A successful morning- first ever fallow

Well after going out o this estate a couple of weeks ago after a buck of some description and only seeing does (but loads of them) I booked on to be back when the does were in season. So today I was up at 5.30 and set off. I was at the keepers house on 6.30 at the dot and off we set.

It was a quick drive in the defender to the woodland and off we set. The wind was strong from the north so we stalked around the the woods. After 5 mins we turned the corner to see a roe doe melt in to the woods. So off we set again and, as we got to roughly where we had seen the doe she appeared from cover and off she went once again. So we carried on once more without seeing anything for the next quarter of an hour and as we rounded the corner of another patch of woodland there they were, a larger group of fallow out in the middle of the field working their way back from the cover crop where they had been feeding to the woods. There was about 10 does and 1 massive buck. We both froze on the spot and didn't move for about 60 seconds until we were sure we were not being watched so we doubled back, and into the woods so the wind was blowing in to out faces. Once in cover and upon further examination I was examined that the buck would not be for taking as he had such large palmated antlers and apparently many hardly have any palmation in the area (wether this is a genetic thing or due to the management of the person who previously leased the ground hitting them to hard I dont know) Any way i was more than happy to leave him as he was that splendid a beast he was worthy of a shoulder mount and i dont have the cash for that :oops: Anyway the fallow were moving towards us slowly but steadily and then one doe broke off from the group and stopped, broadside on directly in front of me. Slowly i steadied on the sticks and let the shot go and the doe lurched up and forward (always a good thing) and ran about 20 yards before collapsing. We walked up to her and she was dead and it was later revealed the shot (pictured bellow) took out both lungs so im happy with that. I paced it out to be 103 yards and im happy with that and wouldn't have wanted to take the shot much further on sticks.

So it was 7.30 and we had a deer on the ground and Ian went to get the landy. the other fallow and splendours buck didn't move off for about 5 mins so i got to watch them. I then performed my first gralloch on a deer under Ian's supervision and i got there eventually :rolleyes: and had a thoroughly enjoyable morning.

The shot:

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The deer:

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George
 
Well done George, starting out in the right way, remember everybody did there first gralloch, took there first shot and you will never stop having firsts and learning, thats stalking, watching studying deer and wild life will build you own knowledge bank to draw from and you will always learn something from others as they will learn from you.
Keep posting enjoyed your good write up.

smithy
 
brilliant well done george, a great start to the day for you :D enjoyed the write up mate. heres to many more :thumb:
 
Well done Groach
Its always good to see some pictures with a write up.
Well done..
 
Good on you mate and also good on the bloke that you were out with, I bet he's as pleased with the outcome as you are, Its very satisfying to get someone their first deer or their first of a species. Well done. JC
 
Thanks all really appreciate your comments. I had a great day and my gralloching needs some honing in but i will get there. I really should have tired sooner as it was my 5th deer but the first was a no go as the light was fading fast and numbers 2-4 were on an estate where the stalkers do it by instinct so today I got my first go. I would have loved to have also brought the carcass home as well but as I don't have the fridge space to hang it or the ability to butcher it it was sadly a no go. I will try my best to sort out a drinks chiller for the next one as i really would like to keep them.

George
 
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Well done George - you're getting plenty of stalking in these days. Good on you.

DC

Getting in as much as i can afford, Im on a gap year now so it helps to keep me going but gets me no closer to travelling :rolleyes: Also I may well be seeing you this saturday Dave.

George
 
You certainly shall George. I'm looking forward to seeing what shape the birds are in. Haven't seen them for a while now. I'll be there early on I think - might go for a stroll before the shoot.

See you then,

Dave
 
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