My first Fallow

I thought I'd take advantage of the unusually good weather today and visit the sole stalking permission that I have. I've been lucky that on every visit since I started stalking last year, I have always come back home with a deer for the freezer. That's just as well, as it takes me over an hour to get to it.

Until today, I'd never actually seen any Fallow, my grand total being made up of a single Roe buck (the first deer I'd ever shot) and the rest Muntjac (fine with me, they taste lovely).

Normally, when I arrive the intention is to stalk up to a high seat set up overlooking a meadow with rising wooded ground 100m in front of it. What 'normally' happens is I encounterer a deer on the way and shoot it, so have only every shot one deer to date from the high seat, the others have been off sticks.

Today I actually made it to the seat without seeing any deer, but then after half an hour I spotted a Fallow doe in the wood. After about 20 minutes she came out to the margin (100m away), accompanied by a tiny Muntjac doe. I made the quick decision that the farmer would be happier if I shot the Fallow first, so when she obligingly offered a textbook broadside shot I took it. 140 grains of 6.5 Creedmoor Norma Whitetail found it's mark (as per the DSC1 manual), and she stumbled about 10m into the wood before collapsing and expiring.

I'm just glad no-one was around to see the hash I made of the gralloch.

I have no idea where the munty went.

I'm also glad that on it's first outing stalking, the rifle that's spent it's entire life to date punching holes in paper 1km away has actually done something more useful and filled my freezer up with venison.

 

[Donkey Basher]

Well done - not just on getting your first ‘donkey’ but for toting that AI rifle & scope around with you… far too heavy for me to stalk with!

 

[Tom270]

Congratulations, I have yet to shoot unaccompanied although now it shouldn't be too long, I hope I do aswell as you.

 

[TringSaint]

I thought I'd take advantage of the unusually good weather today and visit the sole stalking permission that I have. I've been lucky that on every visit since I started stalking last year, I have always come back home with a deer for the freezer. That's just as well, as it takes me over an hour to get to it.

Until today, I'd never actually seen any Fallow, my grand total being made up of a single Roe buck (the first deer I'd ever shot) and the rest Muntjac (fine with me, they taste lovely).

Normally, when I arrive the intention is to stalk up to a high seat set up overlooking a meadow with rising wooded ground 100m in front of it. What 'normally' happens is I encounterer a deer on the way and shoot it, so have only every shot one deer to date from the high seat, the others have been off sticks.

Today I actually made it to the seat without seeing any deer, but then after half an hour I spotted a Fallow doe in the wood. After about 20 minutes she came out to the margin (100m away), accompanied by a tiny Muntjac doe. I made the quick decision that the farmer would be happier if I shot the Fallow first, so when she obligingly offered a textbook broadside shot I took it. 140 grains of 6.5 Creedmoor Norma Whitetail found it's mark (as per the DSC1 manual), and she stumbled about 10m into the wood before collapsing and expiring.

I'm just glad no-one was around to see the hash I made of the gralloch.

I have no idea where the munty went.

I'm also glad that on it's first outing stalking, the rifle that's spent it's entire life to date punching holes in paper 1km away has actually done something more useful and filled my freezer up with venison.

Well done, and don’t worry about the messy gralloch!
I used to shoot a small wood with some lads from my target club and I always was given the ‘honour’ of gralloching what we shot - until the day I wasn’t there and one of the others had to do it.
You would have thought that they would have observed how it’s done and taken a few mental notes, but no, they hadn’t!
45 minutes it took to gralloch one fallow by all accounts and apparently looked like an ied had gone off inside it!!

Think they used a shovel and a claw hammer!!

Once you get the nack then you can (almost) do it blindfolded!

 

[Mike1979]

Well done that man

Good to see a fellow 6.5 Gaymoor owner with a great heavy lump of a rifle for stalking

The gralloch gets easier so the more practice you get the better...keep up the good work.

 

[Hunters moon]

I thought I'd take advantage of the unusually good weather today and visit the sole stalking permission that I have. I've been lucky that on every visit since I started stalking last year, I have always come back home with a deer for the freezer. That's just as well, as it takes me over an hour to get to it.

Until today, I'd never actually seen any Fallow, my grand total being made up of a single Roe buck (the first deer I'd ever shot) and the rest Muntjac (fine with me, they taste lovely).

Normally, when I arrive the intention is to stalk up to a high seat set up overlooking a meadow with rising wooded ground 100m in front of it. What 'normally' happens is I encounterer a deer on the way and shoot it, so have only every shot one deer to date from the high seat, the others have been off sticks.

Today I actually made it to the seat without seeing any deer, but then after half an hour I spotted a Fallow doe in the wood. After about 20 minutes she came out to the margin (100m away), accompanied by a tiny Muntjac doe. I made the quick decision that the farmer would be happier if I shot the Fallow first, so when she obligingly offered a textbook broadside shot I took it. 140 grains of 6.5 Creedmoor Norma Whitetail found it's mark (as per the DSC1 manual), and she stumbled about 10m into the wood before collapsing and expiring.

I'm just glad no-one was around to see the hash I made of the gralloch.

I have no idea where the munty went.

I'm also glad that on it's first outing stalking, the rifle that's spent it's entire life to date punching holes in paper 1km away has actually done something more useful and filled my freezer up with venison.

Lovely looking set up/weapon, heafty beast. well done

 

[Dagless]

Well done - not just on getting your first ‘donkey’ but for toting that AI rifle & scope around with you… far too heavy for me to stalk with!

Thanks! The rifle weighs in at 10kg when fully loaded and equipped with the 6.5 barrrel, but the tab gear biathlon sling does a really good job of spreading that weight when carrying. The plus point is with all that weight, the recoil is negligible.

Before today I have been using my Tikka T3, which is considerably lighter! I tried the AI yesterday because I wanted to see how practical it was, plus get some use out of the 6.5 Creedmoor barrel seeing as the MOD currently deem it too spicy for use on their ranges.

 

[Donkey Basher]

Thanks! The rifle weighs in at 10kg when fully loaded and equipped with the 6.5 barrrel, but the tab gear biathlon sling does a really good job of spreading that weight when carrying. The plus point is with all that weight, the recoil is negligible.

Before today I have been using my Tikka T3, which is considerably lighter! I tried the AI yesterday because I wanted to see how practical it was, plus get some use out of the 6.5 Creedmoor barrel seeing as the MOD currently deem it too spicy for use on their ranges.

My 6.5x47 probably weighs about the same - never sat it on the scales, it gets carried barrel down on the standard AI sling when I’m walking (not stalking) into a seat, hide or hedgerow where it’ll then be put to work. With the 26” barrel the mod touches my heel as I walk! Like you say though, recoil is negligible

 

[Dagless]

Well done, and don’t worry about the messy gralloch!
I used to shoot a small wood with some lads from my target club and I always was given the ‘honour’ of gralloching what we shot - until the day I wasn’t there and one of the others had to do it.
You would have thought that they would have observed how it’s done and taken a few mental notes, but no, they hadn’t!
45 minutes it took to gralloch one fallow by all accounts and apparently looked like an ied had gone off inside it!!

Think they used a shovel and a claw hammer!!

Once you get the nack then you can (almost) do it blindfolded!

Ha, yes it took me a similar length of time. I decided to try out my folding gambrel and do a suspended gralloch, but I'm not convinced it was a good idea. It took all my strength to lift the deer and gambrel onto the strop I'd looped round a branch, and then I had a tough time lifting the guts and pluck out of the abdominal cavity and chest without puncturing anything, so might have been better off laying her down on her right and side and letting gravity do the work for me. However hanging the carcass did help the blood drain well - there was a lot of it as the round had gone very nicely through the heart and aorta.

The solution of course is to shoot more deer, as I'll only get better if I practice!

 

[TringSaint]

Wow - you made life hard for yourself there!!
For a fallow I would always gralloch laying down.
I remove a strip of skin from the sternum to the groin to expose the abdominal muscles and then create a small slit just through the muscle wall. Then in goes the finger th make it a hole and with my finger over the top of the blade I unzip the abdomen.
I then split the sternum up to the neck and from there I can cut the trachea and oesophagus and once the diaphragm is cut away then the whole pluck can be pulled clear.
A bit of work then to release the Roman from the cavity and the whole set of rumen and intestines can be pulled out simply by moving the deer onto its side.
I don’t split the pelvis, so instead I create a section of 5-5” of intestine with no fecal matter in it and then cut it off.

All of this takes me about 2-3 mins now, but I have gralloched 350-400 deer so I have found a method that works for me!!

Practice, practice and practice!!

 

[Dagless]

Wow - you made life hard for yourself there!!
For a fallow I would always gralloch laying down.
I remove a strip of skin from the sternum to the groin to expose the abdominal muscles and then create a small slit just through the muscle wall. Then in goes the finger th make it a hole and with my finger over the top of the blade I unzip the abdomen.
I then split the sternum up to the neck and from there I can cut the trachea and oesophagus and once the diaphragm is cut away then the whole pluck can be pulled clear.
A bit of work then to release the Roman from the cavity and the whole set of rumen and intestines can be pulled out simply by moving the deer onto its side.
I don’t split the pelvis, so instead I create a section of 5-5” of intestine with no fecal matter in it and then cut it off.

All of this takes me about 2-3 mins now, but I have gralloched 350-400 deer so I have found a method that works for me!!

Practice, practice and practice!!

Now I know! . Thanks for the advice, now for sure I have done my first and last suspended Fallow gralloch!

 

[Donkey Basher]

Have always found gralloching chest shot fallow on the ground to be needlessly messy thanks to the abundance of claret… suspended all the way for me - have lost track of the number I’ve done but well into 4 figures so reckon I’ve got it sussed now

Start by tunnelling the anus out, then open up the abdominal cavity - small hole then run protected knife down to the sternum cutting from inside out. At the sternum put the back edge of the blade against the cartilage & continue along the middle of the rib cage to the base of the neck. You can either use (dull) your knife to open up the sternum or use a pull saw to split the chest open. Reach in & pull the colon through - no need to cut & no chance of contents contaminating the carcass. Work the rumen out & then cut round the diaphragm & gravity will kick in. You may need to use a knife to cut the heart away from the chest wall but ultimately gravity will cause the whole gralloch to drop to the point where the oesophagus is hanging at the bottom of the neck. Grab the pluck at the point where the lungs meet the oesophagus & pull the carcass towards you to get some tension. Run your knife up the neck keeping the tension on. Then take the head off. As someone else said on a previous post, do this & you’ll have the lot out ‘from hoop to snoot’ with zero contamination All done in a matter of minutes! Back legs are easy too - pull the hoof downwards, cut across the back of the leg & around then bend the leg back the other way & pop - if you’ve got it right the leg just falls off in your hand!

Help to get the beasties suspended by using a simple block & tackle - 5m of 6mm line from a chandlers, a stainless shackle, a clamcleat locking shackle & a pair of snap hooks. See below - the small loop at the top goes over a handy branch. If you don’t have a folding gambrel then get a pair of stainless steel ‘S’ hooks, you can suspend using either one or two of them



If you are happy to go ‘lo-tech’ then a simple 3m long piece of 10mm line & some ‘S’ hooks will also do the job.

 

[Donkey Basher]

Now I know! . Thanks for the advice, now for sure I have done my first and last suspended Fallow gralloch!

You’ll change your mind once you’ve done it properly…

 

[Dagless]

This is what I tried. I will reconsider my approach based on all the useful advice here.

 

[Donkey Basher]

This is what I tried. I will reconsider my approach based on all the useful advice here.

Your mistake there is to not split the sternum before you remove the rumen etc. That & trying to lift the deadweight onto the strap instead of using a block & tackle. But, as said already, good on you

Edit: looking at your pic again, there’s a nice handy low branch (the wonky one pointing away from you not the little thin one on the side) on the tree immediately behind beastie that you could probably have been a lot easier to use?

 

[BECKS 7]

Yes you will change your mind once you master doing them properly

 

[long_range_rob]

I think everyone grallochs differently. I was shown over 30 years ago a pretty poor way to gralloch, I then learnt some more on my NSSC (the predecessor to the DSC1) and finally was shown another method by a guy who does 4-500 deer a year. No split sternum, no suspension just a really tidy ground level removal of everything in one piece. Nothing wrong with the other options it’s just my one suits me.

 

[MHstalker]

Great write up,

I’m pretty sure most would call my gralloching untidy at best.