not to have had young with her?

Yes, I was glassing her for a while. I first saw her around 400 metres away from me (or so my range-finder binoculars told me) and stalked her to 85 metres, which took me 10 minutes. I then had to wait for another 3-4 minutes for her to present a shot, as she was feeding away from me and I could only see her anal taft...
 
Yes, I was glassing her for a while. I first saw her around 400 metres away from me (or so my range-finder binoculars told me) and stalked her to 85 metres, which took me 10 minutes. I then had to wait for another 3-4 minutes for her to present a shot, as she was feeding away from me and I could only see her anal taft...


good man. I suspect she must be a very healthy yearling then, or have lost both kids to predators or illness over the summer.
 
good man. I suspect she must be a very healthy yearling then, or have lost both kids to predators or illness over the summer.

She was in tip top condition. I mean, OK. I have not shot 100s of deer, but comparing her to the buck I shot in September, she looks like she was probably 1/3 larger. It might be that she was not covered this year, or something. As for the age, I have to say I am not sure. I would have thought she must be a last year's kid, she definitely was not a 4 year old or so. Maximum 2 years old I reckon. Still, very plumb and healthy. I was very pleased to see she was doing that well, which is an indication that the deer population in this forest are under n o pressure either by predators and stalkers or maybe nutritious deficiencies..
 
She was in tip top condition. I mean, OK. I have not shot 100s of deer, but comparing her to the buck I shot in September, she looks like she was probably 1/3 larger. It might be that she was not covered this year, or something. As for the age, I have to say I am not sure. I would have thought she must be a last year's kid, she definitely was not a 4 year old or so. Maximum 2 years old I reckon. Still, very plumb and healthy. I was very pleased to see she was doing that well, which is an indication that the deer population in this forest are under n o pressure either by predators and stalkers or maybe nutritious deficiencies..

probably a very healthy yearling, obviously not with follower, probably covered this rut to set her first kids in the spring. If so, definitely a sign of a healthy environment. could be of course that she lost her kid this year and instead spent all summer getting fat ;)

should taste good given the age then :)
 
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