Slightly out of the ordinary so deserved a write up!
Weather looked good on Sunday evening so headed up to the estate for a couple of hours to see what was about. Shot 3 off the same area last weekend so was hoping for similar luck!
Sat in a high seat, with nothing much moving apart from squirrels and pheasants until about 1930. Saw one MJ buck on the bank behind the seat but he vanished into cover, then another at the end of the ride but never stepped out of cover for a clear shot before vanishing into the brambles. Definitely need to do some strimming up by there this summer!
Then they were back - two muntjac sized heat signatures on the edge of the ride, but still far enough in cover that there was no shot
Waited a bit in the seat then decided to head out onto the edge of the field and see if they were out feeding.
Got to the margin and the two were feeding towards me about 100m away. Old buck came first then a youngster. First one got to about 30m and knew something was off, turned and slowly crossed the margin ahead of me. He dropped to a shoulder shot. The younger buck ran off to about 100m then slowly crossed the margin there - quick shout and he dropped to a chest shot too.
Saw the older buck had a big head, but didn’t realise how big until I picked him up! He had a very wide span, ears ripped, teeth worn all the way down and one tusk broken off. I saw the same animal last year, where he was conspicuous by the wide set of his antlers, so glad to have caught up with him. The old warrior wouldn’t have lasted much longer, defintely past his prime.
The other stalker had one older buck as well, so a total of 6 munties off the same wood block in a week!
Don’t know where they are coming from but will see how many more appear over the coming weeks
Only got a photo of the old boy as I recognised him from the previous year an the head was something special. May get it measured when it has all been boiled out but will have to see…….
Thanks for reading,
Sandy
Weather looked good on Sunday evening so headed up to the estate for a couple of hours to see what was about. Shot 3 off the same area last weekend so was hoping for similar luck!
Sat in a high seat, with nothing much moving apart from squirrels and pheasants until about 1930. Saw one MJ buck on the bank behind the seat but he vanished into cover, then another at the end of the ride but never stepped out of cover for a clear shot before vanishing into the brambles. Definitely need to do some strimming up by there this summer!
Then they were back - two muntjac sized heat signatures on the edge of the ride, but still far enough in cover that there was no shot
Waited a bit in the seat then decided to head out onto the edge of the field and see if they were out feeding.
Got to the margin and the two were feeding towards me about 100m away. Old buck came first then a youngster. First one got to about 30m and knew something was off, turned and slowly crossed the margin ahead of me. He dropped to a shoulder shot. The younger buck ran off to about 100m then slowly crossed the margin there - quick shout and he dropped to a chest shot too.
Saw the older buck had a big head, but didn’t realise how big until I picked him up! He had a very wide span, ears ripped, teeth worn all the way down and one tusk broken off. I saw the same animal last year, where he was conspicuous by the wide set of his antlers, so glad to have caught up with him. The old warrior wouldn’t have lasted much longer, defintely past his prime.
The other stalker had one older buck as well, so a total of 6 munties off the same wood block in a week!
Don’t know where they are coming from but will see how many more appear over the coming weeks
Only got a photo of the old boy as I recognised him from the previous year an the head was something special. May get it measured when it has all been boiled out but will have to see…….
Thanks for reading,
Sandy
