Well the morning started out badly as I forgot to set the alarm & the early start at 6.00 turned into me waking up at 7.15. Oh well off I went not expecting too much to be around. I was pleasantly surprised to see 5 Roe feeding in the first field I arrived at so after parking up the track I made my way back down but then spotted 2 more in a closer field. I managed to get within 400 yards without being seen using a pylon base & a bush growing there as cover, unfortunately there was a gas gun hidden there & just as I settled down....... hiisss, a quick fingers in the ears & boom followed by one more 30 seconds later. Bugger me the Roe were still there feeding away merrily. They didn’t look like they were coming any closer so I backtracked to the hedge line & stalked down it until I was within 150 yards but then I had to negotiate a completely clear patch in the hedge. I got down on my hands & knees ready to belly crawl but as I started moving forward they saw the movement & off they went.........bugger again.
So back to the first field & the 5 were still there feeding steadily but this field is large & very open with no cover whatsoever & I knew they would do the off as soon as they saw me. Last week I observed Roe in this field from my high seat some 600-800 yards away & whilst the muck heap nearby was being replenished they didn’t take a blind bit of notice of the comings & goings of the tractor so I wondered if they would do the same to the Range Rover so I upped sticks & drove back down & around the field margin until I was 300 yards away. They had looked up & followed my progress but then went back to feeding...........result. I turned straight on to them & wondered how close I could get so slowly eased the Rangy forward getting closer & closer, each time they looked up they stared for a few seconds & went back to their feed.
I slowly eased out of the seat & opened the upper tailgate, quietly dropped the lower half & shutting the upper crept up & eased the rifle onto the roof. Bipod deployed & no reaction from the deer at all. There were 3 Does & 2 young Bucks, 2 of the Does were a good size so I eased the cross hairs onto the closest which was probably 120 yards away & set the trigger. The 140 grain Federal struck home & she dropped, got up, staggered 2 yards & dropped again. The other 4 ran off about 50 yards, stopped & continued to feed.........amazing! I dropped down & eased the Rangy forward until I was level with the downed Doe, checked for eye movement, nothing, looked up & the 4 had continued to feed not 90 yards away, so up on top again & down went the larger of the 2 remaining Does, again they ran off 50 yards & stopped, again they continued to feed. I could have easily taken the 3rd Doe but she looked young & small so she was left for another day.
Back to the farm to report in, one happy landowner. Round to the barns & gralloched & prepped the 2 ready to hang, what a great morning it turned out to be.
Has anyone else experienced this level of tolerance with Roe before?
ATB
Chris
So back to the first field & the 5 were still there feeding steadily but this field is large & very open with no cover whatsoever & I knew they would do the off as soon as they saw me. Last week I observed Roe in this field from my high seat some 600-800 yards away & whilst the muck heap nearby was being replenished they didn’t take a blind bit of notice of the comings & goings of the tractor so I wondered if they would do the same to the Range Rover so I upped sticks & drove back down & around the field margin until I was 300 yards away. They had looked up & followed my progress but then went back to feeding...........result. I turned straight on to them & wondered how close I could get so slowly eased the Rangy forward getting closer & closer, each time they looked up they stared for a few seconds & went back to their feed.
I slowly eased out of the seat & opened the upper tailgate, quietly dropped the lower half & shutting the upper crept up & eased the rifle onto the roof. Bipod deployed & no reaction from the deer at all. There were 3 Does & 2 young Bucks, 2 of the Does were a good size so I eased the cross hairs onto the closest which was probably 120 yards away & set the trigger. The 140 grain Federal struck home & she dropped, got up, staggered 2 yards & dropped again. The other 4 ran off about 50 yards, stopped & continued to feed.........amazing! I dropped down & eased the Rangy forward until I was level with the downed Doe, checked for eye movement, nothing, looked up & the 4 had continued to feed not 90 yards away, so up on top again & down went the larger of the 2 remaining Does, again they ran off 50 yards & stopped, again they continued to feed. I could have easily taken the 3rd Doe but she looked young & small so she was left for another day.
Back to the farm to report in, one happy landowner. Round to the barns & gralloched & prepped the 2 ready to hang, what a great morning it turned out to be.
Has anyone else experienced this level of tolerance with Roe before?
ATB
Chris