Three days in Hampshire
(Or make a brew and settle in)
Its Sunday, well it’s getting nearer, stalking trip to Hampshire for six stalks.
Its ten years since I got a centre fire rifle, so far I have been on several stalking trips and on those I have been mentored and gained such a lot of experience and knowledge from people who really know their stuff. To this point I shot one Roe buck in the first five years with my stalking mentor Steve and two does in the second five, almost five years ago with the same people as this trip. Now it’s almost time to go again but to a different location.
Lists are made, and rifle zero is the priority and to practice with the new Primos trigger sticks.
Wednesday got some more kit sorted, and got everything needed to zero into the car but the police have closed the road so I email Ian and its OK we can do it down there.
I get most of my stuff out and it’s a big pile.
Thursday sees me setting off at 0700 to arrive at Ian’s for 1000, it was very busy on the M42 and I stopped for the toilet and buy shower gel.
Arrived on time and met Matt who is taking me this trip. We had a brew and transferred my gear into the Ranger Raptor and again set off south. Now this truck is green but only because its wrapped it’s really white. This means it’s a good shooting truck colour and when you come to sell it its absolutely pristine under the wrap.
We arrived at the ground early and had a quick look, the weather has improved, the rain has stopped, birds are singing and there is a bit of sunshine. It soon turns dull. It’s still early so we nip into a village for the loo, coffee and a bacon wrap.
I seem to have left my home loads exactly there, at home, despite my list I got disorganised, but I do have other suitable ammunition with me.
We are waiting for a driven shoot to finish on the estate, Matt expects a phone call, we can hear shotguns as we wait.
We move and park by a gated field, I changed and set my rifle up. Matt has thermal imaging range finding binoculars, I tried them and very good they are.
A couple of shots at the target on a four foot square white board proved the zero was ok, set on at 100 yards years ago and never needing adjustment. It was also my first use of the trigger sticks and the .270 so happy with that.
We waited in the truck but no deer appeared, then we stalked towards the woodland down the field to the south east, the wind is westerly straight out of the sunset. This appears to be a mix of field and woodland stalking and I am making sure I cover the margins well.
There is a lot of ivy growing on the trees; plenty have the classic deer eaten bases to three or four feet high.
We hear a Muntjac barking, which is another first for me.
We wondered by a gap in the hedge giving a view of this and adjacent fields, as it became too dark we returned up the saturated and boggy field, every wheel rut is filled to the brim and the ground is soggy like a moss bog.
As we prepare to leave Matt saw a fox in the thermal, my .270 is packed away in the vehicle locked box.
Matt removes his Creedmore and Viper sticks and pursues the fox from the gate using the thermal then bang, I see a bright white golf ball size mushroom of light from the moderator. He studies through the thermal for a minute, job done 305 yards.
Now here comes the point in optics the Creedmore has a Swarovski and I am sure my Nikko Sterling Gold Crown would not have shown me an adequate site picture without a lamp. He rang the keeper who had been after this big dog fox for a week.
We went to the chip shop and had good fish and chips before returning to the Motel. It’s due some refurbishment but its clean and will do fine, it’s a matter of what’s available. We had a brew and a bit of TV then lights out at 8pm to be up at 5.30.
Friday. Slept OK and up and out to the ground. Over trousers and boots go on in the car park. Just through the gate Matt can see seven deer via the Pulsar thermal but the wind is straight at them so we plan to move round and stalk in from the other direction.
I screwed home the T8 and 4 Remmington 130g Loktcore and the bolt in. I told Matt the rifle was loaded and one in the chamber safety on. As I was to walk behind Matt and the ground was very muddy I opted for carrying muzzle up. If leading with a heavy moderator the muzzle can slip backwards leading to the follower looking down the muzzle and that’s not going to happen, the thumb hole in the strap and care helps stop this.
It’s still fairly dark but the sun is about to rise and it’s a misty morning, limiting visibility.
There is pink streaking the sky as we stalk down the field. Mist obscures the view but not to the thermal. The seven we are stalking have moved off there are no bright silhouettes there now.
I am going through the things I have learned, look ahead, pick a route, think quiet, do not ting the moderator on twigs making the warning bell sound of stalkers over here. Muzzle awareness. If I get to shoot, calm, breathing, finger pad on the trigger, remember safety catch, and don’t dither once on target and follow through making point of impact.
Being quiet was hard as every step left a squashy sucky sound from the sodden ground.
So we continued on, woodland ahead and to the left, but the right margin was thin trees to fields beyond. Matt stops, standing still, Muntjac on the margin he says and offers me the thermals and there it is clear as day a bright white shape, but no suitable back stop so we let it go.
A little further on Matt stops, I am watching the sticks. My trigger sticks have never been used stalking before, Matts carrying them.
Up go the sticks and I slip the rifle onto them, there is a doe at the edge of the brush, it’s also at the edge of the mist. But after a faff effort I have her in the fuzzy scope picture.
I watch and watch and can really only identify a head moving. So either we stalk nearer or she moves nearer, but no away she goes. However I identified a doe and a good backstop.
It’s brighter now and there is less mist and we stalk on as does the squelching at each step.
There was very little dawn chorus just a few tweets and the racket of ducks from time to time. There are maze strips and squares as cover crop for the pheasant and partridge and occasionally birds explode out of the cover at which I stop scan and watch in case a deer lifts its head to see what’s occurring. An action that is redundant to the thermal but I need the practice. We come to a high seat well sited in a field corner with its back to a wood, from which there is a large opening. We move on the noise of the ducks has diminished and the pheasants are fewer.
We are now on a track with dense woods to the left a little strip of trees leading to a field terminating in a rising bank. The sun is bright through the tree tops very pretty with the remaining mist.
Matt is using the thermals and then the sticks are going up, I am placing the rifle on them in the direction he is looking, clear view, roe doe good bank back stop, pretty much head on, I breathe finger off trigger, safety is on, she looks left and starts to move, safety off finger on trigger, up the leg stands still and I shoot. Drops on the spot, following through.
Two Muntjac burst into the ride behind us and I am vertically realigning the rifle vertically but they have no plans to hang around and pass into the wood on the other side, we wait watching but that’s it. Matt goes and brings back the doe. We shake hands and I offer my thanks for the opportunity, a yearling doe. Matt hocks it and hangs it on a tree and opens the abdomen and with the anus removed the gralloch falls neatly out, there is a lot of blood in the chest and the entrance and exit are clear indicating good shot placement and expansion of the Remmington 130g Loktcore. We left the roe hung high in the tree to cool and collect later.
The trigger sticks provided a stable rest for shooting better than my garden canes but slower to erect as yet but Matts good with them.
We stalked on passed more cover crops, pheasant’s and empty release pens and eventually back to the road by the keepers cottage where I unloaded and waited to be picked up.
My Parker Hale .270, Nikko Sterling Gold Crown, T8 moderator and 10 year old Remmington bullets had again done me proud.
Matt sharpens his knife on a Lansky system which I have heard much about but never seen before he also has the pocket version similar to my own for a quick hone in the field.
Then to a local café for a very good full English breakfast sat outside in the sunshine with a coffee after a successful morning just excellent. Then back to the ground for a rest before setting off again.
So we had a break and then drove round to pick up the Can Am quad, doors off windscreen open we set off on a tour.
The tracks are very soft with deep mud but we cruised through with the occasional small slide in wetter deeper bits. Matt is checking frequently with the thermal, as we were at the top of a long drive two roe dashed out across the drive into the field to the right. I loaded a round but no shot presented. I returned the round under the bolt as I did for all quad work.
We pushed on but no deer were seen, we splashed on and the thermal and binoculars saw some use. A red kite is circling above us. Eventually we came round again and the two does were in the field they passed into before, flat field, 100 yards across to them back stop is ok with maze growing on top. Out, the quad, sticks up, rifle on, round chambered, one is behind trees to my right and never seen again. The other is rear on, I wait, it moves left a bit looking around, it walks to the left, I track it, on stopping safety off, I hold my breath and fire, I hear a strike and follow through, the doe jumps the bank and disappears from sight, we wait.
Then we go for a look, no obvious point of strike no pins tissue or blood, OK start working out wards slowly, then Matt finds a few pins in the wet bracken and grass this is further left than I marked the spot I need to be more diligent, so we tracked on and in seconds the thermal picks her up in a hollow in the maze and brambles, just a few yards from the impact site. Matt collects her and hocks the legs and another stubby branch serves as a hanger and does the gralloch and she goes into the back of the quad.
We drive around and have a wait in a field but it’s quiet. Its late November but in 2 pairs of trousers one lined a Real Tree fleece lined jacket, Bridgedale socks in Le Chambeau boots Tilly hat and gloves I am warm and comfortable.
We come to a big field sloping uphill to the left bordered by wood land. Matt stops the quad, there is a deer, he checks with the binoculars a doe, we have a walk he says and I follow on. The light is going now. We stop but it’s not clear in the scope, we slowly stalk nearer single file. Sticks go up I describe a roe doe rear on head down correct he replies.
I watch and she turns broadside and I take the shot, we hear the bullet strike,100 yards says Matt but it seemed further to me perhaps it’s the light. She had dropped on the spot and was motionless we walked up, it was a high shoulder shot. We dragged her half way back to the quad which was harder work than I was expecting, I wondered how people go on with reds. Matt went for the quad while I stood in the failing light.
Matt did the two grallochs on a nearby tree and we hung them well off the ground to cool in the cold night air. Packed up for the day and went to KFC for food. Back at the motel, brew, shower and England playing football on TV.
Saturday. It’s a wet morning at 5.30 I changed my Real Tree for a Jack Pike smock my partner got for me a few years ago after a very wet day with Sikamalc down south other clothing remained the same.
So 3 roe yesterday, 2 dropped on the spot and one covered about 5 yards with shredded lungs.
We go to a large wood that only has one footpath directly across it at one end. I put on the mod and load 4 Remmington. The path we are on is signed. Private, shooting in progress, keep out it’s a big sign. We are about to stalk in the rain. The paths are fairly flat but as wet as a stream in places. There is deep mud varying in colour from black, grey, brown and yellow. The trees are a mix of conifer and deciduous the cover below is dense bramble and thick bracken. The thermal was used and little seen except squirrels.
After a while on these relatively straight paths down a ride in the trees Matt picks out a Muntjac uphill and over a fence and a very slippery ditch that I fell into, despite the thermal and the caller it was not seen again. Recrossing the ditch and fence with great care and safety, the muzzle has been both up and down today depending on the mud and terrain. I am a bit warm, not too bad but warm and I am thinking of getting rid of a pair of trousers and fleece later, but a bit later I have cooled down. The deer are laying up today in the wet.
We are scanning with binoculars and the thermal but my mark 1 eyeball noticed some type of movement out of the corner of my eye 300 yards ahead. We checked with the thermal and binoculars there is nothing in site. Then after a few minute a man appears walking his dog, he should not be here, Matt says we will go back he and his dog will have bumped anything now. He follows us before joining the proper path.
We stalk on and enter a field beside the proper footpath. Then we are stopped by a young man also on the proper path. He very forthrightly questions our authority to shoot in the wood, saying because of the houses the estate has denied shooting permission in the wood for ten years and we might shoot someone.
Matt explained we did have permission would he like to see it or we could ring the keeper or land owner, but he didn’t want to ring anyone as they didn’t get on. I am considering unloading my rifle as a courtesy but also consider it might be mistaken for something else so I stood still hands in plain sight. He maintained his position saying walkers and their dogs used it even though they shouldn’t as there was inadequate fencing and signage, I pointed out the large sign behind him to which he replied that needs taking down as its old and out of date, it’s a new shiny sign. Then it got a bit weird, he realised we were stalking and said oh are you culling deer and he seemed quite ok with this after earlier going to call the police. We parted our ways. Matt rang the keeper and talked to the land owner in case they got a call.
We stalked back to the truck and went for breakfast, inside this time. Returning to the ground we parked close the site of the last shot last night and a rest before the evening stalk, stalk 5 of the 6. It turns out as I have been before I am not being charged as much as I expected. I called the butcher who can take 3 on Monday as I can’t do it easily at home any more will go to the provider’s game dealer for a much reduced fee if I want to take more.
We collected the quad and drove round 4 bullets under the bolt, there were loads of pheasants everywhere especially along what I call the pheasant road by the release pens we saw no deer. Then suddenly the thermal picked up a deer by the side of the pen. We stalked slowly down the side of the pen, pen to the right woodland to the left, we stop sticks up, rifle on covers up, a doe crosses left to right straight across the ride no pause, followed immediately by a Muntjac again no pause. We stalked on and nothing was seen in the woodland they had gone into.
We return to the quad and move on, the sun is setting, the quad stops Matt is thermaling, ahead, 109 yards, down the ride I can see it clearly in the binoculars roe doe. I get out ship the rifle onto the sticks flip up the scope covers load a round and have a look, I turn up the magnification, same old story rear on head down eating at a pheasant feeder. We wait,
I wait, I am breathing gently waiting to hold, cross hairs on the rump, she turns side on to the left head up and I fire. Matt says hard hit she won’t go far, she lifted straight up. After a while we drive down, there are spots of blood on the track and a big smear on top of the feeder, lung blood I thought bright and frothy. Matt tracked through the bracken and found her 35 yards away. The gralloch did reveal shredded lungs another yearling doe.
4 rounds fired four deer for the larder.
We went to the chip shop I am starving. I need to get my bullets further forward but they have all been well in the chest cavity. Am I not taking enough time.
Sunday. The last stalk of 6 since the first on Thursday. Up 5.30 and a coffee and off to the car park adjacent to the permission, Matt went for a look with the thermal while I slipped on over trousers boots and jacket no jumper today, gloves and hat and all ready. An owl is calling from the trees nearby.
We arrive at the stalking site I screw home the T8 and load 4 bullets under the bolt, all sorted. It rained earlier but its fine now. We come to a field of short grass, but the usual soaking ground, stretching away to a block of maze 210 yards away and on the edge among some pheasants is a Muntjac, head down feeding, clear in the binoculars. Matt says we will stalk nearer, he is in charge but I am actually thinking this is doable. But then he has seen me shoot and he has done me proud so far.
I twist up the scope mag, Matt has the sticks and I follow his footsteps looking down so as not to present a white moving blob of face approaching and to walk smoothly and not sway at the waist. As my mentor once said I looked around well but moved like a slow moving metronome.
Matt stops and puts up the sticks, 160 yards he whispers. I am thinking smooth movements, shooting technique, breath control, and finger pad on the trigger etc. I rest the Parker Hale well up the fore end in the V, its gone into the maze.
Matt gives a few calls on the Buttalo caller, we wait and it reappears and stands side on right behind a pheasant, looking left to right. Small but clear as the pheasant obliges moving on, this will be my smallest boiler room and longest shot, all is still head is up breathing stopped and I fire.
We both hear a solid strike. I follow through and we wait. But we can’t see it, it did not drop on the spot. We wait. Then walk down for a look, there is nothing in the thermal, I have marked where I shot from, there is nothing at the shot site, no pins no blood no tissue, I have put the sticks up at where I am sure is the shot site. I am beginning to doubt myself and that I have missed. I once missed a boar at much shorter range.
I looked at the sticks and back to where I shot from we are definitely in the right place. Then Matt found it in the maze 20 yards away the .270 had taken the foreleg and the bottom of the chest right out. Matt gralloched it and we stalked back to the start seeing another Muntjac but it was not stopping or responding to the caller. We saw fallow slots over the tracks from the quad last night so transient fallow have passed through. We packed the deer into the truck.
So in 6 stalks I had 4 Roe and a Muntjac having only ever shot 3 roe before in ten years of stalking so an epic outing and a species added.
This trip was my treat to myself on retirement from the ambulance service after 44 years.
Huge thanks to the stalkers who helped my continuing stalking education and those opportunities and those on the SD who have shared their experiences and advice and to Matt for providing this stalking and working so hard.
Thursday, just called the butcher and it’s all ready, so off to collect it and drop some off at my shooting farmers and friends.
What a week it’s been.
(Or make a brew and settle in)
Its Sunday, well it’s getting nearer, stalking trip to Hampshire for six stalks.
Its ten years since I got a centre fire rifle, so far I have been on several stalking trips and on those I have been mentored and gained such a lot of experience and knowledge from people who really know their stuff. To this point I shot one Roe buck in the first five years with my stalking mentor Steve and two does in the second five, almost five years ago with the same people as this trip. Now it’s almost time to go again but to a different location.
Lists are made, and rifle zero is the priority and to practice with the new Primos trigger sticks.
Wednesday got some more kit sorted, and got everything needed to zero into the car but the police have closed the road so I email Ian and its OK we can do it down there.
I get most of my stuff out and it’s a big pile.
Thursday sees me setting off at 0700 to arrive at Ian’s for 1000, it was very busy on the M42 and I stopped for the toilet and buy shower gel.
Arrived on time and met Matt who is taking me this trip. We had a brew and transferred my gear into the Ranger Raptor and again set off south. Now this truck is green but only because its wrapped it’s really white. This means it’s a good shooting truck colour and when you come to sell it its absolutely pristine under the wrap.
We arrived at the ground early and had a quick look, the weather has improved, the rain has stopped, birds are singing and there is a bit of sunshine. It soon turns dull. It’s still early so we nip into a village for the loo, coffee and a bacon wrap.
I seem to have left my home loads exactly there, at home, despite my list I got disorganised, but I do have other suitable ammunition with me.
We are waiting for a driven shoot to finish on the estate, Matt expects a phone call, we can hear shotguns as we wait.
We move and park by a gated field, I changed and set my rifle up. Matt has thermal imaging range finding binoculars, I tried them and very good they are.
A couple of shots at the target on a four foot square white board proved the zero was ok, set on at 100 yards years ago and never needing adjustment. It was also my first use of the trigger sticks and the .270 so happy with that.
We waited in the truck but no deer appeared, then we stalked towards the woodland down the field to the south east, the wind is westerly straight out of the sunset. This appears to be a mix of field and woodland stalking and I am making sure I cover the margins well.
There is a lot of ivy growing on the trees; plenty have the classic deer eaten bases to three or four feet high.
We hear a Muntjac barking, which is another first for me.
We wondered by a gap in the hedge giving a view of this and adjacent fields, as it became too dark we returned up the saturated and boggy field, every wheel rut is filled to the brim and the ground is soggy like a moss bog.
As we prepare to leave Matt saw a fox in the thermal, my .270 is packed away in the vehicle locked box.
Matt removes his Creedmore and Viper sticks and pursues the fox from the gate using the thermal then bang, I see a bright white golf ball size mushroom of light from the moderator. He studies through the thermal for a minute, job done 305 yards.
Now here comes the point in optics the Creedmore has a Swarovski and I am sure my Nikko Sterling Gold Crown would not have shown me an adequate site picture without a lamp. He rang the keeper who had been after this big dog fox for a week.
We went to the chip shop and had good fish and chips before returning to the Motel. It’s due some refurbishment but its clean and will do fine, it’s a matter of what’s available. We had a brew and a bit of TV then lights out at 8pm to be up at 5.30.
Friday. Slept OK and up and out to the ground. Over trousers and boots go on in the car park. Just through the gate Matt can see seven deer via the Pulsar thermal but the wind is straight at them so we plan to move round and stalk in from the other direction.
I screwed home the T8 and 4 Remmington 130g Loktcore and the bolt in. I told Matt the rifle was loaded and one in the chamber safety on. As I was to walk behind Matt and the ground was very muddy I opted for carrying muzzle up. If leading with a heavy moderator the muzzle can slip backwards leading to the follower looking down the muzzle and that’s not going to happen, the thumb hole in the strap and care helps stop this.
It’s still fairly dark but the sun is about to rise and it’s a misty morning, limiting visibility.
There is pink streaking the sky as we stalk down the field. Mist obscures the view but not to the thermal. The seven we are stalking have moved off there are no bright silhouettes there now.
I am going through the things I have learned, look ahead, pick a route, think quiet, do not ting the moderator on twigs making the warning bell sound of stalkers over here. Muzzle awareness. If I get to shoot, calm, breathing, finger pad on the trigger, remember safety catch, and don’t dither once on target and follow through making point of impact.
Being quiet was hard as every step left a squashy sucky sound from the sodden ground.
So we continued on, woodland ahead and to the left, but the right margin was thin trees to fields beyond. Matt stops, standing still, Muntjac on the margin he says and offers me the thermals and there it is clear as day a bright white shape, but no suitable back stop so we let it go.
A little further on Matt stops, I am watching the sticks. My trigger sticks have never been used stalking before, Matts carrying them.
Up go the sticks and I slip the rifle onto them, there is a doe at the edge of the brush, it’s also at the edge of the mist. But after a faff effort I have her in the fuzzy scope picture.
I watch and watch and can really only identify a head moving. So either we stalk nearer or she moves nearer, but no away she goes. However I identified a doe and a good backstop.
It’s brighter now and there is less mist and we stalk on as does the squelching at each step.
There was very little dawn chorus just a few tweets and the racket of ducks from time to time. There are maze strips and squares as cover crop for the pheasant and partridge and occasionally birds explode out of the cover at which I stop scan and watch in case a deer lifts its head to see what’s occurring. An action that is redundant to the thermal but I need the practice. We come to a high seat well sited in a field corner with its back to a wood, from which there is a large opening. We move on the noise of the ducks has diminished and the pheasants are fewer.
We are now on a track with dense woods to the left a little strip of trees leading to a field terminating in a rising bank. The sun is bright through the tree tops very pretty with the remaining mist.
Matt is using the thermals and then the sticks are going up, I am placing the rifle on them in the direction he is looking, clear view, roe doe good bank back stop, pretty much head on, I breathe finger off trigger, safety is on, she looks left and starts to move, safety off finger on trigger, up the leg stands still and I shoot. Drops on the spot, following through.
Two Muntjac burst into the ride behind us and I am vertically realigning the rifle vertically but they have no plans to hang around and pass into the wood on the other side, we wait watching but that’s it. Matt goes and brings back the doe. We shake hands and I offer my thanks for the opportunity, a yearling doe. Matt hocks it and hangs it on a tree and opens the abdomen and with the anus removed the gralloch falls neatly out, there is a lot of blood in the chest and the entrance and exit are clear indicating good shot placement and expansion of the Remmington 130g Loktcore. We left the roe hung high in the tree to cool and collect later.
The trigger sticks provided a stable rest for shooting better than my garden canes but slower to erect as yet but Matts good with them.
We stalked on passed more cover crops, pheasant’s and empty release pens and eventually back to the road by the keepers cottage where I unloaded and waited to be picked up.
My Parker Hale .270, Nikko Sterling Gold Crown, T8 moderator and 10 year old Remmington bullets had again done me proud.
Matt sharpens his knife on a Lansky system which I have heard much about but never seen before he also has the pocket version similar to my own for a quick hone in the field.
Then to a local café for a very good full English breakfast sat outside in the sunshine with a coffee after a successful morning just excellent. Then back to the ground for a rest before setting off again.
So we had a break and then drove round to pick up the Can Am quad, doors off windscreen open we set off on a tour.
The tracks are very soft with deep mud but we cruised through with the occasional small slide in wetter deeper bits. Matt is checking frequently with the thermal, as we were at the top of a long drive two roe dashed out across the drive into the field to the right. I loaded a round but no shot presented. I returned the round under the bolt as I did for all quad work.
We pushed on but no deer were seen, we splashed on and the thermal and binoculars saw some use. A red kite is circling above us. Eventually we came round again and the two does were in the field they passed into before, flat field, 100 yards across to them back stop is ok with maze growing on top. Out, the quad, sticks up, rifle on, round chambered, one is behind trees to my right and never seen again. The other is rear on, I wait, it moves left a bit looking around, it walks to the left, I track it, on stopping safety off, I hold my breath and fire, I hear a strike and follow through, the doe jumps the bank and disappears from sight, we wait.
Then we go for a look, no obvious point of strike no pins tissue or blood, OK start working out wards slowly, then Matt finds a few pins in the wet bracken and grass this is further left than I marked the spot I need to be more diligent, so we tracked on and in seconds the thermal picks her up in a hollow in the maze and brambles, just a few yards from the impact site. Matt collects her and hocks the legs and another stubby branch serves as a hanger and does the gralloch and she goes into the back of the quad.
We drive around and have a wait in a field but it’s quiet. Its late November but in 2 pairs of trousers one lined a Real Tree fleece lined jacket, Bridgedale socks in Le Chambeau boots Tilly hat and gloves I am warm and comfortable.
We come to a big field sloping uphill to the left bordered by wood land. Matt stops the quad, there is a deer, he checks with the binoculars a doe, we have a walk he says and I follow on. The light is going now. We stop but it’s not clear in the scope, we slowly stalk nearer single file. Sticks go up I describe a roe doe rear on head down correct he replies.
I watch and she turns broadside and I take the shot, we hear the bullet strike,100 yards says Matt but it seemed further to me perhaps it’s the light. She had dropped on the spot and was motionless we walked up, it was a high shoulder shot. We dragged her half way back to the quad which was harder work than I was expecting, I wondered how people go on with reds. Matt went for the quad while I stood in the failing light.
Matt did the two grallochs on a nearby tree and we hung them well off the ground to cool in the cold night air. Packed up for the day and went to KFC for food. Back at the motel, brew, shower and England playing football on TV.
Saturday. It’s a wet morning at 5.30 I changed my Real Tree for a Jack Pike smock my partner got for me a few years ago after a very wet day with Sikamalc down south other clothing remained the same.
So 3 roe yesterday, 2 dropped on the spot and one covered about 5 yards with shredded lungs.
We go to a large wood that only has one footpath directly across it at one end. I put on the mod and load 4 Remmington. The path we are on is signed. Private, shooting in progress, keep out it’s a big sign. We are about to stalk in the rain. The paths are fairly flat but as wet as a stream in places. There is deep mud varying in colour from black, grey, brown and yellow. The trees are a mix of conifer and deciduous the cover below is dense bramble and thick bracken. The thermal was used and little seen except squirrels.
After a while on these relatively straight paths down a ride in the trees Matt picks out a Muntjac uphill and over a fence and a very slippery ditch that I fell into, despite the thermal and the caller it was not seen again. Recrossing the ditch and fence with great care and safety, the muzzle has been both up and down today depending on the mud and terrain. I am a bit warm, not too bad but warm and I am thinking of getting rid of a pair of trousers and fleece later, but a bit later I have cooled down. The deer are laying up today in the wet.
We are scanning with binoculars and the thermal but my mark 1 eyeball noticed some type of movement out of the corner of my eye 300 yards ahead. We checked with the thermal and binoculars there is nothing in site. Then after a few minute a man appears walking his dog, he should not be here, Matt says we will go back he and his dog will have bumped anything now. He follows us before joining the proper path.
We stalk on and enter a field beside the proper footpath. Then we are stopped by a young man also on the proper path. He very forthrightly questions our authority to shoot in the wood, saying because of the houses the estate has denied shooting permission in the wood for ten years and we might shoot someone.
Matt explained we did have permission would he like to see it or we could ring the keeper or land owner, but he didn’t want to ring anyone as they didn’t get on. I am considering unloading my rifle as a courtesy but also consider it might be mistaken for something else so I stood still hands in plain sight. He maintained his position saying walkers and their dogs used it even though they shouldn’t as there was inadequate fencing and signage, I pointed out the large sign behind him to which he replied that needs taking down as its old and out of date, it’s a new shiny sign. Then it got a bit weird, he realised we were stalking and said oh are you culling deer and he seemed quite ok with this after earlier going to call the police. We parted our ways. Matt rang the keeper and talked to the land owner in case they got a call.
We stalked back to the truck and went for breakfast, inside this time. Returning to the ground we parked close the site of the last shot last night and a rest before the evening stalk, stalk 5 of the 6. It turns out as I have been before I am not being charged as much as I expected. I called the butcher who can take 3 on Monday as I can’t do it easily at home any more will go to the provider’s game dealer for a much reduced fee if I want to take more.
We collected the quad and drove round 4 bullets under the bolt, there were loads of pheasants everywhere especially along what I call the pheasant road by the release pens we saw no deer. Then suddenly the thermal picked up a deer by the side of the pen. We stalked slowly down the side of the pen, pen to the right woodland to the left, we stop sticks up, rifle on covers up, a doe crosses left to right straight across the ride no pause, followed immediately by a Muntjac again no pause. We stalked on and nothing was seen in the woodland they had gone into.
We return to the quad and move on, the sun is setting, the quad stops Matt is thermaling, ahead, 109 yards, down the ride I can see it clearly in the binoculars roe doe. I get out ship the rifle onto the sticks flip up the scope covers load a round and have a look, I turn up the magnification, same old story rear on head down eating at a pheasant feeder. We wait,
I wait, I am breathing gently waiting to hold, cross hairs on the rump, she turns side on to the left head up and I fire. Matt says hard hit she won’t go far, she lifted straight up. After a while we drive down, there are spots of blood on the track and a big smear on top of the feeder, lung blood I thought bright and frothy. Matt tracked through the bracken and found her 35 yards away. The gralloch did reveal shredded lungs another yearling doe.
4 rounds fired four deer for the larder.
We went to the chip shop I am starving. I need to get my bullets further forward but they have all been well in the chest cavity. Am I not taking enough time.
Sunday. The last stalk of 6 since the first on Thursday. Up 5.30 and a coffee and off to the car park adjacent to the permission, Matt went for a look with the thermal while I slipped on over trousers boots and jacket no jumper today, gloves and hat and all ready. An owl is calling from the trees nearby.
We arrive at the stalking site I screw home the T8 and load 4 bullets under the bolt, all sorted. It rained earlier but its fine now. We come to a field of short grass, but the usual soaking ground, stretching away to a block of maze 210 yards away and on the edge among some pheasants is a Muntjac, head down feeding, clear in the binoculars. Matt says we will stalk nearer, he is in charge but I am actually thinking this is doable. But then he has seen me shoot and he has done me proud so far.
I twist up the scope mag, Matt has the sticks and I follow his footsteps looking down so as not to present a white moving blob of face approaching and to walk smoothly and not sway at the waist. As my mentor once said I looked around well but moved like a slow moving metronome.
Matt stops and puts up the sticks, 160 yards he whispers. I am thinking smooth movements, shooting technique, breath control, and finger pad on the trigger etc. I rest the Parker Hale well up the fore end in the V, its gone into the maze.
Matt gives a few calls on the Buttalo caller, we wait and it reappears and stands side on right behind a pheasant, looking left to right. Small but clear as the pheasant obliges moving on, this will be my smallest boiler room and longest shot, all is still head is up breathing stopped and I fire.
We both hear a solid strike. I follow through and we wait. But we can’t see it, it did not drop on the spot. We wait. Then walk down for a look, there is nothing in the thermal, I have marked where I shot from, there is nothing at the shot site, no pins no blood no tissue, I have put the sticks up at where I am sure is the shot site. I am beginning to doubt myself and that I have missed. I once missed a boar at much shorter range.
I looked at the sticks and back to where I shot from we are definitely in the right place. Then Matt found it in the maze 20 yards away the .270 had taken the foreleg and the bottom of the chest right out. Matt gralloched it and we stalked back to the start seeing another Muntjac but it was not stopping or responding to the caller. We saw fallow slots over the tracks from the quad last night so transient fallow have passed through. We packed the deer into the truck.
So in 6 stalks I had 4 Roe and a Muntjac having only ever shot 3 roe before in ten years of stalking so an epic outing and a species added.
This trip was my treat to myself on retirement from the ambulance service after 44 years.
Huge thanks to the stalkers who helped my continuing stalking education and those opportunities and those on the SD who have shared their experiences and advice and to Matt for providing this stalking and working so hard.
Thursday, just called the butcher and it’s all ready, so off to collect it and drop some off at my shooting farmers and friends.
What a week it’s been.
