Brithunter
04-16-2005, 11:09 AM
Hi All,
Well despite wanting to get out every morning in search of the elusive Roe Buck which has the rubs in the wood, what with the weather being wet & cold I have found other things to do. Thursdays I have been asked not to go as the guy who cuts the wood is there on a Thursday. So this morning I get up at 04:00 and find that we have a blanket of heavy mist or light fog which ever you prefer :rolleyes so I leisurely get ready as with the fog it's not going to be light so early and away we go J-D didn't seem to eager to get up this morning for some reason though.
The drive over to the wood was uneventful and very quiet actually and we made good time, it's 19 miles there. On arriving I notice that the fog is lighter more of a true mist here and it's lighter than I thought it would be :rolleyes "Got it wrong again Dad!". Oh well put my coat on and get the rifles out, that's right rifles I took the silenced BSA .22 R/f as I thought I would try for a Wabbit as well this morning for a change I brought the BSA Model E 303 sporting rifle along, so with the .22r/f slung barrel down over my left shoulder and the .303 on my right I ease on down the track into the wood with the binos ready.
http://pic3.picturetrail.com/VOL14/134492/4011864/51041129.jpg
BSA Model E with Pecar Berlin 3-7x36 scope which was set on 4x this morning
At every possible point where I can glass through the wood I do so especially towards the large rub which is over to my right but this morning I don't even see any wabbits slowly I creep forward glassing ahead and to the side every few steps. It takes quite a while to travel through the small wood like this, but I reach a point about 15 yards from the entrance to the paddock and I spy a lump on the Wheat field edge through the strip of trees to my left. Putting the binos on it, yes it's a full grown Wabbit so easing the .22 off my left shoulder I creep forward trying to get a clear shot through the trees, the wabbit is about 50 yards away. Then suddenly a closer one which I had not seen spooked and ran past "My" wabbit taking it with him down towards the corner of the wheat field. OK, so now what I need to do is creep down and through the strip of trees to my beech tree and climb into it's base and wait for them to unspook and come back out only this did not happen, OH no.
I made the tree Ok and putting the 303 up into the bowl I hoist myself up into the little bowl like platform which I have used many times in the past. It's now 06:20 and I know I have at least 20 minutes, but more likly 1/2 an hour before I am likely to see any Wabbits if they come out at all. So I get as comfortable as I can and lean back with my back on one of the 5 boughs which make up the bowl. Out of habit I am scanning the edge of the field with the binos, and I sweep back towards the corner and the tree line on the return leg so to speak, as I lower the binos I catch a movement out the corner of my eye. Lifting the binos for a clearer look I am surprised to see the legs of a Fallow Deer. I try to lean out and down slightly to see under the braches of the hedge but the deer retreats into the tree line.
The tree line I am sitting up in :eek so I carefully reach for the BSA .303 and make sure it's ready to go. For what seems an age I can see nothing, which way did it go? down into the gully? or through out into the paddock? or it is just browsing there out of sight? My heart feels like a drum and I can here my pulse in my ears. Then I see a movement in the corner, YES it's a young Fallow deer,I am unsure of it's sex as of yet but it's slowly moving towards me along the hedge line. Now we have a slight problem as the corner of the field is only about 70 yards away and it's coming straight at me. When it gets to about 45 yards it ducks into the hedge on it's left so I loose sight of it, Oh now where is it going? I can see not any antlers so it's one of last years young or a Doe, through the light branches I cannot get a clear view so I wait virtually holding my breathe, but I did think to puff some breathe out to watch it smoke away to test the wind :b . Hmm it's just hanging there until it disperses well at least it's not carrying my scent to the deer.;)
After what seems like an age I see a head start to appear inside the tree line which I am on the edge of, this strip of trees is all of 10-15 yards wide so if it continues along the deer path it's on it will come within 12-15 feet of me in my tree :eek . Still due to the light braches I cannot see if it's a Buck or Doe, I dare not lift my binos now as it will see any movement, I am holding the rifle at port arms ready to take aim and the shot if it's a Buck. Still it casually strolls along the path and is now only 20 yards away and still coming. At 15 yards I get a clear look at the top of the head and can see a couple of bumps ............ yes it looks like a Buck, but there is no way I can take a shot, it stops and looks in my direction, I am frozen like a tree and thinking....... don't mind me I am just a tree :rolleyes a few steps more and a leisurely bite from a branch and again a few more steps looking around and again in my direction, I stop breathing as the Deer is now only 20 feet away. On again it comes and blow me if it doesn't stop right next to the tree, it's no more that 10 feet away .
I can now see that it certainly is a young Buck as I can see the penile sheath underneath, and I make the decision that I wil shoot it as it wanders away with a neck shot, providing I can get a clear one through the branches that is :rolleyes and so it goes on, when the Buck is 20 feet away I slowly ease forward so I can get the rifle out to my right now and hopefully on target, the Buck stops and looks round so again I play at being a tree. A few more steps this Buck is in no hurry at all, I try one side of the bough to get on him but no I can see light brush in the scope, so I pull back and try to get the other side which is going to be less stable for me, Oh No he has seen a movement and starts off at a trot up through the trees away from me.
Well I move quickly now and lean out to me right and onto the bough which leans slightly out into the field. I am hoping and expecting him to pop out into the field some way up and YESsssss there he is about 65 yards up and moving at an angle out into the field. Still I wait as he is pronking (a stiff legged bounding/bouncing motion which Fallow do when alarmed), then as I hope he stopped and looked back to see what had spooked him, but instead of being broadside of angled to me he is facing me straight on and now about 75 yards out but only about 15 yards into the field. I take careful aim low on the brisket and squeeze off the shot, dammn I must have missed as he shows no sign of the hit and being so close I did not here a strike :( he is running now heading for the far bottom corner of the field 270 yards or so away to my right, but after a short distance, of about 20 yards his back legs give out and down he goes in a roll, struggles to gain his feet then rolls over legs kicking slightly then still. I start breathing again . Pick up the fired case and open the bolt, funny but I don't actually remember reloading and then leaning the rifle in the bowl climb the three feet down.
Then I pick up the .22 and walk out into the field to retrieve my beast, the .22 is just in case he is not quite dead for a finisher. I approach him and he is laying with his feet away from me and I reach forward with the end of the silencer and touch the eye. No movement at all he is dead. So slinging the rifle over my back the drag begins down the tractor line to the trees where I will field dress him. Boy I knew that I as not very fit but have just found out how unfit I am, it feels as if my heart is coming out through my chest. Hmm more exercise is needed pronto :rolleyes . When I got him into the tree line and got my breathe back looking I can see blood on the front of the chest but nowhere else, Hmmm no exit wound. So leaving him where he is I go back to the car to get the field dressing stuff, disposable gloves, a bin liner for the innerds and a small plastic bag for the liver. I drive the car back through the wood on the track and round the paddock edge to near where he lay. J-D now jumps out and has a sniff around, down the paddock to the corner and he pickes up the deers scent because he comes back up the trail and find where he is laying as I have dragged him in onto the path.
Well I am sorry to say that even though I tried I could not find the bullet which was a 150 grain Hornady Spire point, it had demolished half the heart and kept on going further back, I found a small hole in the front of the rumen but even after cutting it open I could not find it No photos I am afraid as with the mist it was very damp and I do not like risking the digital in these damp conditions :( . My thinking is that the load I used which is hopped up a bit for this P-14 actioned rifle is a bit destructive, it may be that the bullet is exceeding it's design impact velocity as the half of the heart which was demolished was blown to pieces and spread all inside the chest cavity, the impact had blown the lungs out onto the ribs leaving striped markings on the lungs. Personally I am not fond of heart shots but this was the only one offered to me, I was certainly not going to try for a neck shot on an alert and alarmed beast :( too much chance of the head weaving to get a better look for my liking.
Oh this is my first Deer taken with a .303 and I have carried one a-field countless times but never got the shot :rolleyes so to say I am pleased is an understatment .
Hope you liked the report, sorry about the photos though
Well despite wanting to get out every morning in search of the elusive Roe Buck which has the rubs in the wood, what with the weather being wet & cold I have found other things to do. Thursdays I have been asked not to go as the guy who cuts the wood is there on a Thursday. So this morning I get up at 04:00 and find that we have a blanket of heavy mist or light fog which ever you prefer :rolleyes so I leisurely get ready as with the fog it's not going to be light so early and away we go J-D didn't seem to eager to get up this morning for some reason though.
The drive over to the wood was uneventful and very quiet actually and we made good time, it's 19 miles there. On arriving I notice that the fog is lighter more of a true mist here and it's lighter than I thought it would be :rolleyes "Got it wrong again Dad!". Oh well put my coat on and get the rifles out, that's right rifles I took the silenced BSA .22 R/f as I thought I would try for a Wabbit as well this morning for a change I brought the BSA Model E 303 sporting rifle along, so with the .22r/f slung barrel down over my left shoulder and the .303 on my right I ease on down the track into the wood with the binos ready.
http://pic3.picturetrail.com/VOL14/134492/4011864/51041129.jpg
BSA Model E with Pecar Berlin 3-7x36 scope which was set on 4x this morning
At every possible point where I can glass through the wood I do so especially towards the large rub which is over to my right but this morning I don't even see any wabbits slowly I creep forward glassing ahead and to the side every few steps. It takes quite a while to travel through the small wood like this, but I reach a point about 15 yards from the entrance to the paddock and I spy a lump on the Wheat field edge through the strip of trees to my left. Putting the binos on it, yes it's a full grown Wabbit so easing the .22 off my left shoulder I creep forward trying to get a clear shot through the trees, the wabbit is about 50 yards away. Then suddenly a closer one which I had not seen spooked and ran past "My" wabbit taking it with him down towards the corner of the wheat field. OK, so now what I need to do is creep down and through the strip of trees to my beech tree and climb into it's base and wait for them to unspook and come back out only this did not happen, OH no.
I made the tree Ok and putting the 303 up into the bowl I hoist myself up into the little bowl like platform which I have used many times in the past. It's now 06:20 and I know I have at least 20 minutes, but more likly 1/2 an hour before I am likely to see any Wabbits if they come out at all. So I get as comfortable as I can and lean back with my back on one of the 5 boughs which make up the bowl. Out of habit I am scanning the edge of the field with the binos, and I sweep back towards the corner and the tree line on the return leg so to speak, as I lower the binos I catch a movement out the corner of my eye. Lifting the binos for a clearer look I am surprised to see the legs of a Fallow Deer. I try to lean out and down slightly to see under the braches of the hedge but the deer retreats into the tree line.
The tree line I am sitting up in :eek so I carefully reach for the BSA .303 and make sure it's ready to go. For what seems an age I can see nothing, which way did it go? down into the gully? or through out into the paddock? or it is just browsing there out of sight? My heart feels like a drum and I can here my pulse in my ears. Then I see a movement in the corner, YES it's a young Fallow deer,I am unsure of it's sex as of yet but it's slowly moving towards me along the hedge line. Now we have a slight problem as the corner of the field is only about 70 yards away and it's coming straight at me. When it gets to about 45 yards it ducks into the hedge on it's left so I loose sight of it, Oh now where is it going? I can see not any antlers so it's one of last years young or a Doe, through the light branches I cannot get a clear view so I wait virtually holding my breathe, but I did think to puff some breathe out to watch it smoke away to test the wind :b . Hmm it's just hanging there until it disperses well at least it's not carrying my scent to the deer.;)
After what seems like an age I see a head start to appear inside the tree line which I am on the edge of, this strip of trees is all of 10-15 yards wide so if it continues along the deer path it's on it will come within 12-15 feet of me in my tree :eek . Still due to the light braches I cannot see if it's a Buck or Doe, I dare not lift my binos now as it will see any movement, I am holding the rifle at port arms ready to take aim and the shot if it's a Buck. Still it casually strolls along the path and is now only 20 yards away and still coming. At 15 yards I get a clear look at the top of the head and can see a couple of bumps ............ yes it looks like a Buck, but there is no way I can take a shot, it stops and looks in my direction, I am frozen like a tree and thinking....... don't mind me I am just a tree :rolleyes a few steps more and a leisurely bite from a branch and again a few more steps looking around and again in my direction, I stop breathing as the Deer is now only 20 feet away. On again it comes and blow me if it doesn't stop right next to the tree, it's no more that 10 feet away .
I can now see that it certainly is a young Buck as I can see the penile sheath underneath, and I make the decision that I wil shoot it as it wanders away with a neck shot, providing I can get a clear one through the branches that is :rolleyes and so it goes on, when the Buck is 20 feet away I slowly ease forward so I can get the rifle out to my right now and hopefully on target, the Buck stops and looks round so again I play at being a tree. A few more steps this Buck is in no hurry at all, I try one side of the bough to get on him but no I can see light brush in the scope, so I pull back and try to get the other side which is going to be less stable for me, Oh No he has seen a movement and starts off at a trot up through the trees away from me.
Well I move quickly now and lean out to me right and onto the bough which leans slightly out into the field. I am hoping and expecting him to pop out into the field some way up and YESsssss there he is about 65 yards up and moving at an angle out into the field. Still I wait as he is pronking (a stiff legged bounding/bouncing motion which Fallow do when alarmed), then as I hope he stopped and looked back to see what had spooked him, but instead of being broadside of angled to me he is facing me straight on and now about 75 yards out but only about 15 yards into the field. I take careful aim low on the brisket and squeeze off the shot, dammn I must have missed as he shows no sign of the hit and being so close I did not here a strike :( he is running now heading for the far bottom corner of the field 270 yards or so away to my right, but after a short distance, of about 20 yards his back legs give out and down he goes in a roll, struggles to gain his feet then rolls over legs kicking slightly then still. I start breathing again . Pick up the fired case and open the bolt, funny but I don't actually remember reloading and then leaning the rifle in the bowl climb the three feet down.
Then I pick up the .22 and walk out into the field to retrieve my beast, the .22 is just in case he is not quite dead for a finisher. I approach him and he is laying with his feet away from me and I reach forward with the end of the silencer and touch the eye. No movement at all he is dead. So slinging the rifle over my back the drag begins down the tractor line to the trees where I will field dress him. Boy I knew that I as not very fit but have just found out how unfit I am, it feels as if my heart is coming out through my chest. Hmm more exercise is needed pronto :rolleyes . When I got him into the tree line and got my breathe back looking I can see blood on the front of the chest but nowhere else, Hmmm no exit wound. So leaving him where he is I go back to the car to get the field dressing stuff, disposable gloves, a bin liner for the innerds and a small plastic bag for the liver. I drive the car back through the wood on the track and round the paddock edge to near where he lay. J-D now jumps out and has a sniff around, down the paddock to the corner and he pickes up the deers scent because he comes back up the trail and find where he is laying as I have dragged him in onto the path.
Well I am sorry to say that even though I tried I could not find the bullet which was a 150 grain Hornady Spire point, it had demolished half the heart and kept on going further back, I found a small hole in the front of the rumen but even after cutting it open I could not find it No photos I am afraid as with the mist it was very damp and I do not like risking the digital in these damp conditions :( . My thinking is that the load I used which is hopped up a bit for this P-14 actioned rifle is a bit destructive, it may be that the bullet is exceeding it's design impact velocity as the half of the heart which was demolished was blown to pieces and spread all inside the chest cavity, the impact had blown the lungs out onto the ribs leaving striped markings on the lungs. Personally I am not fond of heart shots but this was the only one offered to me, I was certainly not going to try for a neck shot on an alert and alarmed beast :( too much chance of the head weaving to get a better look for my liking.
Oh this is my first Deer taken with a .303 and I have carried one a-field countless times but never got the shot :rolleyes so to say I am pleased is an understatment .
Hope you liked the report, sorry about the photos though