The next morning we where slightly quicker out of bed and made first light, I had noticed that the valley that I had photographed the Doe in the evening before had quite a few fresh scrapes along the edge of the forest, so had a good feeling that a Buck was likely to be there somewhere, as i stalked up the valley and came to a corner, there it was the arse end of a buck looking over his shoulder at me... I tried to get the sticks up however he was wise to me and bounded off barking running along the inside of the forest, I new that there was a slight clearing where he was heading too with a high peak, as I rounded the corner there he was stood proud just down from the top of the peak with enough of a back stop, so up on the sticks, binos up and yes 190 m, the biggest issue i had was that there was a rock covering the lower part of the bucks vitals, however with such a good rest on these sticks I felt so confident that I could slide the shot over the rock and into the middle of the chest cavity for a heart/lung shot... The Buck took off at great speed at the shot out of sight and back into the forest, I was slightly confused at this point as there was a huge puff of grey when the shot stuck, I feared the worst that this could have been rock but i was sure the shot was good and the margin wasn't that tight, however it could also have been vapour from the fur of the Buck, it was a damp dewy morning and he had just run through a forest... ??? Well I approached the rock, covered in moss and to my delight there was no sign of any strike from a bullet, then to make it better a few feet behind the rock i found a trail of lung and then a blood trial off towards the forest, having followed this he was laid 10 m inside the forest, with a perfect shot just as I predicted before one of those unsure fearing the worst moments that we hate...
He was a fine young buck, looking at his weight and build I am almost certain he was only a yearling buck yet a small very spectacular looking little 6 pointer...
That evening I again saw a few Roe Does but no bucks, also some interesting signs of Reds on the ground and some more spectacular views...
The last morning we were again up early, I stalked along one of the boundaries again and saw a couple of Roe Does feeding along the bottom of a valley but again no Bucks, I was then strolling along on of the forest tracks on the way back to the car, pleased at having had my first 3 very enjoyable, relaxing and rewarding days on my Lease, when I noticed a brown figure to the left had side of the track on the bank, a quick check with the Binos and it was a Buck, marking his territory along the side of the forest, its ranged at 255 but was heading towards me at quite a rate, however i knew getting a heart/lung shot was never going to be easy, however I decided i would get across the track to the other back to get a better angle, as I did this he spied me, and i could see him peaking at me with his head under a fir branch, i set up on the sticks so I was ready but I couldnt take the shot at him in this position, i ranged him again and he was 188m, he then took one step further out and stood tall still looking straight at me, having shot 4 bucks already and knowing the rifle was shooting exceptionally and with the use of my quad pod sticks which i can only describe as like shooting of a bench rest standing up I allowed for the 2 inches drop and squeezed off a high neck shot, thwack and he folded perfecting in a heap, one or two kicks and then nothing else, I gave him a few minutes and then approached, to find a 3 or 4 year old buck with a perfect neck shot and another rewarding moment that capped the perfect end to a very very pleasing few days in Scotland, yes forestry stalking is hard work and there are certainly no guarantees but for me its the most rewarding stalking I have taken part in and certainly at the top of my list...
I look forward to being back in the next few weeks for some more...
I hope you enjoyed the read...
ATB
Alex
He was a fine young buck, looking at his weight and build I am almost certain he was only a yearling buck yet a small very spectacular looking little 6 pointer...
That evening I again saw a few Roe Does but no bucks, also some interesting signs of Reds on the ground and some more spectacular views...
The last morning we were again up early, I stalked along one of the boundaries again and saw a couple of Roe Does feeding along the bottom of a valley but again no Bucks, I was then strolling along on of the forest tracks on the way back to the car, pleased at having had my first 3 very enjoyable, relaxing and rewarding days on my Lease, when I noticed a brown figure to the left had side of the track on the bank, a quick check with the Binos and it was a Buck, marking his territory along the side of the forest, its ranged at 255 but was heading towards me at quite a rate, however i knew getting a heart/lung shot was never going to be easy, however I decided i would get across the track to the other back to get a better angle, as I did this he spied me, and i could see him peaking at me with his head under a fir branch, i set up on the sticks so I was ready but I couldnt take the shot at him in this position, i ranged him again and he was 188m, he then took one step further out and stood tall still looking straight at me, having shot 4 bucks already and knowing the rifle was shooting exceptionally and with the use of my quad pod sticks which i can only describe as like shooting of a bench rest standing up I allowed for the 2 inches drop and squeezed off a high neck shot, thwack and he folded perfecting in a heap, one or two kicks and then nothing else, I gave him a few minutes and then approached, to find a 3 or 4 year old buck with a perfect neck shot and another rewarding moment that capped the perfect end to a very very pleasing few days in Scotland, yes forestry stalking is hard work and there are certainly no guarantees but for me its the most rewarding stalking I have taken part in and certainly at the top of my list...
I look forward to being back in the next few weeks for some more...
I hope you enjoyed the read...
ATB
Alex