So a while back i was reading through some of the write ups and came across a first deer post, in which someone said before long you'll be at 50, at that point i think i had shot 30 something. I thought once i get to 50 i'll do a little write up. Well here I am currently at 69 deer 
! turns out life gets in the way and i havn't had time to sit down and write this 0-50, so it's now 0-69
Here's a little background on me, I have had my firearms over 10 years, up until 2 years ago I had one farm and a hand full of small parcels. in the 8 years I shot a few boar and foxes, but in the entire time i think i saw about 5 deer on the farm, either with .22 in hand not .308 or out of season. So I just focused on rabbits on the farm, i actually had more luck in small parcels, but as always something in the way, landowner didnt want the deer shot. So for 8 years No deer were shot.
However I did have experience under my belt having volunteered as an assistant ranger with the FC, when i was fresh out of Uni. So I learnt to stalk, gralloch, process and larder deer and boar. but was never allowed to take a shot. bit of strange situation but a very useful experience none the less and I have made some very good friends through this, and i work in the Forestry industry to this day.
Anyway through work, and just being patient and polite, i finally managed to pick up a good permission. 55 acres of woodland, full of deer!! I met with the landowner and my primary goal was to protect a sweet chestnut coppice, no problem! The best bit is this is only 15mins from my house! This was 2 years ago now.
So my first deer took 7 trips, and I have no issues with that, I saw deer every visit but being as there are footpaths in this wood, i wanted all criteria to be exactly right as i had waited a long time for this opportunity. So on the 7th stalk I decided to try a different spot in the wood and perched myself on a stump overlooking a small clearfelled area. I set my tripod up roughly infront of me, tested the position with the rifle to best cover the area, and then sat. I didnt see anything until about 20 mins before dark and a Muntjac buck walked up from right to left, I can still feel the shaking now. My legs were bouncing. Anyway i steady myself and do 3 breaths.... The buck is still browsing and moving, cross hairs behind the shoulder... and boom!! The unmoderated parker hale echos down the valley! I kind of didnt know what to do after that as i was on my own, cant give myself a high five can I . Anyway still shaking I think where's the deer i look over and cant see it. Did I bloody miss it. I mark the spot (80ish yards away) and make my way over havin
g to go around a few obstacles brash piles etc. I get to the spot and my heart sinks, no deer, no blood, no hair. I must've missed ! I say to myself i better check further back as perhaps i'm in the wrong place, i walk another 15 yards further back and there was my deer, my first deer. I wont lie the shot was 2-3 inches further back than i wanted as he was still moving (I now know better). I grallach on the spot whilst still shaking, and its now getting dark, i just about manage to walk out without a torch! 8 years in the making and i finally had my first deer!!
A nice representative muntjac buck!
From that point on I was far more settled. By the end of the first season i was on about 25 a mixture of mainly muntjac but also some roe.
During this time much like buses, i was also offered another good permission and also allowed to stalk in more of the woodland on the first permission. I have now got enough land to keep me busy and dont intend to gain anymore.
My main goal for undertaking stalking is woodland management and meat for my own consumption. I like to think my processing and packaging has come on leaps and
bounds since i first started, as well as my labelling and dating. No more guess work !
So whilst on my way to 50, i was sporadically visiting the farm that I shoot rabbits on and as if by magic me and my mate suddenly start seeing deer there! a handful in 8 years and then all of a sudden, muntjac, roe and fallow spotted on different visits. So the roe rut comes around and me and my mate decide we can just as easily waste an evening at the farm as we could at the pub. So off we go buttolo in hand. We both perch ourselves on the assigned fallen tree. wait for everything to settle and then start with the call. Out comes the Doe straight at us followed by the buck! We're On! she gets to about 80 or 90 yards and i stop calling as she's running straight at us. She relaxes and then the buck gets back to business ! once they settle and he turns broadside, I aim and take my shot, he managed a few steps then dropped!
That was my first successful Call with the buttolo! What an experience!
So I at 47 and thinking, I'm getting close to 50, I will try to make number 50 a memorable stalk in someway. You know as i need a good story for this write up. But as i had only managed to get more than 2 deer once before i thought i have a couple of visits yet before thinking about that. So I head for a morning stalk on the second permission i had gained a small woodland block, less than 20 acres. As i drive in a muntjac runs across the road and i think bugger I've disturbed the wood with the truck, i then drive another 50 yards in and a roe doe runs across the track into a neighbouring property Bugger!! I think i have ruined this stalk already, but think I'm here now i'll go for a wander. This wood is long and thin so i walk the length on one track as there is a small bowl at the end and it seems to be a preferred spot for the deer. As i make my way down to this bowl the thermal picks up some heat! sticks up, rifle up, its a roe doe! I can see her tush but her body is obscured by bramble, shes about 40 yards away and has her head up but doesnt appear alerted, as she's steady i take aim for a headshot. Boom! she drops! but now i cant see her at all in the thermal, did I get her, has she dropped?? I wait a minute, no movement, no noise, i start to make my way over, there's no quiet option through the bramble patch. Get to about 25 yards and the noise disturbs 2 roe up they jump, Bugger i must've missed! Not this time up sticks go, roe doe, Bang! Down she drops, annoyed with myself i trample through the brambles heading to the deer i can see and low and behold 5 yards before her is the other roe doe that i had head shot! So that's 48 and 49 in the bag. I walk over to drag the furthest deer back to grallach as i get to the second deer, i scan with the thermal.Bloody hell thats a big heat source, drop it down to see a muntjac buck browsing towards me no more than 25 yards away !!!! completely oblivious to me and the noise ! i put the sticks up and he glances movement so i hold and once he carries on so do I. He's still moving towards me, at about 20 yards now and starts to move across left to right, i let out an OI! which stops him, Bang! down he goes 50!. What an experience! So i think i'm bloody chuffed with 3! i'll stalk back to the truck and drive closer. I stalk back down the other side of the wood, not to miss and opportunity. As i get to with 100 yards of the truck i pick up heat under a treat, up sticks go, its a young muntjac buck, again i employed the OI! tactic,bang down he goes (51)and out runs the muntjac doe straight at me ! she runs to about 5 yards from me, but i dont have anymore bullets (4 round internal mag), i could've thrown the rifle at her!! And that is the day i learnt to ALWAYS take a couple of spare bullets with me in my pocket! Could've been a 5 deer day!!
So that's my 0-50 just over 14 months!
I'm sure i will have done something wrong, but everyday is a school day, so always willing to learn.
! turns out life gets in the way and i havn't had time to sit down and write this 0-50, so it's now 0-69 Here's a little background on me, I have had my firearms over 10 years, up until 2 years ago I had one farm and a hand full of small parcels. in the 8 years I shot a few boar and foxes, but in the entire time i think i saw about 5 deer on the farm, either with .22 in hand not .308 or out of season. So I just focused on rabbits on the farm, i actually had more luck in small parcels, but as always something in the way, landowner didnt want the deer shot. So for 8 years No deer were shot.
However I did have experience under my belt having volunteered as an assistant ranger with the FC, when i was fresh out of Uni. So I learnt to stalk, gralloch, process and larder deer and boar. but was never allowed to take a shot. bit of strange situation but a very useful experience none the less and I have made some very good friends through this, and i work in the Forestry industry to this day.
Anyway through work, and just being patient and polite, i finally managed to pick up a good permission. 55 acres of woodland, full of deer!! I met with the landowner and my primary goal was to protect a sweet chestnut coppice, no problem! The best bit is this is only 15mins from my house! This was 2 years ago now.
So my first deer took 7 trips, and I have no issues with that, I saw deer every visit but being as there are footpaths in this wood, i wanted all criteria to be exactly right as i had waited a long time for this opportunity. So on the 7th stalk I decided to try a different spot in the wood and perched myself on a stump overlooking a small clearfelled area. I set my tripod up roughly infront of me, tested the position with the rifle to best cover the area, and then sat. I didnt see anything until about 20 mins before dark and a Muntjac buck walked up from right to left, I can still feel the shaking now. My legs were bouncing. Anyway i steady myself and do 3 breaths.... The buck is still browsing and moving, cross hairs behind the shoulder... and boom!! The unmoderated parker hale echos down the valley! I kind of didnt know what to do after that as i was on my own, cant give myself a high five can I
. Anyway still shaking I think where's the deer i look over and cant see it. Did I bloody miss it. I mark the spot (80ish yards away) and make my way over having to go around a few obstacles brash piles etc. I get to the spot and my heart sinks, no deer, no blood, no hair. I must've missed ! I say to myself i better check further back as perhaps i'm in the wrong place, i walk another 15 yards further back and there was my deer, my first deer. I wont lie the shot was 2-3 inches further back than i wanted as he was still moving (I now know better). I grallach on the spot whilst still shaking, and its now getting dark, i just about manage to walk out without a torch! 8 years in the making and i finally had my first deer!!A nice representative muntjac buck! From that point on I was far more settled. By the end of the first season i was on about 25 a mixture of mainly muntjac but also some roe.
During this time much like buses, i was also offered another good permission and also allowed to stalk in more of the woodland on the first permission. I have now got enough land to keep me busy and dont intend to gain anymore.
My main goal for undertaking stalking is woodland management and meat for my own consumption. I like to think my processing and packaging has come on leaps and
bounds since i first started, as well as my labelling and dating. No more guess work !So whilst on my way to 50, i was sporadically visiting the farm that I shoot rabbits on and as if by magic me and my mate suddenly start seeing deer there! a handful in 8 years and then all of a sudden, muntjac, roe and fallow spotted on different visits. So the roe rut comes around and me and my mate decide we can just as easily waste an evening at the farm as we could at the pub. So off we go buttolo in hand. We both perch ourselves on the assigned fallen tree. wait for everything to settle and then start with the call. Out comes the Doe straight at us followed by the buck! We're On! she gets to about 80 or 90 yards and i stop calling as she's running straight at us. She relaxes and then the buck gets back to business ! once they settle and he turns broadside, I aim and take my shot, he managed a few steps then dropped!
That was my first successful Call with the buttolo! What an experience!So I at 47 and thinking, I'm getting close to 50, I will try to make number 50 a memorable stalk in someway. You know as i need a good story for this write up. But as i had only managed to get more than 2 deer once before i thought i have a couple of visits yet before thinking about that. So I head for a morning stalk on the second permission i had gained a small woodland block, less than 20 acres. As i drive in a muntjac runs across the road and i think bugger I've disturbed the wood with the truck, i then drive another 50 yards in and a roe doe runs across the track into a neighbouring property Bugger!! I think i have ruined this stalk already, but think I'm here now i'll go for a wander. This wood is long and thin so i walk the length on one track as there is a small bowl at the end and it seems to be a preferred spot for the deer. As i make my way down to this bowl the thermal picks up some heat! sticks up, rifle up, its a roe doe! I can see her tush but her body is obscured by bramble, shes about 40 yards away and has her head up but doesnt appear alerted, as she's steady i take aim for a headshot. Boom! she drops! but now i cant see her at all in the thermal, did I get her, has she dropped?? I wait a minute, no movement, no noise, i start to make my way over, there's no quiet option through the bramble patch. Get to about 25 yards and the noise disturbs 2 roe up they jump, Bugger i must've missed! Not this time up sticks go, roe doe, Bang! Down she drops, annoyed with myself i trample through the brambles heading to the deer i can see and low and behold 5 yards before her is the other roe doe that i had head shot! So that's 48 and 49 in the bag. I walk over to drag the furthest deer back to grallach as i get to the second deer, i scan with the thermal.Bloody hell thats a big heat source, drop it down to see a muntjac buck browsing towards me no more than 25 yards away !!!! completely oblivious to me and the noise ! i put the sticks up and he glances movement so i hold and once he carries on so do I. He's still moving towards me, at about 20 yards now and starts to move across left to right, i let out an OI! which stops him, Bang! down he goes 50!. What an experience! So i think i'm bloody chuffed with 3! i'll stalk back to the truck and drive closer. I stalk back down the other side of the wood, not to miss and opportunity. As i get to with 100 yards of the truck i pick up heat under a treat, up sticks go, its a young muntjac buck, again i employed the OI! tactic,bang down he goes (51)and out runs the muntjac doe straight at me ! she runs to about 5 yards from me, but i dont have anymore bullets (4 round internal mag), i could've thrown the rifle at her!! And that is the day i learnt to ALWAYS take a couple of spare bullets with me in my pocket! Could've been a 5 deer day!!
So that's my 0-50 just over 14 months!
I'm sure i will have done something wrong, but everyday is a school day, so always willing to learn.
I can’t remember last month never mind 10 years ago 
