Not shooting

[Dunkield]

It was a nice, if a little cold, evening yesterday so I went for a stalk to see if any more Muntjac had made a return to the land I have been shooting.

There wasn't much in the way of wind but I walked downwind of what there was just to be on safe side.

Having made my way through slowly through the wood overlooking a recent plantation I saw a young roebuck walking towards me.

Certain that he hadn't seen me I stood as still as a still thing behind a tree.

At one point I even got the rifle up as if to take a shot, but never got to the point of taking the safety off.

When I lowered the rifle I realised just how close it was, by now no more than 15 feet away from happily browsing

Having decided I wasn't going to shot him I couldn't even get my camera out as we were almost breathing the same air.

Suddenly he realised I was there, and seemed almost embarrassed he hadn't seen me earlier and walked off slowly at first but barking and running later.

It was a great experience, I felt pretty happy that I could get that close to a deer without being seen/smelt.

I have no use for the meat, it was a young buck with a good antlers, but certainly nothing special, and I didn't need to shoot it, other than to say I had.

The odd thing was driving home with an empty boot, but still feeling like I had had a great evening out.

So it seems it is true, stalking really isn't all about the shot.

[Beardo]

Sounds like a great experience, must have been nice to get so close - i came face to face with a Muntjac buck once when i was out with the air rifle, great to see so close.

SS and I had a similar morning yesterday - we turned up at the farm at 6.30am (i know way past dawn, but i still need to function for the rest of the week so 4am starts are a no go.)

Had eyes on a Muntjac a couple of times, but no safe shots presented themselves. Still it was a beautiful morning and we both thoroughly enjoyed it.