Changing Times Part Fifteen

I was about to say that first Hind season past without incident but on reflection that's not quite so.
There were three incidents that cam very close to ending my stalking career the first is funny looking back on it but certainly not at the time.
That winter there had been quite a large snow fall followed by hard frost which lasted for weeks I had acquired a snow suit I believe it was Swedish army issue
while it was perfect for approaching deer in dull conditions or when it was actually snowing but in bright sunshine the deer might not see you but what they did see was your shadow
on the snow.
I had perfected a method that had proved very successful on quite a few occasions , I would climb high above them then slide down the hillside sometimes on my back but usually on my front until I was within shooting distance then drop as many as I could before they took off , while you were sliding they would watch you unperturbed as they did not seem to
recognize what you were but once you stopped they did not hang around for long.
One day got high above a herd of hinds I was some three hundred yards above them and still unnoticed when I began my slide I quickly closed the gap between me and them I was now well within range , but OH bu@@er I could not stop tried to dig my toes into the snow to act as a brake no chance made not a blind bit of difference, tried using the rifle like an ice axe to brake my decent with the same result, went right through the centre of the herd the hinds just stepping aside to let me pass a puzzled look on their faces, by now I new I was in serious trouble I was now travelling at a frightening pace there was no way I would stop until I reached the bottom of the hill I also knew there was a boulder field at the foot of the hill and I would be dashed to pieces on the rocks, by some miracle I came to a stop on the flats having passed through the rocks without hitting a single one, which by the law of averages was impossible. I was shaking like a leaf could not quite believe what a lucky escape I'd had.
When I looked back up the hill I was now three hundred yards below the deer who were now looking down at me wondering what strange sort of creature I was, sod it you can stay there I'm going home!
It was a much wiser man who made his way home that day, and while as a method of approaching deer it certainly worked to this day I have never done it again.


The next two incidents were less funny I had a client out at the hinds it had been a long difficult stalk and we had to crawl the last hundred yards or so we got into a good position
and the shot was taken only for him to miss , the deer ran a hundred yards then started to mill around they were startled but did not know our what was happening, I told the client to follow me if we could crawl quickly to a knoll some twenty yards off he would possibly get another chance I had just start off when there was an almighty bang and the hat flew from my head he had not hit me obviously or I would not be writing this now, but it was so close that not only did it lift the hat off my head I felt the blast as the bullet passed me.
Apparently he had been trying to chamber a round while crawling behind me, I shudder to think where the barrel had been pointing while he was attempting to do so.

The second incident was a similar situation with a retired Police Officer as a guest, we had arrived at a deer fence and I told him that I would climb over first then he could pass me the rifle before he climbed over, I had just got one leg over top when the rifle went off hitting the wire of the fence just a few inches from me.
What the fxxxing hell are you doing I exclaimed! I did it for a laugh he said I wanted to see you jump, I don't know exactly what happened he was as white as a sheet and I don't believe for one minute that he meant to fire.

I'd had one attempt at suicide , and two people had almost murdered me and I had survived until the end of the season.

Maybe just maybe I was destined to succeed in this job.

More to follow.
 
Feck in excellent, I gather the 2 guests were not invited again lol

Keep em coming

Kjf
 
Wow, bogtrotter the human toboggan. Would take some presence of mind to take a few shots on the way down even if you could work out how much negative lead to give them.
Keep the history coming please and don't forget to write the book.
 
We took a slightly (very) rotund gentleman up the hill one day to shoot his first stag. It was a very wet day, in fact a wet week, and the ground was absolutely saturated. We drove him up the hill in the argo and stalked down hill as there was no way he was going up.

We got to the top in the argo and started the stalk. After about half an hour the stalker spotted a set of antlers over the rise and stalked down 100 yds to get a better view. He got himself into position down hill of us, decided it was a shootable stag and beckoned the gentleman to crawl down to his position where the rifle was set up on the rise in waiting for him, the stag being about 150 yds out.

The gentleman got down on his belly and started the crawl, but gravity decided to have a say in it and he got a bit of a slide on. By the time he reached the stalker he was going so fast he had a bow wave showing, shot over the little rise the stalker had the rifle set up on and headed right for the stag, unable to stop.

We couldn't contain ourselves and the poor old stag didn't know whether to focus on the fat chap heading at him in a ball of spray or the two ****s in hysterics 250 yds up the hill.

Great thread Bogtrotter, keep it coming.
 
I must apologise for not commenting on this episode before now, I’ve been out (a long way) buying a couple of rifle’s.
Absolutely loved this chapter, it did make me giggle to myself, you’re getting into your stride now, just loved it. Thank you!
 
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