Last Roebuck

[scolopax]

Just before heading back offshore I managed another brief excursion north of the border, this time to some roe ground I stalk. For once the weather was good, the sun even put in a appearance on occasions.

 

I shot this black faced buck at about 6.30 on the first morning, the light was very poor and it took some time to to discern if the black blob in the field possessed antlers or not. Even at that time he was heading in from an open field into the sanctuary of a thorn and hazel thicket. I had caught fleeting glimpses of him twice in the summer but never got a good look, he always saw me first and exited the scene rapidly! He turned out to be a much better animal than I thought and has a good head for the area (Dumfrieshire), nice long antlers but no real weight. He was in an area with probably the best forage on the estate and shared it with a number of does this summer so he should have passed his genes on.

 

 

 

I only stayed for two days as I had to get back home to sort my gear out before returning to work. On the final evening the weather turned bad, wet and windy, so I decided a stint in our only enclosed high tower was in order. The plantation it is set in has matured since it was erected and there was very little open ground to see, just a green jungle of conifer trees, birch saplings, willow herb and tall rank grass, and I was not hopeful. There are plenty of deer in this particular wood but seeing them was going to be tricky, and the weather was against them coming out from cover, but it was the last night so it was worth a couple of hours. The only open area was probably 5m by 5m around 50m from the tower. Just on dusk, there it was, as always coming from nowhere, perfectly broadside right in the middle of the small clearing....up with the binolculars...but it was a doe, she stood there for five minutes putting her head down to pluck some choice vegatation a couple of times, then moved off. I gave it another twenty minutes after she walked away to see if a buck was following but as the light was fading quickly I decided to head back to the car. Two more deer were out on the open field but it was way to dark to assess their sex, but I am sure they were a doe and follower. By this time the wind had died off and the skies cleared to reveal a fantastic moonlit night sky and as I walked back in the dark skein after skein of greylags, pinks and barnacles flew over heading south to the Solway, great end to a great trip.

[magman]

Thats a nice head well done :blink:

[spider72]

great shooting :blink: