Last night's roebuck

[Donnachaidh]

The English roebuck season starts on 1 April, but I couldn't get out until last week due to the Covid-19 lockdown. The crops are pretty high now which provides a lot of cover, but I managed to catch this soaking up the sun on a strip of grass at the edge of field last night.


A good representative roebuck will have 6 points, but this one only had 3. It was a good one to remove from the ground before the rut begins in July. It was a great feeling to get my first buck of the season. I've seen a really big buck on the same farm for the past two years, but he's always beaten me. I'll post a photo of him if I manage to succeed this season; it would be an interesting comparison.

 

[RidgeRoamingRichard]

Awesome, thanks for sharing! I'd love to hunt deer in the spring.

 

[Donnachaidh]

That's one of the good points about living in the England; there are always at least two species of deer in season at any point in the year, although you might have to travel to hunt them.

 

[1_pointer]

Very nicely done! Thanks for sharing! Those are pretty critters!

 

[RidgeRoamingRichard]

Really cool. Do you mostly hunt estates or are you on public land?

 

[Donnachaidh]

There's no public land that you can hunt for free on in the UK. Most of my stalking is on privately owned farmland; getting permission isn't easy, as the number of deer stalkers in the UK is probably higher than it's ever been, and there's a lot of competition for land.
I've stalked red deer on some big estates in Scotland. That's harder work than most roe stalking, because the terrain is a lot more challenging.

 

[Sawtooth]

What other species do you have access to on the land that you presently hunt? Roe deer are awesome creatures. They taste great too.

 

[RidgeRoamingRichard]

Fascinating. I've always wondered about hunting across the pond. Seems more romantic than the hunting tradition over here, with terms like "stalking" and "estates." Do you put the plant that the animal was last eating in its mouth after the kill?

 

[Donnachaidh]

My main area has mainly been roe deer, although a group of fallow appeared during lockdown; we weren't able to hunt, and they are now out of season. I've also got access to another area a bit further away for muntjac.

 

[Donnachaidh]

Fascinating. I've always wondered about hunting across the pond. Seems more romantic than the hunting tradition over here, with terms like "stalking" and "estates." Do you put the plant that the animal was last eating in its mouth after the kill?

There's a lot of tradition attached to stalking red deer in Scotland, but less so with roe deer and other species in England. I think the 'Letzter Bissen' (last bite) originates in Germany, but I know of several UK stalkers who also do it. I generally just take a moment to reflect before doing the gralloch; which is a Scottish Gaelic word pretty much used throughout the UK for gutting a deer.

 

[RidgeRoamingRichard]

Very cool! Thanks for the information. Can't wait to see some more of your hunts!

 

[Mudder]

What other species do you have access to on the land that you presently hunt? Roe deer are awesome creatures. They taste great too.

Roe and yearling Boar that have been mainly foraging crops are good eating. We just tried a pulled Pork recipe on a wild Sow neck. it was delicious. Roe roast is one of my favorites. I hunt cultivated farms, the wildlife often eats better than I do and it definitely affects the quality of the meat.

 

[Aussie_hunter_JD]

Everytime I see a Roe buck I think of the one I missed in scotland few years ago, still irks me.

Well done mate