I’m going to cry… 😢😢😢😢

[Donkey Basher]

After seeing a group of fallow in the end of a field last weekend & managing to bag one from a particularly ‘stretchy’ shot, I decided I’d head out to a ladder I’d strategically placed there & try to catch up with them last evening.

What I didn’t expect was to have to make a 40 minute stalk & shoot two does from a group of 10 feeding on the winter wheat right in front of the ladder before I even climbed into it - they were a bonus & early enough not to disturb the fallow, or so I thought.

Anyhoo, I sat there for well over an hour & eventually gave up as the magic hour after sunset came to an end. Not a single fallow seen all evening - until that is I got back to the vehicle & spotted a group of fallow hanging around on the corner of the wood no more than 80 yards away & a line of them heading across the field to join them. The only consolation is there’s no back stop there so even if I’d been there earlier I could have done anything with them.

Today I was at Bisley taking part in my Club’s annual Historic Match so couldn’t get out this evening but one of the other guys has just circulated a video showing this… yep, you guessed it right in front of the ladder I’d been sat in last evening

This is just a screen shot, there are probably between 50 & 70 in the group

 

[Accurate 1]

You’re a lucky man DB . Only in my dreams do I see deer like that

A1

 

[Klenchblaize]

And to think I was seriously contemplating complimenting the Op on a 24/25 fallow cull well completed!

As an aside, does a 59-year old rifle qualify for entry in the BSRC historical comp? 60 next year.

K

 

[Donkey Basher]

And to think I was seriously contemplating complimenting the Op on a 24/25 fallow cull well completed!

As an aside, does a 59-year old rifle qualify for entry in the BSRC historical comp? 60 next year.

K

The doe season isn’t over yet K - got another 4 weeks yet - it’s certainly been my most productive on this piece of ground & my freezer is bursting with venison at the moment!!

Re the Historics, it depends on the rifle as the rules are ‘in the spirit of the original’ so modern copies of historic rifles are OK but if the design is not pre 1946 it doesn’t count I’m afraid. We’re you thinking of the M66??

 

[Donkey Basher]

You’re a lucky man DB . Only in my dreams do I see deer like that

A1

You’re a lucky man - having fallow in this sort of concentration on large open fields is very hard work… getting into them is now pretty much impossible - you either get lucky by bumping into them or you have to try to second guess them by getting into the right place at the right time & being prepared for (& taking) longer shots than you’d normally go for.

 

[Sheamus]

To an experienced eye looking at a concentrated group of Deer on large open fields just makes you think WTF

 

[Accurate 1]

I mean you’re lucky/ privileged to have them in your country at all …..
A1

 

[Donkey Basher]

I mean you’re lucky/ privileged to have them in your country at all …..
A1

If we only had them in enclosed parkland they would be spectacular.

However, what you see in the picture is only the very tip of a huge iceberg in the south east of england. Trying to manage them is an uphill battle to say the very least.

If you are lucky enough to get into a herd this size you’re exceptionally lucky to get more than 2 or 3 before they all clear off into the distance at a fast trot.

Don’t get me wrong, I love stalking them as they’re such a ‘challenge’ but sorry to say there’s no sentiment in what I do. I’m quite happy to sit & watch roe deer & hold off shooting them till the latter part of the season. Fallow on the other hand get pretty much shot on sight!