82 http://www.rifleshootermagazine.co.ukdays and had already taken three nice roe bucks with a
couple of outings still to go.
It was early evening, and we were out stalking the field
margins, glassing the stewardship edges for any buck
activity, when about 200m into a wheat field we spied a
couple of deer. You could see with the naked eye it was a
good buck and after a lengthy stare at him, I realised it was
the buck we were after in the spring. However, he was a
good distance away from the place we had associated with
him as his territory. Typical of the rut, our buck had
done his stuff in his own area and now moved
further afield to satisfy another doe. We waited a
while, as the buck headed the doe away from the
woodland edge, keeping her in the field and cutting
off her route each time, chasing her with excitement.
With their head and shoulders above the ripened
wheat, there was no shot at this distance so we could
only stop and observe.
Slowly, the whole procedure started to move in our
direction and I readied the client on my Viper-Flex quad
sticks. I knew of his ability, but nothing would be taken
beyond 100m in this period of excitement (his not the
buck’s!). The deer bounded toward us in a surge of activity,
now not more than 50m away from us. They stopped, but
there was no available shot, as they stood side by side
within a few yards of each other.
Suddenly, the doe sensed something wasn’t right and
she started to make her way back to the wood with the
buck in slow pursuit. But again, only head and shoulders
were visible.
“Get ready,” I instructed my guest. The deer were nearing
the edge of the crop and onto the strip of stewardship
grassland that had recently been topped. The doe continued
to lead and broke cover from the crop into the open. The
buck followed and as his thick body became visible, I
shouted “baaaaark!” (in my best roe buck voice). The buck
turned in his steps, presenting a perfect shoulder...
‘THWACK!’ was the report of my .308 Helix, but the buck still
stood looking back in our direction. A second round was
rechambered for another shot, but I tapped on my visitor’s
shoulder and instructed him to reapply the safety as the
buck left the field, following his doe.The time we had spent watching the two of them earlier
was enough for us to see what a lovely old boy he was, dark
antlers with heavy pearling and good thick coronets, enough
to ensure we would be heading this way the next morning!
We were back in the fields an hour after it broke light the
next day. My idea was to get into a position within the wood,
which would also give us access to the field edge should he
resume his courtship in the same place. As we arrived at the
gate into the woodland, we immediately saw the buck we
were after, chasing his doe along the ride toward us and we
stood still as they disappeared off the track into the woods,
oblivious of our presence. We made our way quickly to an
opening in the trees that gave us a view of about 150m
down a bank and was relatively open due to the forestry
thinning works the previous winter. Straight away, our eyes
were drawn to the movement below us as the buck pursuedthis time, other than the fact it will be happening, as by the
end of August most mature females will have been mated
successfully, no matter what the weather has been like.
During this time, I like to stalk them when a daytime
temperature has a high of 20-22°C. I like to try to call them
from about 7am to mid morning. This is only my preference,
but it seems to work best for me and is when I seem to get
the best response, if any. If the weather is poor in late July/
early August and we are getting rain showers, I try to get out
just as it’s finished and humidity has risen. This can be an
incredible period, no matter what time of day.
Last year, I had a frustrating few days chasing a particular
buck that had eluded us throughout the spring. A nice old
boy, past his best, but still tipping medal class and he was
on my mental list of bucks to go that season. A regular client
was over for our standard package of six outings over fourROE WITH OWEN BEARDSMORE
»
“RELUCTANTLY LEAVING HIS BED, HE STEPPED INTO THE
CLEARING AND PRESENTED A BROADSIDE SHOT”
Owen
runs Cervus-UK,
specialising in tailor-
made hunting trips.
http://www.cervus-uk.
co.ukABOVE: The buck was
past his best but still
tipping medal class