So...........How was it for you?

I'm not a great writer (nor indeed one that comes close to @Stalker1962 's standard) but having announced my intentions here, I thought I summarise my day (so far).

Soooo........ alarm set for 03:30 but, despite sharing 2 bottles of excellent red over another wonderful dinner cooked by the eldest,


followed by 3 hands of cards afterwards with the full clan and retiring at 21:30, I was awake at 03:00 and tossing and turning.

For some inexplicable reason my youngest had declined to join me this morning but thankfully, the eldest had spirited the youngest Vizsla away with her:



So exiting the bedroom in relative silence at 03:18 with the "chosen" V and the Teckel was relatively easily achieved.

Dressing in the dark on the landing though was emotional, but thankfully the full heads-over-heels experience of falling down the stairs was narrowly averted.

A quick cup of coffee, grab the rifle, load up the dogs and I'm on the M5 heading North by 03:45 up to the late Alantoo grounds near Stroud.

These are essentially 2 farms: an old small beef farm (now just grass) of 30 acres; and a much large arable farm of 300 acres.

Arriving at the first, the smaller one at 04:40, I elect to leave the dogs in the car and to slowly explore the smallest of these farms.

Whilst its only small, it borders a steep wooded valley and has so far yielded muntjac, roe and just before the season ended, 3 fallow. I was optimistic

I first go through a small yard but on last Saturday, I discovered that the entrance had been blocked by a fallen self-set tree/shrub. Pushing through the top branches, I cautiously peered over the gate at the far end and down the wooded slope.

NOTHING!

I gingerly opened the gate and moved slightly down the slope to get a good left and right view along the wood - still NOTHING!

Retrace steps, head up the entrance drive and down a hedge-lined track to the left, cautiously moving forward expecting to be barked at any time by the seemingly ever-present muntjac.

NOTHING!

Emerging into the small paddock I slowly move to the edge and peer down again into the woods and the spot where I took a nice mature roe buck on Saturday night...............

NOTHING!

Through the paddock and I cautiously peer into the larger field and around a huge Leylandii to scan about 300m of the finest Cotswold stone walling which bounds the wood......

NOTHING!

Slowly, I traverse the Westerly field edge constantly scanning down into the woods - still NOTHING!

Reaching the far corner where my trail cam is mounted some 20m down the slope I scan the slopes and there's nothing there at all At least on Saturday there were 2 roe doe kids

So back to car and off to Farm 2.

Scanning the farthest field from the road as I drove down the lane there's ONE fallow pricket emerging through the wheat field hedge and pronking across the now cut rape field - PROGRESS

I pull into the cottage as quietly as I can and park up against the washing blocking the drive A quick check of the wheat field below the cottage and the set aside disappointingly reveals .....NOTHING!

Back to the car, retrieve the dogs and I slowly set off across the garden towards the field exit I had cut with Alan to get his quad out of the plot. Thankfully no muntjac or roe in the trees.

UNFORTUNATELY, the farmer now has cattle in the bordering field and I can only assume they thought I was there to feed them - FFS

I climb steadily up the field "margin" - it's mostly thistle despite being drilled as a wild bird mix. Thankfully the cattle are getting less interested and as I near the stile at the top I suddenly see a roe buck in the high grass in front of me - FFS!

I say that as I wanted to get to the stile and into the next field where on Saturday, I had seen the melanistic pricket and a Meinel master buck. The buck was at 54m and grazing towards me - dilemas, dilemas.....

If I bump him he would undoubtedly run into the next field where I had seen the fallow, barking all the way. There was no sensible retrace and both dogs now we're alert and showing increased interest in the smell coming downwind.

At 35m, I pull the trigger - BOOM! Oh FFS, that's the fallow to the next county..............................



A quick bleed and I press on, more in forlorn hope than genuine expectation. I reach the gateway and scan the hedges and the crop - NOTHING!

FFS, opening day of the fallow buck season and I have another roe - that's 3 in the chiller now

I slowly walk the field edge up heading towards the furthest field were I'd seen the pronking pricket - nice ring to it that.

Well b*&&er me, scanning right into the wheat field that DOESN'T BELONG to the farm, there's the master buck at 174m and yes, he's sticking his fingers up at me



Aaargh - maybe if I hadn't gone to the smaller farm first

I quickly walk the reminder of the hedges and fields - NOTHING!

Return, collect then gralloch the buck kid - those are sharp evil antlers - a good one to cull, but sadly not a fallow.



Alan's widow is now up and kindly offers'' me a much needed coffee. We chat briefly and I'm primed to prep one of the 3 roe bucks in the chiller for a Welsh blacksmith's colleague who has been instrumental in helping clear the late Alan's workshop - it's the least I can do................

I head back to the first farm to clear the small tree. An hour later, the farmer's widow returns from the vets with thankfully good news about her ageing dog - indeed, I'm not sure what they gave her but at nearly 17, she was pushy with both the V and the Teckel.

Talking to her, I'd noted that her son had mown the grass in the time I'd been away.

Guess what, he had an audience of 2 fallow prickets watching him throughout from a far hedge. B*&&er - too early

I head home via the gunshop, picking up the VIT 135 and 160 that thankfully had just arrived.

I managed to grab a couple of hours sleep (as did the dogs) and guess where I'm about to head back to

This time the youngest is going to join me - hopefully more muscle for the inevitable

 

[User00052]

Great write up

 

[Phil fox man]

enjoyed reading your write up,keep us updated on your return trip.
phil

 

[wytonpjs]

Not going too well - nothing at the first farm and only 2 roe does at the second so far…….Currently sat in a high seat until LL

B*##er it started to rain EARLY FFS

 

[VSS]

Not going too well - nothing at the first farm and only 2 roe does at the second so far…….Currently sat in a high seat until LL

B*##er it started to rain EARLY FFS

View attachment 322079View attachment 322080

Me too. And if nothing shows up I'll still be here in the morning!

 

[John Gryphon]

I'm not a great writer

stalker1962 will need to lift his game.

 

[Donkey Basher]

B*##er it started to rain EARLY FFS

Yep - rained on me too while I was reading this thread & waiting for a pricket to show itself… had already seen 4 fallow does, a fallow fawn & a cracking roe buck. Waited till sunset then pulled stumps & headed home. Forecast is sh1t for tomorrow but keeping fingers crossed for the day after…

 

[Tim.243]

Fallow doe came out for a feed, something bigger back in the wood but never dared show lol

 

[hoodwink]

I had these this evening and 15 others come out in front of me, a good number of fawns included but not a Buck to be seen

 

[wytonpjs]

So, Part Deux, the denouement......

As I quickly updated before (post #4) from the high seat, it started to rain and then....... behold a glowing sunset and a rainbow



Now, you know what they say about rainbows - hold that thought until I fill in a few gaps.............

I forgot to say in my first post that whilst I was committing my solo armed stroll earlier, last night's chef pronounced she wants 2 of these for next weekend - maybe just as well I took that murder buck!



Another gap from my quick earlier update - you recall the master buck giving me the V-sign from that field that wasn't mine, well b*%%er me, they were cutting it tonight....... in the rain



Even worse, when we first arrived my favourite hedge line (that had previously held that melanistic and master) had a horse-rider and foot escort trundling along it - FFS

So, back to the plot............

We left the high seat somewhat despondent - at least I was, the youngest had McDonald's VERY MUCH on its mind. However, as he turned right towards the car, I went left for one last lingering look over the set aside to the West of the cottage......

You've guessed it, under that rainbow, there he was - 104m away but this time steadfastly giving me a Texan heart-shot instead of the V-signs.




Dusk was rapidly descending, the rain was starting up again and I was probably 15 minutes too late for a good shot - so he survives another day until our paths cross again

Hope your day went better

 

[John Gryphon]

so he survives another day until our paths cross again

Expect a door knock from Penguin Random House.

 

[Hook'N'Bullet]

Brilliant read! Thanks for sharing - love hearing others experiences

 

[wytonpjs]

A Part Trois - I promise no more

Unfortunately, I had to work Wednesday/Thursday so it wasn’t until yesterday morning that I could get back out after that elusive first fallow of the season. To my surprise, the youngster agreed to accompany first thing provided a) it wasn’t too early and b) there was a McDonald’s double sausage McMuffin breakfast in it, ideally asap after leaving the house. This I duly obliged and sped up the M5 with Hope in my heart and a cursing in my mind given the profusion of middle lane hoggers and the incessant solid streams of cars in the outside lane

Given there was a need to satisfy my landowners requirements on the large farm I elected to head there first. Whilst I was a little later than some would chose, the trail cams suggested that these fallow like a lie-in. However, just as I set off to stalk the ground, a “gentleman“ in a Schoffel gilet and ram’s antler stick in hand came past the gate with 2 unleashed dogs roaming far and wide. Yup - you have guessed it - he’d covered my intended route - FFS. I stalked the ground anyway and not unsurprisingly, no fallow were to be seen; we did manage to bump a nice mature roe doe though in a field margin. It did also however, present a good opportunity to have a good chat with the farming brothers at their barn about their harvest, future plans for fields and to confirm their requirements for the fallow - down in season and don’t let them get a hold!

Soooooo - off to the smaller farm. I stalked the same route as in Pt1, again seeing NOTHING. However, quietly looking over the field wall, there was a group of 5 does and fawns. A little further on, another group of 4 (inc nice melanistic pricket), then 9 finally to a total of 23, all within 60m down the slope but NOT on my ground

After a while observing (and torturing myself thinking about how could I get them into my ground), we headed home and I resolved to return in the evening.

This I duly did and I repeated my route from the morning. As I emerged from the wood at the bottom of the cottage garden I caught sight of what I thought was a muntjac off to my right on the margin of this wild bird seed mix thistle field. I edged forward but through instinct, scanned the near ground to my left as well - FFS - there was a pricket staring at me 40m away, it’s head just visible above the weeds. Interestingly, this was the one I’d seen about a month before the season causing damage in the lower field - whilst it was so tempting then, I didn’t pull the trigger that day.



I quickly abandoned any interest in the muntjac and quietly retraced my steps back trying to get a better angle for a possible shot - both dogs at heel wondering WTF was going on. Suffice to say, I didn’t reacquire him and saw NOTHING further across the entire farm

So, back over to the small farm. Hopes rose meteorically as I slowly turned into the farm drive - off to the left in the first field was a fallow doe and fawn - YES

I gingerly parked up, decided to leave the dogs in the car and tip-toed to the gate at the wood end of the first yard. Wooo-hoo - 3 more on the field edge and, edging down into the wood, a further 5 sighted in the trees (my trees) below them. One F’ing problem though - they were all female! I was up on sticks by this time just in case but as they eventually ran across me further down the slope from left to right (approx 50m), the were indeed all DOES!

Now by this time I beginning to think that fate was truly against me - however, at least it wasn’t raining yet…….

I decided to leave the dogs in the car - they have covered a lot of ground with me so far that day so let “sleeping dogs lie”.

I tip-toe down the lane, through into the small paddock and peer gingerly down into the slope - NOTHING.

I move to the edge of the big field and cautiously progressively scan the wall and wood edge - NOTHING.

Learning from my experience earlier in the day, I set up the rifle on my sticks at the gateway to this field, tucked back into the edge of the hedge and sit down on an upturned drinking trough to wait out LL - it‘s 20:35 with sunset at 20:58. I sit and wait, looking increasingly at my watch - was it only 2 minutes since I last scanned the wood edge? Minutes ticked by and those niggling doubts slowly fermented in my mind - should I have gone up the wood edge and looked over first - would that have blown it yet again. Dilemmas, dilemmas……

Then, on next scan, a heart source at the wood edge, initially a blob but then unmistakably a fallow doe’s head. She neatly hopped over the wire and ran about 30m into the field where she eagerly started to graze. Then there was another heat source, and another and one by one, 5 more emerged into the field and eagerly gorged themselves on the grass. Yup - you have guessed it - all FEMALES!

I sit and wait - barely 5 minutes elapse before a larger shape emerges and runs into the field - finally, it’s a pricket

144m but FFS, it won‘t stand still. I try to control my thumping heart and zoom the scope out, adjust the focus, re-ping the range (it’s a dS on this one) track the animal with the excellent Blaser sticks and……. BOOM It starts and runs forward, the field erupting with charging fallow running everywhere but mostly towards me. I watch the pricket, reload - he stops, staggers and collapses on the ground. The rest of the group stand and stare - yup, all DOES.

So, in a carbon copy of my first fallow in January from this ground, there’s my first fallow of this season on the ground. It’s not a monster - I‘m grateful of that as, even the offer of another McDonald’s didn’t cut the ice this evening, and I’m single-handed.

Cursing myself that I didn’t bring the dogs to work onto this one I walk across the grass to the now lifeless carcass, a moment’s reflection, decide with the size of the exit hole and blood on the ground that there’s no need to bleed (lower chest shot that severed the base of the heart and dumped most of its blood volume out of the chest) and I drag it back to the field edge and my usual gralloch location. This time though I decide to get the car and to put the new winch system to work - and indeed it does



The season off - the game’s afoot