roe doe.

Went out yesterday onto a permission I have in Cumbria, picked up Frenchieboy on the way to get him out for a day on the rooks and crows. We did a quick walk around to see if we could bag a pheasant or 2 and just ended up with 1 hen, then FB set up his hide and got down to some decoying. My mate and I walked up on to a moor, with the sun on our backs and clear blue skies it made for a really nice walk. Once on top we did a quick scan with the binos but nothing to be seen, so we slowly strolled around the edge of the moor putting up snipe, hares and a single grouse as we went. After @ 40 mins my mate spotted 2 does and a buck @ 400 yds away across a valley with a river at the bottom, i was looking in totally the opposite direction when he spotted them. We backed up slowly until we were out of site then circled round to the right staying in a small gulley so as not to be seen. Eventually we moved forward to where we thought they were but could not spot them, thinking they had been spooked by either us or something else so we carried on forward. All of a sudden after @ 10 mins we spotted them walking up the banking on the far side they had come out of a hidden gulley they had been in, we hit the ground fast and waited, at this point they were @300 yds away. Slowly they ambled across the hillside until they were 250 yds away directly across the valley, we watched until they stopped on a grassy area and relaxed into eating. I put the cross hairs on the lower down of the 2 does, made sure i was comfortable and watched them for a minute or so, then i slid off the safety squeezed the trigger and sent a 130 grain ppu straight through the boiler room, the doe staggered for a second then fell down dead, she then tumbled about 40 yds down the hillside coming to a rest @ 100 yds from the bottom, i had reloaded and kept a watch on her for a minute to make sure there was no more movement. When confident the job was done i climbed down from the top of our side this was about 150 yds, crossed the valley floor went over a 6 ft stone wall and up to the doe, she was one of last years and in good health with nothing noticeable from the gralloch i did. Now the hard work began back down over the wall and up the other side, by the time i got to the top i was absolutely shattered so had a 5 mins rest then got on with the 2 1/2 mile drag back to the truck, some uphill but mostly downhill with a few smaller rises on the way, the sun was just starting to set and provided us with glorious views across Cumbria on our way back. Met back up with FB who had shot some rooks and crows , all in all a good day out with good company and good banter along the way, apologies for the lack of piccies but i don't take them.

Scoby 270
 
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