.....isn't that what we all say when we don't shoot a deer?
Any way it was planned for me to visit a friend of mines, permission in Gloucester. He has had this small farm years for ferreting and rough shooting and it has always held a good head of deer, but up until now the farmer wanted them left. Roll on to him seeing forty odd about the place regular he was now keen to cash some in for steaks and burgers. My part in this was to be the provider of the before mentioned.
with that in mind we mad a plan for me to head down Sunday to the deepest valleys of wales, meet up with my mate and he would drive me to the promise land. The night before doing a quick kit check- rifle, bolt,binoculars bla bla bla ****!! Where is my range finder!?
A quick shout to my poor suffering wife as of course she must have tidied it away and put it in some safe place and moved it from where it lives, that sacred place "on the side by there". Any way of course she denied all knowledge as she always does, muttering something under her breath about old age not coming alone!? I'm only 32! time to trade her in i'm thinking, anyway this isn't marriage counselling i digress no range finder.
A quick call to a mate and i arranged to grab his set of sig range finding binos in the morning so we were all back on track Sunday came and i started packing the car to head to the promised land and of course neither of us had checked the weather as where is the fun in that? So i was soaked before even entering the car to set off.
the trip down was fairly uneventful but it would be safe to say id have been better off in a canoe. The ground was sopping and it showed no sign of letting up. I sat in the truck looking out over the drilled fields silently convincing myself to get out. This is why you purchased a stainless rifle, you have good waterproofs, you need burgers these were all whirling around in my mind while I battled to find the will power to head out. Of course nothing was out so I headed for a nice oak wood that sat proud on the landscape. Surely anything with out gills will be in there. Upon entering it i thumbed my mates eye-wateringly expensive binos and realized id smeared mud all over the lenses. Absolute ideal! I then realized my thermal was in a pouch on my back so i had to stop, take of my harness to reach it whilst still trying to con,I mean convince my mate that i was some what competent. Finally I got my act together and spied a brace of munties down through the wood. Up went the sticks, rifle mounted we are on here. I cant describe the noise that came next but my "mate" for some reason only known to him decided to try and sit down on a fallen log, that then decided to fall further taking all six foot four of him with it and then his deepest valley's accent he began telling the inadequte object EXACTLY what he thought of it. I didnt know wheather to laugh cry or just go home.
I politely suggested we went back to the truck and see what pans out as no self respecting deer is going to be out in this. After an hour (of which i still couldn't acknowledge that my mate existed) the witching hour came in. The rain stopped the sun decided that for ten minutes it would allow its light to beam down on one side of the wood and I dismounted the pick up and marched my way back to my vantage point. There were deer everywhere, every where but near me. I was faced with a choice of which to target and in handsight I backed the wrong horse, and decided to head down the hedge a good way for a small group of fallow that were what i thought grazing steadily out, and ignore the roe that were sat against the hedge.
By now light was threatening me and legal light was going to beat me if i didn't get a shift on. I did get into my attended position but id totally misjudged the rate at which the fallow were moving and they had meandered a good 500 yards out and now the light would not permit me to fill the freezer. So tired, wet and to no avail I dragged my fat frame back to the pick up to start the 3.5 hour commute home.
Still nice to be out eh!?
Any way it was planned for me to visit a friend of mines, permission in Gloucester. He has had this small farm years for ferreting and rough shooting and it has always held a good head of deer, but up until now the farmer wanted them left. Roll on to him seeing forty odd about the place regular he was now keen to cash some in for steaks and burgers. My part in this was to be the provider of the before mentioned.
with that in mind we mad a plan for me to head down Sunday to the deepest valleys of wales, meet up with my mate and he would drive me to the promise land. The night before doing a quick kit check- rifle, bolt,binoculars bla bla bla ****!! Where is my range finder!?
A quick shout to my poor suffering wife as of course she must have tidied it away and put it in some safe place and moved it from where it lives, that sacred place "on the side by there". Any way of course she denied all knowledge as she always does, muttering something under her breath about old age not coming alone!? I'm only 32! time to trade her in i'm thinking, anyway this isn't marriage counselling i digress no range finder.
A quick call to a mate and i arranged to grab his set of sig range finding binos in the morning so we were all back on track Sunday came and i started packing the car to head to the promised land and of course neither of us had checked the weather as where is the fun in that? So i was soaked before even entering the car to set off.
the trip down was fairly uneventful but it would be safe to say id have been better off in a canoe. The ground was sopping and it showed no sign of letting up. I sat in the truck looking out over the drilled fields silently convincing myself to get out. This is why you purchased a stainless rifle, you have good waterproofs, you need burgers these were all whirling around in my mind while I battled to find the will power to head out. Of course nothing was out so I headed for a nice oak wood that sat proud on the landscape. Surely anything with out gills will be in there. Upon entering it i thumbed my mates eye-wateringly expensive binos and realized id smeared mud all over the lenses. Absolute ideal! I then realized my thermal was in a pouch on my back so i had to stop, take of my harness to reach it whilst still trying to con,I mean convince my mate that i was some what competent. Finally I got my act together and spied a brace of munties down through the wood. Up went the sticks, rifle mounted we are on here. I cant describe the noise that came next but my "mate" for some reason only known to him decided to try and sit down on a fallen log, that then decided to fall further taking all six foot four of him with it and then his deepest valley's accent he began telling the inadequte object EXACTLY what he thought of it. I didnt know wheather to laugh cry or just go home.
I politely suggested we went back to the truck and see what pans out as no self respecting deer is going to be out in this. After an hour (of which i still couldn't acknowledge that my mate existed) the witching hour came in. The rain stopped the sun decided that for ten minutes it would allow its light to beam down on one side of the wood and I dismounted the pick up and marched my way back to my vantage point. There were deer everywhere, every where but near me. I was faced with a choice of which to target and in handsight I backed the wrong horse, and decided to head down the hedge a good way for a small group of fallow that were what i thought grazing steadily out, and ignore the roe that were sat against the hedge.
By now light was threatening me and legal light was going to beat me if i didn't get a shift on. I did get into my attended position but id totally misjudged the rate at which the fallow were moving and they had meandered a good 500 yards out and now the light would not permit me to fill the freezer. So tired, wet and to no avail I dragged my fat frame back to the pick up to start the 3.5 hour commute home.
Still nice to be out eh!?
...nice to be out....but much better to be out and shoot something lol
