Deer a bit spooky today

NigelM

Well-Known Member
Out on the Roe today. Have been out every Friday since mid Jan. Ground is pretty big so have not been putting significant pressure on the deer which are usually pretty tame, used to plenty of dog walkers being about. I usually have little trouble being seen by them at 400 yds, just need to be careful for the last 300.

Today however it was a different story. Three different groups of 4 or 5 took off like scolded cats having seen me at 600 yards plus. Don't know if it was the wind, the sleet or even the moon, but they were more flighty than I have ever seen them before.

Managed to get in to one group and shoot a doe off the sticks at 120 yards, but I approached them like I would approach a herd of 50 Fallow, very slowly and very carefully.
 
Usually means someone has been having a crack at them, maybe with dogs, that’s been my experience last year. We had the same with the lowland fallow which are similar to your roe in that they are habituated to people going back and forth on quads, mustering up the sheep etc, but suddenly they were flighty as hell.

We pulled the cards in all the cameras and true as nuts, there they were couple of days previously, poachers. Likely after pigs judging by the dogs they had with them, but probably happy to point the .44 Mag piggers at a fallow just cos they can. Scum. We get that every several months unfortunately. Cos we don’t have mobile reception on the properties we can’t get the camera images SMSd to us as they are taken, which is a real pain in the rear end.
 
Could have been the boys with the dogs, but they usually come on and off the ground in vehicles so they can get away quickly and there was no sight of tracks or a mess being made which are the normal signs of a visit. It will be interesting to see if they are a little more calm next week. Hopefully!
 
I had exactely the same issue about 3 weeks back in public used woodland, then again 1 week later in another wood. Both times there had been high winds overnight, which unsettled them, I am pretty sure. Been normal since in both areas.
 
I think you're probably right. Always a bit of a nervous time though. The permission is an hour away so I'm not there every day. The guys working on the farm and the game keeper give me good intel, but it's over 4000 acres and they can't be everywhere all the time.
 
Almost certainly the wind. I've found all deer but particularly Roe seem to use their eyes much more in the wind. They're nearly always looking at you already when you first spot them in woods when it's windy. Makes sense really, hearing and smell must be compromised in windy conditions.
 
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