Thats it we're off

Good luck to you.

It is the first year I have ever been out for them on the 1st April. I issued the neccessary to a decent cull animal at about 07:45. What a cracking morning to be out!

DC
 
This was the result when the .270 struck. Looking forward to getting the meat off him in the next day or so.

Apologies for the excessive gore in one of the photographs - I only took the two.

DC

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ended up with 2 fallow prickets this morning which was a bit unexpected!!! Had to wait til tonight to get my first roe of the season, pic to follow
 
The.270 really made a good hole on thr way out, no getting away with that blood loss...
 
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Nice buck in velvet. Mate saw a couple of youngsters but they wouldnt stand for the shot. My evening curtailed by the farmers wife walking quietly up behind me, whilst I sat with my back to a fence post, and shouting "HELLO". Had to go home to change my pants!!!
 
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Nice buck in velvet. Mate saw a couple of youngsters but they wouldnt stand for the shot. My evening curtailed by the farmers wife walking quietly up behind me, whilst I sat with my back to a fence post, and shouting "HELLO". Had to go home to change my pants!!!

The irony, the stalker gets stalked! :D
 
Hi, I don't want to offend you but why did you cull this buck? It is clearly a decent young young animal still in velvet and over the ears. I would hate to think that we are becoming like are Danish friends who think that this would be a good trophy.
 
The joys of SD. When I shoot "trophies" I get slated for being a trophy hunter. Now I have shot a young buck in velvet I am asked why?

I shot him because I have 5 bucks to take from this ground (my own) and I am not interested in trophies, he was in season, he was there he got shot. There are 2 younger ones, 2 roughly the same age and a really big lad that I know of and on the 1st none of them would have been safe although I only intended to shoot one as that gives me at least 4 other days sport to get the rest of my cull. (I had shot 2 fallow prickets else where that morning)

As far as I am concerned each animals genetics are the same regardless of there age and I am lucky that for the last 2 years this ground has had no rubbish on it. Prior to that it was overpopulated and there was evidence of mange, amongst other issues, with the deer there.

It is absolutely beyond me what difference it makes wether an animal is in velvet or hard horn unless you want a trophy or some antler to make sticks etc. As regards his potential, I agree that if I wanted to culture trophies on the ground then he would be a good one to leave but so are all the others on there. I do agree that taking older animals is the way to improve your blood lines but many people advocate taking yearlings when you actually have no idea how they will turn out.

Out of curiosity what was the reason for your question?
 
oh well what ever the reason he is a damm fine animal. and that 270 does the job great shot placement and some damm fine pics well done.

regards
Craig
 
The joys of SD. When I shoot "trophies" I get slated for being a trophy hunter. Now I have shot a young buck in velvet I am asked why?

I shot him because I have 5 bucks to take from this ground (my own) and I am not interested in trophies, he was in season, he was there he got shot. There are 2 younger ones, 2 roughly the same age and a really big lad that I know of and on the 1st none of them would have been safe although I only intended to shoot one as that gives me at least 4 other days sport to get the rest of my cull. (I had shot 2 fallow prickets else where that morning)

As far as I am concerned each animals genetics are the same regardless of there age and I am lucky that for the last 2 years this ground has had no rubbish on it. Prior to that it was overpopulated and there was evidence of mange, amongst other issues, with the deer there.

It is absolutely beyond me what difference it makes wether an animal is in velvet or hard horn unless you want a trophy or some antler to make sticks etc. As regards his potential, I agree that if I wanted to culture trophies on the ground then he would be a good one to leave but so are all the others on there. I do agree that taking older animals is the way to improve your blood lines but many people advocate taking yearlings when you actually have no idea how they will turn out.

Out of curiosity what was the reason for your question?

Don't get me wrong, I really didn't want to offend you. I fully understand that if you have a cull target to meet and there are a lack of lesser animals then you do whatever you have to do.
What I was trying to get at, was the ever increasing attitude of getting a pound of flesh for a pound of your money(rent). It is a common way of thinking in Denmark and many bucks do not survive past the first few weeks of the hunting season. It saddens me that money drives us to poorly manage such a noble animal.

Now in no way am i sayng that your ground is poorly managed. Infact it is enough that you have said there are few poor heads and your young ones are growing so well. You cannot grow heads like this on poorly managed ground.

My point is merely that people should be careful what they shoot, follow a careful culling plan and consider that sometimes NOT pulling the trigger may benefit not just you (in the longer term with a better trophy) but the deer genetically.
 
Interesting to hear the theories, i concur that if your permission is big enough that the deer are safe from anyone else but you then a well structured cull plan can work well however on some small patches i have which i have tried to let the deer mature and assess once a couple of years old this doesnt work. Ive been frustrated to find specific animals hit by cars, coursed and left for dead or just disappear, never to return. I now believe that on smaller permissions, if you have the chance, take it because you may never get it again. The last roe doe i left alone ended up in the picture below courtesy of our poaching ba*tard friends. No less than 5 other deer i have seen end up in similar condition over the last two years. In hindsight i wish i had shot every one of them while i had the chance. Bitter, possibly, realist, yes.

PS: the poachers have had more deer off this permission than i have.. because ive been letting them build up and trying to manage.

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I am sorry to hear that you have such problems with poachers. Our biggest problem around here seems to be to many people with legally held rifles. They get a small piece of land and then kill every living thing on it. One local gained permission on a 5 acre field and shot 20 roe in a year. The farm that we had next door was always good for one medal and a couple of nice ones every year plus a couple of does. To get some animals back we got rid of him and didn't shoot anything for 2 years!!

I caught a couple of young lads recently on my ground. They said they'd got lost and were just walking back to their car, despite the fact I'd seen them glassing up my fields. They tried to give me the slip in their car but I nearly got them in a head on. I told them if I saw them within a mile of the place then I'd report them to the police. Names, numbers and reg. Now I have an iphone I'll record them, photo them and bloody post them on youtube if I have too.
 
yeah i suppose at least with FAC holders they have something to lose.. Its taken a while to educate farmers into the modern poacher who isnt doing it for a £30 roe carcass which is sub optimal after its done two laps leading two long dogs around but for videoing the dog for future sales/posterity or gambling and that they WILL leave the carcass because its not worth getting caught with it.

Playing devils advocate, if someone gets a grass field between two woods, whats so bad about him shooting anything and everything that crosses it, at the end of the day, those deer will never reside with him on his grass field but in his neighbours woods. I know its not particularly gentleman like and depending on my neighbours i may not do it, but whats so wrong with it..? If he doesnt shoot that medal buck, you probably will with a client..

Now just to re-iterate im playing devils advocate!
 
Strange how areas differ. The problem round here is that a tremendous amount of land, 10s of thousands of acres are held by just a few people. They in turn dont shoot anything like a cull quantity of deer. Other stalkers cant get ground for love nor money (although i admit i havent tried the love approach!!). Then if you do get a bit (of ground not love) then some poaching heathen kills the deer off of it. To also "devils advocate" one of the problems are guides who want good quality animals for clients as this means they require a lot of ground and a good quantity of deer to be sure they can offer clients what they want. The deer then become managed for quality and not quantity and that is not always the right solution.
 
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