Over the past few months I have been out on the ground about once a fortnight. In the 7 outings I have shot just 2 Does. Today I spent a couple of hours in the high seat at first light and another 3 hours mooching about the ground on foot and in the vehicle. I covered a lot of ground and saw no deer at all. Yesterday I did an afternoon/evening, saw just 5 and shot one. The past 5 outings have been very similar, not many showing.
I know they are there as come Feb/Mar/Apr/May they all break cover and sit in the fields. My strike rate at that time of year over the past few years has been 1 to 3 per outing, averaging about 1.5.
My experience suggests that the most productive times of year are spring time, as above, and the couple of months post harvest, before the ploughing and drilling has been completed.
Does anyone else find the same sort of patten?
I know they are there as come Feb/Mar/Apr/May they all break cover and sit in the fields. My strike rate at that time of year over the past few years has been 1 to 3 per outing, averaging about 1.5.
My experience suggests that the most productive times of year are spring time, as above, and the couple of months post harvest, before the ploughing and drilling has been completed.
Does anyone else find the same sort of patten?