This is definitely the worst winter I have experience since we came to Scotland 7 years ago… It has been wet and windy almost every day, certainly most of the weekends were wet. When a forecast for the Saturday improved a bit I thought it was the time to go out, and I got an invitation from a friend to join him for a stalk. I like his area better than my usual forestry bit, so I accepted his invitation.

Wintery morning

When the alarm went off I looked outside and saw a bit of snow. I had a quick coffee and drove to the usual place we meet, moved my gear to the friend’s car and we were off to his permission. It was a bit late, so I quickly walked to the seat. The ride was really saturated and I was making a lot of noise. I climbed in to the high seat and there was an inch of water in the corner of the seat… 🙄 I sat in the other dry corner and tried to stick my knife between the boards to drain the water.

I was still struggling to stick the knife deep enough to drain the water, when I looked left and spotted a roe deer no more than 30m away coming out of the cover. The tush was easily visible so I knew it was a doe. I slowly started turning on the seat and grabbed the rifle. The doe was very alert and before I managed to get the rifle she was off… I barked, but she never stopped… She ran along the ride between the trees and went to the plantation, where she wanted to get in the first place… There was also a kid following her that I failed to notice when she appeared near the seat.

I sat there disappointed angry with myself not being ready when she appeared in front of the high seat, when I looked at the edge of the trees and at the very same spot the first doe appeared there was another deer! This one was as twitchy as the previous one and soon ran off, but this time she stopped when I barked. Unfortunately I could not get a clear shot through the branches. She soon was off again, but this time she wanted to dash across the ride to the plantation.

Neck shoot

I barked again and she stopped on the ride. She was facing me and looking at the seat not offering a broadside shot. It had to be a quick decision as she would soon be off again and probably not stopping again. I aimed high on the neck and squeezed the trigger. I could see the bullet strike and the doe went straight down.

I texted my friend and he soon called saying he also shot a doe, but felt his shot was off mark. After a quick chat he decided to go for his dog and I went down to perform the gralloch. Just when I finished the gralloch he called me saying the dog found the doe without a problem and she was already dead, shot well, just the exit wound a bit too far back.

My doe was an interesting one. She had some hair missing on her head around the eyes, had only one kidney, and serious liver fluke. All other organs were fine and she was in generally good condition.

Video

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