With the mornings rapidly drawing out, sunrise is now just about early enough to sneak in a stalk before the day properly starts.
Finally the weather is drier and warming, the crops are starting to grow and fields being cultivated, meaning that there has been a major shuffling of where the roe are feeding.
One field in particular, all of a sudden had three groups appear this week, two fields from the farm house.
I had an appointment at 07:30, that was just 10 minutes from the estate. Sunrise was 06:40, which I figured just about gave enough time to take the rifle for a short stroll, hopefully catch-up with a doe, get it sorted and still make it to my 07:30 presentably!
So a little over an hour before sunrise, I locked the car, having parked just below the crest of the hill that drops away to where the roe have moved in.
Stepping through a convenient gap in the hedge, that is much quieter than the stiff and screachy gate, I moved into the field and started along a hedge bordered on both sides by the last remains of a cover crop. Because of the slope, every step opened up visibility to more ground, I could see a couple of heat sources on the far slope, but hoped that I would find some a bit closer. About a hundred metres on, I came to a gap in the hedge, down to my left there were three heat sources, but there is a road and houses behind them so no shot. The wind was coming straight up the hedge line into my face, so no worry of being winded by them, so I continued onwards, working on the basis that I didn't have time to wait for them to move. Onwards though, was only three paces before I spotted movement in the hedge, in the form of antlers, attached to head of a buck, which walked out into the cover crop and across to edge of the rape for a nibble.
Hmmmm, that was progress halted, but hopefully he wasn't alone...
I stepped in tight to the hedge, and slowly got the rifle up onto my quadsticks in hope that he might have company. As I watched the buck, about 100m down the slope, he began to feed away along the edge of the crop. Giving it 10 minutes or so in the hope of more deer appearing, nothing did, so I began following down hill. I could see through thinner patches of hedge that there were more deer out maybe 75m to my left and a little ahead of me. Through a 6ft tall hedge though, no shot was possible. I played a slow game of follow the buck down the hill, closing the distance again until he reached the bottom of the slope, where he decided to cross back over and through the hedge and continue on the other side, now heading uphill at the other side of the dip.
As I was about 75m back, I could see over the hedge near the bottom of the dip and as it rose away from me. The deer on the other side were still tracking ahead of me, so with a bit of luck one might end up moving into a visible and shootable position. I could see them clearly through the whispy top of the hedge but not clearly for a shot. The buck was tight to the hedge on their side, so I took a couple of paces back up the hill and out into the cover crop to improve my view and the angle. The group continued to feed onwards, catching up with the buck, but still a set of tramlines out. As they started up the far slope, a doe turned, to come across to the hedge. It reached the edge of the rape and paused, the backstop of the rising soft field was text book and she fell in her shadow to a hilar placement.
There were eight roe still standing, they started at the shot, but none bolted. Reloaded I waited, hoping that another would make for the hedge or come over to investigate. They all looked, but none moved, all either hidden by the hedge or not shootable for one reason or another.
Checking my watch, I was rapidly running out of time before I needed to be off, especially if I was to shoot another.
Ahead, I glimpsed movement coming down a tramline towards me, hidden by the rape, I assumed that a fox was on patrol, which would be a hassle free end to the morning. Continuing to watch the roe out to the left, with half an eye on the tramline, the roe still weren't moving, but a Muntjac appeared from the tramline and disappeared into the hedge on my side.
Still, it was roe that I was after, so I didn't move back to the cover of the hedge and continued to focus on the roe, which weren't being obliging. A couple of bucks kept standing nicely for a shot, but the rest were covered by rape, hedge or wouldn't stop broadside.
About 10 minutes had passed since the shot, and time had pretty much run out on my stalking window. The Muntjac was now back out on my side, eating along the bottom of the hedge and kept turning broadside to reach in. Still stood a couple of paces into the cover crop, I pivoted on the right leg of the quad sticks to line up on the Muntjac, nose into the hedge and amazingly oblivious to my presence. At the second shot of the morning, the remaining roe didn't hang around and bolted for a tree line.
I was able to drag the roe through the hedge, saving a bit of time, to get them gralloched together, then an easy 400m back to the car, meaning that I was actually early for my 07:30.
Finally the weather is drier and warming, the crops are starting to grow and fields being cultivated, meaning that there has been a major shuffling of where the roe are feeding.
One field in particular, all of a sudden had three groups appear this week, two fields from the farm house.
I had an appointment at 07:30, that was just 10 minutes from the estate. Sunrise was 06:40, which I figured just about gave enough time to take the rifle for a short stroll, hopefully catch-up with a doe, get it sorted and still make it to my 07:30 presentably!
So a little over an hour before sunrise, I locked the car, having parked just below the crest of the hill that drops away to where the roe have moved in.
Stepping through a convenient gap in the hedge, that is much quieter than the stiff and screachy gate, I moved into the field and started along a hedge bordered on both sides by the last remains of a cover crop. Because of the slope, every step opened up visibility to more ground, I could see a couple of heat sources on the far slope, but hoped that I would find some a bit closer. About a hundred metres on, I came to a gap in the hedge, down to my left there were three heat sources, but there is a road and houses behind them so no shot. The wind was coming straight up the hedge line into my face, so no worry of being winded by them, so I continued onwards, working on the basis that I didn't have time to wait for them to move. Onwards though, was only three paces before I spotted movement in the hedge, in the form of antlers, attached to head of a buck, which walked out into the cover crop and across to edge of the rape for a nibble.
Hmmmm, that was progress halted, but hopefully he wasn't alone...
I stepped in tight to the hedge, and slowly got the rifle up onto my quadsticks in hope that he might have company. As I watched the buck, about 100m down the slope, he began to feed away along the edge of the crop. Giving it 10 minutes or so in the hope of more deer appearing, nothing did, so I began following down hill. I could see through thinner patches of hedge that there were more deer out maybe 75m to my left and a little ahead of me. Through a 6ft tall hedge though, no shot was possible. I played a slow game of follow the buck down the hill, closing the distance again until he reached the bottom of the slope, where he decided to cross back over and through the hedge and continue on the other side, now heading uphill at the other side of the dip.
As I was about 75m back, I could see over the hedge near the bottom of the dip and as it rose away from me. The deer on the other side were still tracking ahead of me, so with a bit of luck one might end up moving into a visible and shootable position. I could see them clearly through the whispy top of the hedge but not clearly for a shot. The buck was tight to the hedge on their side, so I took a couple of paces back up the hill and out into the cover crop to improve my view and the angle. The group continued to feed onwards, catching up with the buck, but still a set of tramlines out. As they started up the far slope, a doe turned, to come across to the hedge. It reached the edge of the rape and paused, the backstop of the rising soft field was text book and she fell in her shadow to a hilar placement.
There were eight roe still standing, they started at the shot, but none bolted. Reloaded I waited, hoping that another would make for the hedge or come over to investigate. They all looked, but none moved, all either hidden by the hedge or not shootable for one reason or another.
Checking my watch, I was rapidly running out of time before I needed to be off, especially if I was to shoot another.
Ahead, I glimpsed movement coming down a tramline towards me, hidden by the rape, I assumed that a fox was on patrol, which would be a hassle free end to the morning. Continuing to watch the roe out to the left, with half an eye on the tramline, the roe still weren't moving, but a Muntjac appeared from the tramline and disappeared into the hedge on my side.
Still, it was roe that I was after, so I didn't move back to the cover of the hedge and continued to focus on the roe, which weren't being obliging. A couple of bucks kept standing nicely for a shot, but the rest were covered by rape, hedge or wouldn't stop broadside.
About 10 minutes had passed since the shot, and time had pretty much run out on my stalking window. The Muntjac was now back out on my side, eating along the bottom of the hedge and kept turning broadside to reach in. Still stood a couple of paces into the cover crop, I pivoted on the right leg of the quad sticks to line up on the Muntjac, nose into the hedge and amazingly oblivious to my presence. At the second shot of the morning, the remaining roe didn't hang around and bolted for a tree line.
I was able to drag the roe through the hedge, saving a bit of time, to get them gralloched together, then an easy 400m back to the car, meaning that I was actually early for my 07:30.
