One of our clients has given us permission to quote in full an article he wrote for the newsgroup uk.rec.shooting.game. We hope that you enjoy it!

It's kind of quiet in here so I thought I'd post something.

I gave up deer stalking (and indeed all shooting activity) about 10 years ago. This year decided that I wanted to get back into deer stalking in particular and rifle shooting in general.

Having sorted out the basics (agreement from my wife), I went on to the usual trials and tribulation of renewing knowlege, Airguns, loadsa target practice, FAC, getting some tuition and training, oh yes, a nice Sako 75 in 270 with a moderator, range work, some accompanied stalking and then taking the DSC1, videos, more range work etc.

Anyway all this led to me arranging an over busy day last Saturday, The agenda ran something like 0200 Alarm clock efficiently wakes me up from a sound sleep, shower, dress, final liesurely check of stalking equipment and load up the car for a trip to Hampshire, a morning stalking roebuck in the rut followed by a day at the game fair.

Fat bloody chance: woke up to cruel alarm clock all right, in the middle of a power cut. So shower becomes cold wash in the dark, getting rifle out of cabinet in the dead of night whilst gripping the torch between my teeth followed by stubbed toes and checking out a lot of kit by touch and generally in a state of disturbance, finally got almost everything in the car.

Almost forgot the final checklist item, a bunch of large pop bottles full of water and frozen solid for 2 days in the freezer on max.

Off down the M40 going great guns start mentally running through the checklist to make sure I didn't forget anything really important, thoughts turned to the day ahead, 0500 meet Roger for a morning Roe stalking in Hampshire, hmm; it's about 12 years since I stalked that first Roebuck in Hampshire, that was a similar morning on the front end of the summer, If I remember correctly, that was a Ruger M77 in 243, nice gun but... OH BU**ER there goes my junction........ 25 miles later I'm back to my junction but running late. Ive been a few minutes late the last couple of times I've arranged to meet Roger and he must be getting a bit teed off with it, oh well press on and hope for no more delays.

Eventually I made it to the appointed meeting place half an hour early mainly due to finding it easily once I came off the main road. Had a bit of a doze in the car, woke up, it's 0505, better call in and see how Roger is doing, given my track record I'm probably in the wrong place or the right place at the wrong time (I actually got out of bed and turned up to one appointment bang on time, in the right place on the 15th... of the wrong month AAAAARGH !! talk about a blonde moment.)

Wonder of wonders, I'm in the right place at the right time and Roger's actually running a couple of minutes late himself, It's a bit sad the things one can find satisfying at that time of day.

On to the stalking, transferred kit into Roger's 4x4 and on the the estate, a briefing and then into a portable high seat with instructions on where I can wander with some hints about where I should go. Oh by the way, have you got a call Roger nochalantly asked as he was about to leave. Nope, I said (thinking that's strictly for the experts). Well it's the rut as you know and they can be effective particularly at this time of year, "I've got a spare would you like to borrow it" says Roger. Probably sounding a bit dubious I said something to the effect of yes please but can you give me a quick demo ? One quick demo later, as soon as I heard the call I thought Aha this is the same as the call used in one of those stalking videos, Ok, I'll give it a go, put it in my pocket and promptly forgot about it.

No sooner is Roger moving away (I could still hear the engine in the distance) I'm just setting up, binos out, a quick look around before loading the rifle Ok, nothing obvious, time to get the rifle out and load up, I just looked up from loading a mag in time to see a nice looking buck making good time across a ploughed field to my left, just about had time to get the binos up and have a good look at him, looked like a nice head, maybe 200 yds out, he just paused for about 10 seconds perfectly broadside on and then stepped through the hedge into a block of woodland and was gone. Mainly I thought, well that'll be that for a while, he probably watched the entire unloading and setting up procedure from the far hedgerow in the ploughed field and picked his moment for maximum comedy effect on a novice stalker. Oh well, Onward and upward (into the high seat).

I sat in the high seat for an hour or so, it's strange but I have noticed before that there seems to be a point about 20 - 30 minutes after settling into a seat where the wildlife seems to be switched back on, suddenly creatures can be seen moving about their business, a couple of doves flying lazy circuits around my location, a couple of rabits on the far side of the ploughed field, a flight of pigeons raiding the opposite side of the field for something, a nice sized hare wandering over the ridge and down a line of greenery between the ploughed field to the left and the almost ripe barley field in front of me. The odd gust of breeze from the right putting a gentle wave through the barley and taking the heaviness out of the air, a couple of rain showers visible a few miles away across the chalk downs, life's pretty good. Roger had suggested that I take a look from time to time round the back of the block of shrubs and small trees I was located in just to make sure nothing was moving about right behind me. On that side, it was almost a mirror image of the location on the other side with Barley to the left and a bit of set aside to the right, a much more tricky shooting proposition due to the proximity of a road so great caution required.

After an hour or so in the high seat I thought time for a stretch of the legs and a check round the other side of the thicket. I had a last very careful look round with the binos, made the rifle safe (unloaded) and then climbed down, retrieve shooting stick, extended it to full height, reloaded the rifle, a quick glass round and move out along the boundary between barley and thicket. I reached the junction between end of thicket, aforementioned strip of greenery and the ploughed field and had just cautiously glassed around the corner when just for once, I did as instructed by every book, knowlegable stalker, instructor and video I have come across in the last 7 months and actually had a good look round behind me before moving on. Wonder of wonders, up the green border right on the sky line is the clear sillouhette of a roe deer shoulders, neck and head in perfect profile about 150 yards out, A good look with the glasses suggested a yearling buck with a small head and he was starting to wander off in the opposite direction in a fairly aimless manner. Nooooo, no no no no, don't do that I thought, then a eureka moment, where did I put the bloody call thingy, It's gotta be worth a go. Found it ! right a quick blast and see what happens, The buck stopped dead in his tracks and had a good scan round with the ears, they looked like little radar dishes to me at that moment. Then after maybe the better part of a minute, he put his head down I thought to move off but he just wanted a bit of food for thought, next time the head went down I gave another blast on the call, a bit softer this time. Up came the head, no hesitation this time, he started heading towards me down the boundary line, not exactly in a hurry but wandering in what I felt to be the right direction, yes, that's it keep coming, nice earth backdrop now that he's off the ridge line, as the head goes down for a nibble, pocket the call, next time the head goes down set up the sticks, next time mount the rifle on the sticks and get comfortable, next time, zoom the scope right in to get a good look at the head, yep young, good condition great table potential, just not in the right position , head down, zoom the scope out to more reasonable setting, still moving closer, maybe 70 yards out by now but completely head on to me, head down, just watch, safety off, wait for the moment, he's got to turn sooner or later, 50 yards, just thought, if I had stayed in the high seat he would have been perfectly presented for a heart / lung shot for the last 30 or 40 yards, still moving in, 35 yards, Hmm, I know I need a certain calibre of rifle and expanding ammunition to legally kill a deer, If this one comes much closer, I'll be able to club him with the bloody thing, 25 yards, I have to zoom the scope further out, I can't get the whole beast in the angle of view any more. At last, the buck caught sight of the movement, froze and was looking in my direction, he's still not in a shootable position. Like the proverbial naughty schoolboy I started to move my hand away from the scope, thus showing even more movement, this finally tipped him off that something was well and truly wrong with the situation and he was straight off into the barley bounding for a good 70 yards or so where he paused for a couple of seconds before heading out over the ridge line a couple of unndred yards out. In an open situation, that pause probably would have been his last but that's the way it goes.

Mental note to myself, don't ponce around with the equipment at the critical stage of a stalk !!. General feeling though was absolutely thrilled, I'd found the buck assessed him, called him in and all but the last bit done pretty much everything right.

A quick look round the back of the thicket, nothing going on back there, decided to go back to the high seat for a while, let the disturbance die down and wait for the natural world to come back on. Not much delay this time, can't have caused much disturbance other than to myself and the buck. After about 45 minutes decided that the morning was getting on so decided to have a wander along the thicket barley boundary in the opposite direction.

Again, extracted from the high seat, rifle safety measures etc, and prepared to move out on another little expedition. I had spotted a lane in the Barley about 10 yards from the boundary, It must have gotten missed by the seed drill because nothing much was growing there Moved across into this I felt would give me a good view along the field bounday as I moved along and would allow me to duck down if required without making a lot of noise or causing damage to the crop.

I moved slowly up my green groove in a world which at that moment seemed to be a sea of barley, a green wood and a hazy sky, the focus was such that anything else such as the noise of civilisation waking up, more traffic noise from some nearby main road, jets overhead all faded into the background, the green groove was getting narrower, maybe time to move across to the field boundary, theres no advantage to being out here if I have to lose the advantage of quiet movement, a quick glance around before moving over to the edge of the wood, Hang on, that weed wasn't there a minute ago.

Over a few seconds or was it minutes, I became sure that I was looking at a deer head sticking up out of the barley, I think the trouble was that the deer for the same amount of time may have been concluding that I was looking suspicious as well. Well I thought, the first one to blink here loses out, stay very still but thinking I am going to feel a total prat if I have frozen for 5 full minutes in an effort to stalk a thistle. Then as the doubts were starting to build, the object disappeared down into the barley, I quietly ducked down and glassed the area thoroughly now knowing what I am looking for. Yep, there is the head again and it's a little four point buck, looks pretty young but I can't really see the body in the barley, the head goes down, another deer right on the edge of the wood, the first buck is further out but at a better angle although from where I am he's a bit close to the skyline.

Ok, wait until both heads are down, there is a depression into the edge of the woodland about 10 yards to my right, if I can crawl in there, I'll be down wind of both and round a curve from the deer on the boundary, I can then stand up against a broken greenery background, rely on camo, shadow and stillness to avoid detection, and that's exactly how it worked out, I ended up in position about 100 yds from the buck with the greenery at my back, in shadow, with the second deer upwind and unsighted round the curve of the boundary, OK, buck's head goes down, set up rifle and sticks, now he's a bit far up towards the skyline for taste and only showing head and upper part of the neck when he brings his head up, I need him to move in closer, and present a better aspect for a shot, back to the call (Hubertus Fiep wooden thingy) A quiet more plaintive call this time I must have thought the force was with me to try and get arty with something I had exactly one previous experiece with... Whatever, it seemed to work, up came the head round came the ears, and this time the buck immeduately moved in and across my field of view to the left, this changed the aspect to side on and brought him in to about 60 yards ish, with Roger's advice, not to overdo the call ringing in my ears, I put the call quietly back into my pocket, thinking it would be really handy if this thing had a lanyard or something to hang it on.

The buck seemed to lose interest and settled back into the routine, pick out some succulant tidbit and bring the head up to scan for predators, or mates or rivals or maybe the tooth fairy for all I know, at the same time, he is ambling towards a visibly thin patch in the barley, my thoughts ran something like, well the best I'm going to get is a neck shot, If I wait until he moves out into the thin bit, I'll have a good angle, good backstop, he's staying fairly static for the best part of a minute each time the head comes up, that's as good as it's going to get this morning. The head went down, I zoomed the scope into a comfortable setting for the situation (about 8x I think), safety off, wait for the head to come up, Hmm, could be a bit better, one more time, let's see how it looks, another 2 minutes pass, I can hear him tugging away at something out there, suddenly about 20 yards off to my right along the hedgerow sounds of something substantial making a proverbial sharp exit, baybe an eddy gave the other deer a whiff of human.

The disturbance got the attention of my buck, the head came up, quite a bit of testing the wind gradually settling down, I thought he was going to run for a second or two, he got interested in something off to my left over towards the high seat, this put him in as good a position as it was going to get, settle the breathing down, focus on the target area, halfway up the neck, a frozen moment in time as the pressure on the trigger built over probably a fraction of a second and then that reverberating crack that comes from a moderated 270 and the buck just collapsed, reload, a case catching the sunlight in my peripheral vision as it it ejected out of the shadow of the hedgerow, a pause, 30 seconds still in the aim on the sticks, now 2 minutes or so, thime to move in, it's either a clean neck shot and he's out, or he will need a second shot and that will be easier if he doesn't get up where I can't see he body for a boiler room shot. Drop the sticks on the boundary to mark my position, move out towards the marked spot, pacing out to 60 yards, where is he? ah, a gap in the barley over to my right yep, that's him piled up, no sign of movement breating or anything else.

Ok safety on, sling rifle, use a barley stalk to touch the eye, no movement, looks good, entry wound looks a little bit forward on the neck (maybe only an inch), ah! forgot to allow for paralax, should have aimed a fraction higher at such a short range, Hmm, still getting the odd twitch, that's normal I think, more twitching, maybe this isn't quite so normal, rifle off the sling and at a safe ready position, now large scale movement of the back legs and a twitch of the head, two paces back for clearance and a safe angle into the soil, safety off, heart shot to make sure. Instant cessation of activity.

Check the carcasse for entry and exit wounds and to ensure it's properly departed, damn, in my haste to make sure the beast was rapidly dispached, I had put the second shot through the shoulder on the far side. Ok move on, make the rifle safe, sling it and move the carcasse to the edge of the field for the gralloch.

Luckily at this stage Roger was pretty much on his way back to pick me up at the end of the session as I felt the need for some technical support on my first solo gralloch for a long time, I had just tied the oesophagus off and was opening the body cavity when Roger turned up. In the interests of getting to breakfast, I ended up assisting but up close enough to re acquiaint myself in detail ready for next time Then it was back to the car and off home via a morning at the Game fair which not at all coincidentally was close by. Roger was a bit concerned about how the carcasse would keep in the boot of the car on such a hot day (one of the hottest of the year so far not that that's saying much) On to the next stage of the operation, I have a large plastic box with a lid that latches on, I think a lot of deer stalkers have something similar The buck was placed in the plastic box with the afore mentioned bottles of ice which were still frozen solid, this has the combined effect of rapidly cooling the meat and then keeping it cool for quite a long time, need more time, use more ice, just not so much that the meat is actually frozen. I don't know whether anybody else does this or even whether it is considered a good idea, it seems pretty reasonable to me though. Eventually when I got home at about 5pm, I was just too tired to do the necessary that evening (didn't trust myself with sharp implements), the Ice oacks were still about half frozen so with the box in the relative coolness of the garage, I put a couple more ice packs in fresh from the freezer and left it overnight.

The following morning 24 hours after the beast had been shot, when I brought it out to skin and prepare (with some trepidation about the condition of the meat) it turned out to be nicely chilled right through with the second set of ice packs only about 25% melted.

It tasted ok too. By the way, I lost Roger's call somewhere in the process so bought a replacement from the game fair and one of my very own to lose. It's a REH-FIEP from Hubertus cost about a tenner and it contributed to my morning out in a big way.

I had such a fantastic mornings sport to get that little buck, I thought well I've just got to tell the story to someone. In a very real sense to me it's my first buck again, from the above, you can see that I even got a fresh set of beginners luck.
Happy shooting

Paul