Second wander about with the dog and gun last night. The barley is off on about 1/3 of the ground but the rest is still in wheat. It stands just over the Roes backs with just heads exposed, often just the ears. Makes it a tad more challenging.
I drove up to a spy point on the cut side of the farm and just before I got to the top I saw a buck on the stubble just off the woodland edge. Watched him for a few minutes and hatched a plan. He was 450m away with dead ground between us so a shot or approach from here was impossible. Back down the field and drive up the next little valley which was out of sight and down wind. Perfect. Quietly shut the door, hound out of the back and rifle loaded. Sneak up the hill to a point I thought would be about 100m away from the buck. Gone. I waited 15 minutes thinking he would break cover but nothing. It was going to be one of those nights was it?
The truck was not really where I wanted to leave it, but only 800m further away than planned so I left it there and carried on. I might get another opportunity at the buck on the way back to it later. I headed off the to location of Tuesday nights success but wanted to carry on 500m past there to a long piece of woodland edge. Nothing seen and nothing bumped on the way I set up the sticks and tried my best to blend into the hedge with the dog. 12 knots of wind in the face I should be well hidden from anything to my west and could see along 400m of woodland edge which had a 3m field margin before the wheat started. A narrow window but on the recce's I had seen a number of deer walking down the strip rather than just crossing it.
After just 10 minutes the dog goes to high alert status. Somethings up. Nothing I can see. After a couple of minutes I spot a small doe, probably last years young. wander out of the wheat 100m away and turn towards me. She grazed her way down the conservation strip to within 10m of us. I can hear the dog at this point, quivering away saying "FFS dad, just shoot the bloody thing". She eventually decided something was amiss and slipped into the woods.
Out in the wheat there are another 3 sets of ears bobbing up from time to time. It's a bit like one of those stalls at the Fair where the squirrel pops up from a hole in the table and you have to bash it before it pops back down again. Watch the field until a set of ears pops up, get on it with the bins and ID it before it disappears again. Very amusing sport. Turns out they are all does. At about 2000 a roe pops out of the woodland 40 m away. Standing perfectly broadside on the conservation strip it's another doe. I get the rifle on her anyway, just for a bit of practice, and she stands perfectly broadside for me for 30 seconds before disappearing into the wheat. Is there a buck in pursuit? No.
At about 2030 I decide to head back to a spot between me and the truck for the last 30 minutes. The current location is 2km from the truck and I want to close that distance if I do shoot something. I'm wrong for wind but decide I might get away with it if I'm hard up against the woodland edge at the top of the hill. We get into position and wait. There's another doe I can see on the edge of the maize 300m away and another 400m away in the wheat. That's six does and one buck seen this evening. What is going on?
After just 10 minutes theres a bit of a commotion in the field below. Its bird cover, not as tall as the wheat but up to mid body on a roe. The dog is the wrong side of the wind to get too excited but he's heard it and knows theres something there. Suddenly a doe appears, she's running but stops 30m away. And just behind her the randy little buck. A quick shot to the neck and he stops bothering her. The doe is not quite sure what to do. I think she wants to thank me as rather than run she just saunters over towards us. She cutting the wind fairly fine and we are right on the woodland edge so well camouflaged, but as she veers off down wind she catches our whiff and is off. The dog's not got much of a track and we retrieve it quickly. It's almost 2100 and we're loosing light now so need to crack on. But where did I put my glasses???
Being of that certain age when the 20/20 eyesight I have enjoyed for 55 years is falling off the edge of the cliff I have had to start stalking in glasses. Having never had to wear them for distance until this year it's really ****ing me off and I'm not really up to speed with it all. Glasses on for walking, off for spying, back on again, off for the shot, it's a right bloody pain. And then it starts raining and you're really knackered, constantly fishing for that piece of kitchen roll that is getting progressively more useless every time it comes out of your pocket. I know some of you have suffered it for years but I have been spoilt with great eyes and it's all a bit of a shock to my system. I know, get over it.
Anyway, I had my glasses on, looking about for deer with the rifle ready on sticks before the shot. The buck appeared so quickly I didn't have much in the way of time, got down on the rifle, glasses touched the back of the scope and I thew them off in disgust before I fired. After the shot I had forgotten about them, left in the long grass. Recovered the beast, got 50m down the hill in fading light and realised I didn't have my £600 pair of varifocals with me. Got back to the shot point and took a very worrying 10 minutes of feeling about in the long grass to find them. That's the point at which I decided to invest in disposable contact lenses. Appointment already made this morning.
On the way back to the truck the first buck was back in his original location, I could just make out the body shape in the failing light but it was too dark for a shot. Not even Swaro glass could manage that safely. Never mind, I'm sure he will be about again next week.
Another good night out, another little adventure.
I drove up to a spy point on the cut side of the farm and just before I got to the top I saw a buck on the stubble just off the woodland edge. Watched him for a few minutes and hatched a plan. He was 450m away with dead ground between us so a shot or approach from here was impossible. Back down the field and drive up the next little valley which was out of sight and down wind. Perfect. Quietly shut the door, hound out of the back and rifle loaded. Sneak up the hill to a point I thought would be about 100m away from the buck. Gone. I waited 15 minutes thinking he would break cover but nothing. It was going to be one of those nights was it?
The truck was not really where I wanted to leave it, but only 800m further away than planned so I left it there and carried on. I might get another opportunity at the buck on the way back to it later. I headed off the to location of Tuesday nights success but wanted to carry on 500m past there to a long piece of woodland edge. Nothing seen and nothing bumped on the way I set up the sticks and tried my best to blend into the hedge with the dog. 12 knots of wind in the face I should be well hidden from anything to my west and could see along 400m of woodland edge which had a 3m field margin before the wheat started. A narrow window but on the recce's I had seen a number of deer walking down the strip rather than just crossing it.
After just 10 minutes the dog goes to high alert status. Somethings up. Nothing I can see. After a couple of minutes I spot a small doe, probably last years young. wander out of the wheat 100m away and turn towards me. She grazed her way down the conservation strip to within 10m of us. I can hear the dog at this point, quivering away saying "FFS dad, just shoot the bloody thing". She eventually decided something was amiss and slipped into the woods.
Out in the wheat there are another 3 sets of ears bobbing up from time to time. It's a bit like one of those stalls at the Fair where the squirrel pops up from a hole in the table and you have to bash it before it pops back down again. Watch the field until a set of ears pops up, get on it with the bins and ID it before it disappears again. Very amusing sport. Turns out they are all does. At about 2000 a roe pops out of the woodland 40 m away. Standing perfectly broadside on the conservation strip it's another doe. I get the rifle on her anyway, just for a bit of practice, and she stands perfectly broadside for me for 30 seconds before disappearing into the wheat. Is there a buck in pursuit? No.
At about 2030 I decide to head back to a spot between me and the truck for the last 30 minutes. The current location is 2km from the truck and I want to close that distance if I do shoot something. I'm wrong for wind but decide I might get away with it if I'm hard up against the woodland edge at the top of the hill. We get into position and wait. There's another doe I can see on the edge of the maize 300m away and another 400m away in the wheat. That's six does and one buck seen this evening. What is going on?
After just 10 minutes theres a bit of a commotion in the field below. Its bird cover, not as tall as the wheat but up to mid body on a roe. The dog is the wrong side of the wind to get too excited but he's heard it and knows theres something there. Suddenly a doe appears, she's running but stops 30m away. And just behind her the randy little buck. A quick shot to the neck and he stops bothering her. The doe is not quite sure what to do. I think she wants to thank me as rather than run she just saunters over towards us. She cutting the wind fairly fine and we are right on the woodland edge so well camouflaged, but as she veers off down wind she catches our whiff and is off. The dog's not got much of a track and we retrieve it quickly. It's almost 2100 and we're loosing light now so need to crack on. But where did I put my glasses???
Being of that certain age when the 20/20 eyesight I have enjoyed for 55 years is falling off the edge of the cliff I have had to start stalking in glasses. Having never had to wear them for distance until this year it's really ****ing me off and I'm not really up to speed with it all. Glasses on for walking, off for spying, back on again, off for the shot, it's a right bloody pain. And then it starts raining and you're really knackered, constantly fishing for that piece of kitchen roll that is getting progressively more useless every time it comes out of your pocket. I know some of you have suffered it for years but I have been spoilt with great eyes and it's all a bit of a shock to my system. I know, get over it.
Anyway, I had my glasses on, looking about for deer with the rifle ready on sticks before the shot. The buck appeared so quickly I didn't have much in the way of time, got down on the rifle, glasses touched the back of the scope and I thew them off in disgust before I fired. After the shot I had forgotten about them, left in the long grass. Recovered the beast, got 50m down the hill in fading light and realised I didn't have my £600 pair of varifocals with me. Got back to the shot point and took a very worrying 10 minutes of feeling about in the long grass to find them. That's the point at which I decided to invest in disposable contact lenses. Appointment already made this morning.
On the way back to the truck the first buck was back in his original location, I could just make out the body shape in the failing light but it was too dark for a shot. Not even Swaro glass could manage that safely. Never mind, I'm sure he will be about again next week.
Another good night out, another little adventure.
