Stalking roe bucks much harder this time of year....I know, I haven't been doing this long!

[camodog]

Waiting for the write up

Shot 43 for 46......! There you go, that's your write up !

 

[Tim.243]

Shot 43 for 46......! There you go, that's your write up !

that was a lot of decoys lol

 

[Siubhal]

Last night was my ninth blank outing.........

 

[User00040]

does it really make that much difference? OK, maybe not the middle of the day but the last two bucks I have had were 7.15 in the evening and 7.45 in the morning.

Depends where you are. Are you shooting in a forestry block?

 

[slider]

Depends where you are. Are you shooting in a forestry block?

yeap

 

[User00040]

yeap

Must have a nice one then... all to yourself?

 

[slider]

Must have a nice one then... all to yourself?

6 on one block, although only 3 shoot fairly regularly.
2 of us on another smaller block, but it's right next to the town very popular with walkers

 

[nick.308]

the harder it is to get your beast the more the thrill. I used to stalk some very hard ground and found every third trip I would get a deer and each trip I would do at least 3 outings. I dont bother stalking in the summer as the meat heats up too easily, the flies are terrible and the deer have the upper hand with cover hiding them. The winter months is where the hunters advantage comes in.

 

[unimog72]

all way struggle this time of year to much cover farmer has rye that is 6 feet tall grass fields not yet cut woodland under story thick as fxxx but finding lots of ticks and a few muntjac cant wait till rye cut and the roe rut kicks in to fill the freezer

 

[gaza916]

Been stalking now for over a year. Been very fortunate to have been out with some great folks over the last year and also have picked up my own permission which I've been out on a lot for sika, roe and muntjac. Always done a bit of woodland management but have now add deer to this. Despite all my studies and theoretical knowledge, first hand frustration is a thing to be learned from! Now had two fruitless outings for roe buck, one this week and one last. Most recently was last night and this morning in Hants. Lovely weather, but the bucks that I saw (which were great) were either not a safe shot or too far away or melted back into the woodland once I had even thought about going in their direction. I know I am preaching to the converted for the experienced amongst you but I hadn't realised quite how impenetrable woodland was when stalking deer at this time of year. I've always noticed the flush of growth and taken it for granted when looking after woodland but over previous years never needed to see through / tramp through / scrape through it. Saw plenty of does but all the bucks seems to have vanished! Nothing quite like learning on the job....

You’re right, it is much more difficult at this time of year due to the vegetation/crop height. What you might find works for you is to try and pattern the bucks - the mature bucks will have their territory firmly defined and will walk it habitually until the rut. I’ve been out on one of my permissions and 3 mature bucks are always in the same place at the same time in their territories, with one of them almost like clockwork. I appreciate this is easier said than done, and takes time on the ground which is not always readily achieved, but it can and will pay dividends.

My clockwork buck turned up again tonight but I let him walk until after the rut. In the next field a yearling buck walked within 5m of me trying to figure out what I was - so no carcass but a fantastic evening which sent me home with a big grin!

 

[kieran222]

Definitely do less stalking at this time of the year. Your chances of losing a shot deer are significantly increased because of the cover. Unfortunately my dog suffers bad from hayfever so don't bring it out at this time of the year.
Plenty of pigeon shooting to fill the time with until the crops are harvested.

 

[Antonyweeks]

Definitely do less stalking at this time of the year. Your chances of losing a shot deer are significantly increased because of the cover. Unfortunately my dog suffers bad from hayfever so don't bring it out at this time of the year.
Plenty of pigeon shooting to fill the time with until the crops are harvested.

Your dog and me both! Went out last night on a nearby farm and walked through a few fields of uncut grass. Streaming eyes and nose by the end!!!!

 

[NickJ]

Roe bucks do tend to go a bit quiet at the end of June and first of July, one assumes they are conserving energy for the rut.

I was out Monday evening and both the bucks I saw were laid up, one at 20:45 and one at 22:15. With the cover at it's highest and then laid up during daylight hours you'll be stalking right past them.

 

[Heym SR20]

On average over the years I reckon four to five outings for every Roe actually taken. So far this year I haven’t squeezed the trigger as nothing suitable.

I could have shot one the other evening but he was a little small, a little far, it was a little windy, quite a long walk back and not a particularly good backstop, but overwhelmingly these were just excuses as could not really be bothered with all the hard work that starts once the trigger is squeezed.

watching a slovenian grebe on the pond with youngsters was enough for me.

 

[User00025]

Just having a look round last evening and saw a nice young Roe buck across the river. About 100 yards could have knocked him over but just watched him through the scope. The difficulty is, if you shoot a beast in standing corn and you have to go a mile round to collect it, it's very difficult to find. If there's two of you one can stay and give the other directions. I should get a dog but hesitate because of my age. Plenty of fallow bucks in small groups and does and fawns in the bean fields.

 

[@theroedeerguy]

Field corners with a bit of shelter close to desirable thicket will tend to produce Roe bucks late evening at this time of year.

This cull buck came off a field of spring oats which thanks to the variety meant the crop wasn’t too high to spot him.

 

[Mungo]

Two

Been stalking now for over a year. Been very fortunate to have been out with some great folks over the last year and also have picked up my own permission which I've been out on a lot for sika, roe and muntjac. Always done a bit of woodland management but have now add deer to this. Despite all my studies and theoretical knowledge, first hand frustration is a thing to be learned from! Now had two fruitless outings for roe buck, one this week and one last. Most recently was last night and this morning in Hants. Lovely weather, but the bucks that I saw (which were great) were either not a safe shot or too far away or melted back into the woodland once I had even thought about going in their direction. I know I am preaching to the converted for the experienced amongst you but I hadn't realised quite how impenetrable woodland was when stalking deer at this time of year. I've always noticed the flush of growth and taken it for granted when looking after woodland but over previous years never needed to see through / tramp through / scrape through it. Saw plenty of does but all the bucks seems to have vanished! Nothing quite like learning on the job..

Two blank outings?? Come back when you’ve had 19…

 

[opticron1]

How nice to see it isn't just me that has this remarkable ability to have blank outings - the one on monday being the latest in the large file marked "blank"
I went through a stage where I had a reputation as a "vegetarian stalker", either saw no deer, saw the wrong sex of deer, saw the wrong species of deer or saw the rapidly disappearing rear end of any number of deer when they saw me first!
However, never a waste and spent a few pleasant hours stalking some new ground and watching a few hares/partridge/woodpeckers going about their business as well as enjoying the early morning in the borders with good company and stunning scenery..... great stuff.... can't wait for the next outing, blank or not.

 

[sikamalc]

Finished my Roe buck cull with 25 grassed. Started PM 7th May and finished on the 12th June.

I only start in May, gives the bucks time to clean and fatten up a bit. Plus you can still see easily as the covers not so high. By this time of year bucks are settled in their territories as such and will not be far away from where you first spotted one. Older bucks at this time of year tend to lay low a bit, feeding up for the rut. Besides they dont need to walk far to feed. Life is a bowl of salad for them at this time of year. Why spend energy looking for food when its all around you.

If there are several of you stalking the same area the older bucks soon get to know your there. They dont get old and big by being stupid. Like all ground there will be more favourable areas that you see more movement. Plus anytime spent on the ground by yourself is all good knowledge gained.

Roe will sometimes move late in the morning, and feed every 3 or so hours. If there are a lot of public about this will impact on their feeding and they will turn to later feeding, especially at night, when there is less public and its quiet.
Try and alter your stalking, and maybe sit and watch more than stalk. If its in dense wood blocks the wind can change quickly and once they smell you they know you are there and will be reluctant to show.

Once the rut is on they will drop their guard a bit, so dont give up. Everyday is a learning day.

 

[Erik Hamburger]

My rule of thumb is that I’ll come home with a carcass about every third stalk.

Yes, a success rate of 1:3 is what I seem to average. But I have had plenty of periods where I get nothing for a very long time... (16 blank outings in succession is my record!) and than suddenly you have a few sessions with two in the bag each time.