7daysinaweek Posted April 7 Report Share Posted April 7 A few weeks back I took the long drive up north of the border for a morning stalking. It was an early start leaving home at 2.30 am with the aim of being at the ground for 6am with the guide. The drive was pleasant at that time in the morning and I can say I must of only seen a handfull of cars all the way, accompanied by moderate rain for most of the journey. It is a pleasant drive at that time were one's mind can wander at the anticipation of the day only being interuppted by the occasional lorry. With good fortune the rain started to let up as I was driving through Castle Douglas and by the time I arrived at the ground it had stopped altogether with just a light wind. I have been going up to the same place with the same guide for a good few years now and after arriving greetings and a catch up, off we went on foot. We climbed up a litle bit of a track with steep incline and within about a hundred yards of coming to the top of the incline the guide stopped suddenly and crouched a little saying to get ready, he put the tripod down and I know this is the sign for a shot is on. No sooner had I got on the sticks the the animal moved down into a dip and out of sight, distance was just shy of 150 yards so the guide took the advantage of moving us on a little bit more of about 30 yards or so when the target once again appeared. With the sticks down and a good backstop I took the shot and the animal was down, with a quick reload and no movement we walked over. Field gralloch over that was one in the bag in the first 10 minutes and I was content be it whatever the rest of the morning would bring. I pulled the Roe up onto the track and we decided to leave it there and collect with the four wheel drive later. No sooner had we walked on a few paces I noticed an absense of my scope covers. A minute or so back tracked along the track to the first position and found them on the track, they must have dropped from my pocket. No sooner had we set off through the squelchy ground the giude put the sticks down and i got the gun up on them but could not see the animal, it was stationary around a couple of hundred yards out. It started to move and then I picked it up, however it glided up a steep incline and off into the woodland. Wonderful to see and it never ceases to amaze me how fast deer can travel through recently felled commercial forestry ground that resembles 'Somme' With me puffing like an old bill goat we we moved up to a further ridge which looked down onto a larger area of the ground where we had walked up from and the rain had then started to fall as a light drizzle. We walked a few more steps to the ridgeline, crouching as we went and guide indicated a deer straight down in front of us, distance just at 200 and as we were on a ridge shooting down the shot would be from a lying position if possible due to our position. I got down on my belly into a suitably soaked mossy bed and went to look though the scope which I had somehow coveniently breathed on in my haste and misted it up, with the light drizzle falling and wiping the lens and a good shot presenting itself, with seconds to go I took the shot and the animal was down. The second within 20 minutes of starting and a good climb down found a smaller roe. Field gralloch undertaken I pulled it a fair way down onto the estate road and then went and collected the estate vehicle and picked them both up. We them drove out to another part of the estate and on foot for the rest of the morning with nothing else presenting itself suitably we called it a morning with thanks. I loaded up both the deer into the back of the vehicle and a quick stop for a bite to eat and nipped into Tesco in Castle Douglas to fill up on red cola and Scottish plain bread (EIGHT LOVES LATER) and a nice drive back home to sunny Liverpool by 13.00 completing the 370 odd mile round trip. I hung the deer up in the garage on my makeshift hanger (set of ladders) and nice it was. The next day I set to with my vitranox knives and after skinning them out and jointing which took me the whole afternoon I had a good amount of venison. Superb! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scully Posted April 7 Report Share Posted April 7 Good write up! Enjoyed that. Fabulous countryside up there. 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandgun Posted April 8 Report Share Posted April 8 9 hours ago, 7daysinaweek said: A few weeks back I took the long drive up north of the border for a morning stalking. It was an early start leaving home at 2.30 am with the aim of being at the ground for 6am with the guide. The drive was pleasant at that time in the morning and I can say I must of only seen a handfull of cars all the way, accompanied by moderate rain for most of the journey. It is a pleasant drive at that time were one's mind can wander at the anticipation of the day only being interuppted by the occasional lorry. With good fortune the rain started to let up as I was driving through Castle Douglas and by the time I arrived at the ground it had stopped altogether with just a light wind. I have been going up to the same place with the same guide for a good few years now and after arriving greetings and a catch up, off we went on foot. We climbed up a litle bit of a track with steep incline and within about a hundred yards of coming to the top of the incline the guide stopped suddenly and crouched a little saying to get ready, he put the tripod down and I know this is the sign for a shot is on. No sooner had I got on the sticks the the animal moved down into a dip and out of sight, distance was just shy of 150 yards so the guide took the advantage of moving us on a little bit more of about 30 yards or so when the target once again appeared. With the sticks down and a good backstop I took the shot and the animal was down, with a quick reload and no movement we walked over. Field gralloch over that was one in the bag in the first 10 minutes and I was content be it whatever the rest of the morning would bring. I pulled the Roe up onto the track and we decided to leave it there and collect with the four wheel drive later. No sooner had we walked on a few paces I noticed an absense of my scope covers. A minute or so back tracked along the track to the first position and found them on the track, they must have dropped from my pocket. No sooner had we set off through the squelchy ground the giude put the sticks down and i got the gun up on them but could not see the animal, it was stationary around a couple of hundred yards out. It started to move and then I picked it up, however it glided up a steep incline and off into the woodland. Wonderful to see and it never ceases to amaze me how fast deer can travel through recently felled commercial forestry ground that resembles 'Somme' With me puffing like an old bill goat we we moved up to a further ridge which looked down onto a larger area of the ground where we had walked up from and the rain had then started to fall as a light drizzle. We walked a few more steps to the ridgeline, crouching as we went and guide indicated a deer straight down in front of us, distance just at 200 and as we were on a ridge shooting down the shot would be from a lying position if possible due to our position. I got down on my belly into a suitably soaked mossy bed and went to look though the scope which I had somehow coveniently breathed on in my haste and misted it up, with the light drizzle falling and wiping the lens and a good shot presenting itself, with seconds to go I took the shot and the animal was down. The second within 20 minutes of starting and a good climb down found a smaller roe. Field gralloch undertaken I pulled it a fair way down onto the estate road and then went and collected the estate vehicle and picked them both up. We them drove out to another part of the estate and on foot for the rest of the morning with nothing else presenting itself suitably we called it a morning with thanks. I loaded up both the deer into the back of the vehicle and a quick stop for a bite to eat and nipped into Tesco in Castle Douglas to fill up on red cola and Scottish plain bread (EIGHT LOVES LATER) and a nice drive back home to sunny Liverpool by 13.00 completing the 370 odd mile round trip. I hung the deer up in the garage on my makeshift hanger (set of ladders) and nice it was. The next day I set to with my vitranox knives and after skinning them out and jointing which took me the whole afternoon I had a good amount of venison. Superb! A very sensible way to collect your meat.....and loaves, cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
London Best Posted April 8 Report Share Posted April 8 Well done! Last week I did a very similar trip but stayed three days and came home deer-less. Such is stalking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7daysinaweek Posted April 8 Author Report Share Posted April 8 12 hours ago, Scully said: Good write up! Enjoyed that. Fabulous countryside up there. 👍 Cheers Scully. I agree, I love those vast swathes of land. The dream would be to move up there. Got to have a dream! 2 hours ago, islandgun said: A very sensible way to collect your meat.....and loaves, cheers Thanks IG Whenever I travel up my daughter gives strict instructions to fill up on the bread. Plain Scottish white pan bread, stodgy and robust with that burnt crust. Superb toasted. We are nearly out of it already. 😢 52 minutes ago, London Best said: Well done! Last week I did a very similar trip but stayed three days and came home deer-less. Such is stalking. 👍 Sorry to hear that LB that's unfortunate, at least you got out. Did you see anything at all? My first forays into occasional stalking I went with a guide over in Derbyshire and if I recall, I had a total of 6 evening stalks in the space of a couple of months and did not raise the gun at all. Saw a small heard only once in all the trips back and forward from Liverpool. As you allude nothing is guaranteed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
London Best Posted April 8 Report Share Posted April 8 1 minute ago, 7daysinaweek said: Sorry to hear that LB that's unfortunate, at least you got out. Did you see anything at all? My first forays into occasional stalking I went with a guide over in Derbyshire and if I recall, I had a total of 6 evening stalks in the space of a couple of months and did not raise the gun at all. Saw a small heard only once in all the trips back and forward from Liverpool. As you allude nothing is guaranteed. Yeah, saw a couple of dozen deer over five outings, including about five confirmed bucks. Did get in to about sixty yards from a doe, a buck and an unconfirmed, but spent about forty minutes watching them. I could have shot the doe times over but never a chance at Bucky boy. No matter, I had a bit of excitement. I have been stalking over thirty five years and have taken over three hundred roe from that particular ground over the years so not bothered by the occasional blank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7daysinaweek Posted April 8 Author Report Share Posted April 8 4 minutes ago, London Best said: Yeah, saw a couple of dozen deer over five outings, including about five confirmed bucks. Did get in to about sixty yards from a doe, a buck and an unconfirmed, but spent about forty minutes watching them. I could have shot the doe times over but never a chance at Bucky boy. No matter, I had a bit of excitement. I have been stalking over thirty five years and have taken over three hundred roe from that particular ground over the years so not bothered by the occasional blank. Excellent stuff. 👍 Fabulous to see nontheless. In my books a blank is better than any day sat at home or in work and I am sure you will catch up with a buck very soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
London Best Posted April 8 Report Share Posted April 8 2 minutes ago, 7daysinaweek said: Excellent stuff. 👍 Fabulous to see nontheless. In my books a blank is better than any day sat at home or in work and I am sure you will catch up with a buck very soon. I have been shooting Muntjac over the Winter, but strangely, not had a roe doe this time. I keep trying to give up shooting Fallow as the bucks have already given me two hernias and my back is not so good either these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7daysinaweek Posted April 8 Author Report Share Posted April 8 13 minutes ago, London Best said: I have been shooting Muntjac over the Winter, but strangely, not had a roe doe this time. I keep trying to give up shooting Fallow as the bucks have already given me two hernias and my back is not so good either these days. I can sympathise with you about your back. Look after yourself. 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penelope Posted April 9 Report Share Posted April 9 On 08/04/2024 at 07:32, islandgun said: A very sensible way to collect your meat.....and loaves, cheers Indeed, a great way to get the messages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7daysinaweek Posted April 10 Author Report Share Posted April 10 On 09/04/2024 at 15:10, Penelope said: Indeed, a great way to get the messages. 👍 Wish I could collect the messages 'weekly' , now that would be a thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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