406LIFE
Well-known member
- Joined
- Aug 18, 2016
- Messages
- 3,112
Let me start this story by saying my thanks and gratitude for the generosity and camaraderie of @devon deer, Richard. As I have travelled I have found a strong thread that connects hunters everywhere.
I'll keep this more on the adventure unless on the logistics.
If you added the flora of Western Washington to the Hill country of Middle Tennessee you would have an approximation of what it is like to be in the southwest of England. Moss and ivy cover everything. Yeah altitude is slow but the hills have their own steep climbs. Having left my archery elk hunting at 9000 ft my lungs felt like I was Superman. The only personal gear that I brought with me were binoculars. I did purchase a set of drab green Sitka to take in lieu of my camo.
Richard pick me up at my bed and breakfast and in the darkness we drove to our first field. A small herd of fallow does fed amongst the ferns along the hedge line. Moving uphill on the western side we made our way to the next meadow. Each is bordered by a very thick hedge that could be centuries old. It provides great cover to move into and for the deer to move out.
We made a stalk on roebuck we had spotted from a distance. Coming in uphill due to the prevailing wind we made it to 100m before a doe we hadn't seen popped her head through some ferns and busted us. Quicker than a whitetail ducking a string, they were both gone. We moved over to another farm, a large glen with rising hills around it of oak. A quick look found two fallow dow but nothing more. We had decided to ease out when the bel himg grunt of a fallow buck in rut turned us around. Keep the wind in our favor we skirted up the hill side and side stepped e through until 125m meters the dark forms were feeding up. We setup the stocks and the shot needed to be quick as the buck appeared weaving through the young trees. Behind me Richard barked and he paused just long enough for me to squeeze. He dropped and I had just stalked my first UK deer. He was between a sorrel and sore, classification of three and your year old bucks. I lingered with it while, mesmerized by a creature that seemed more fairy tail than real.
Our second day started out much like the first with a cold and a crisp morning. It would the second farm we visited that I would again find a fallow buck. There was almost on the hills. A quick scout into a field with a 200 year old oak showed deer. The stalk started behind the herd and was blown and then recovered over again. A belch grunt from across the way revealed another buck. Slowly picking our steps we made our way through the young oaks until he revealed himself looking dead on. A snap shot on the shooting sticks left him lying just there. A truly magnificent animal with a near phantomlike presence.
I truly am indebted to Richard and his wife for their hospitality and graciousness. I look forward to our future antelope hunt underpaying the favor. I have a week left with Sika, roe, and red on the schedule. Well see what happens there.
I'll keep this more on the adventure unless on the logistics.
If you added the flora of Western Washington to the Hill country of Middle Tennessee you would have an approximation of what it is like to be in the southwest of England. Moss and ivy cover everything. Yeah altitude is slow but the hills have their own steep climbs. Having left my archery elk hunting at 9000 ft my lungs felt like I was Superman. The only personal gear that I brought with me were binoculars. I did purchase a set of drab green Sitka to take in lieu of my camo.
Richard pick me up at my bed and breakfast and in the darkness we drove to our first field. A small herd of fallow does fed amongst the ferns along the hedge line. Moving uphill on the western side we made our way to the next meadow. Each is bordered by a very thick hedge that could be centuries old. It provides great cover to move into and for the deer to move out.
We made a stalk on roebuck we had spotted from a distance. Coming in uphill due to the prevailing wind we made it to 100m before a doe we hadn't seen popped her head through some ferns and busted us. Quicker than a whitetail ducking a string, they were both gone. We moved over to another farm, a large glen with rising hills around it of oak. A quick look found two fallow dow but nothing more. We had decided to ease out when the bel himg grunt of a fallow buck in rut turned us around. Keep the wind in our favor we skirted up the hill side and side stepped e through until 125m meters the dark forms were feeding up. We setup the stocks and the shot needed to be quick as the buck appeared weaving through the young trees. Behind me Richard barked and he paused just long enough for me to squeeze. He dropped and I had just stalked my first UK deer. He was between a sorrel and sore, classification of three and your year old bucks. I lingered with it while, mesmerized by a creature that seemed more fairy tail than real.
Our second day started out much like the first with a cold and a crisp morning. It would the second farm we visited that I would again find a fallow buck. There was almost on the hills. A quick scout into a field with a 200 year old oak showed deer. The stalk started behind the herd and was blown and then recovered over again. A belch grunt from across the way revealed another buck. Slowly picking our steps we made our way through the young oaks until he revealed himself looking dead on. A snap shot on the shooting sticks left him lying just there. A truly magnificent animal with a near phantomlike presence.
I truly am indebted to Richard and his wife for their hospitality and graciousness. I look forward to our future antelope hunt underpaying the favor. I have a week left with Sika, roe, and red on the schedule. Well see what happens there.
