Here's a pic of the 2 biggest and the smallest Roebuck I took last year. The little guy was taken 58 minutes after sunset in early June, 2 min before last legal shooting time. The 2 mature bucks were taken with the sun well over the horizon in June and August.

Is really so that the old bucks show up well after dark, as you read and hear from many hunters?? In my limited experience old bucks may just as well show up early (or late) enough for good light to see.

PCH,

The one thing I have learned about Roe is that they do not follow all the rules!

I have taken/seen Roe at all times of the day and in some very unlikely places.

In my estimation they are "The Perfect Deer"

Regards,

Peter

[This message has been edited by Pete E (edited 01-16-2002).]

PCH � Nice heads.

I�ll agree with Pete. The only rule is that there are no rules. Of all the roe bucks and does I have shot the majority have been, as you say, when the sun is well over the horizon. That said, IMO it is certainly true that the last hour of daylight will see more roe activity, regardless of the size and therefore status of the buck.

The biggest roebuck I ever shot (who had a length of 29.5 cm and weighed in at 52lbs cleaned out), I shot at 11:30 am. The second biggest I shot late afternoon a couple of hours before sunset. They were feeding. I have shot some other big bucks mid-day by sneaking up on them while they were couched down resting.

I think it is simply a matter of being in the right place at the right time, but being out at sunset certainly helps.

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Regards

Richard

In the animal world, getting old also means being wiser. I believe old, wise bucks have learned to remain hidden during the "dangerous" hours at sunrise and sunset and come out at times when most hunters aren't there... Breaking the rules and being there at midday may help you meet the invisible "biggie", whose presence is only attested by scrapes and foot-prints.

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Andr�

I agree. They obviously don't read hunting magazines.

Many hunters hunt roebuck from stands in fields since it's supposed to be more effective. I guess this is a situation where old bucks won't show themselves until well after dark. I believe it's more productive (and much more fun) to stalk clearcuts. The roe seem to expose themselves more in such areas since there's a lot a stumps, snags and grass/brush vegetation which will hide them + give good feeding.

Kind of makes me wonder if all those 56 mm scopes really are necessary?

I think it is the Germans who promote the idea of still hunting in the morning, but sitting in a high seat last thing at night.
In general I think it is sound advice and generally try to spend the last couple of hours of hunting either in a highseat or simply stationary over looking a likely spot.
As the light fades to nothing, it becomes more and more difficult to still hunt effectively. Of course, there is also the question of is it wise to take a shot right on last night..makes any potential follow up that much more difficult....

Pete

[This message has been edited by Pete E (edited 01-16-2002).]

I prefer stalking to posting in a stand. I walk slowly and scan with a binocular. At some hot places, I use a roe call and sit under a tree or on a little rock, where I can hide for a while. Most of my roebucks are shot this way. As said before, they are times at the day, but if you see a buck at a place at a certain time a day, you can often get back at the same time next day and get him.

And big scopes are not necessary: most of my roe bucks are shot over irons. It works pretty well at day-light.

Fritz

These two bucks was taken at �land islands at sep.1 01

I stalked up to a dow and sat down and waited for a buck to appear. After about 30 min. and LOTS of moquito bites the buck showed up. I had to wait another 20 min. before I could get a clean shot off. Really exiting stuff.

I gutted the buck and whent on to a stand where I 1 h later shot the one with a bit smaller antlers.

A great morning indeed!

As a bonus i shot a small sixpointer the same eavening

I was a happy roe deer hunter that night.

Stefan.

I agree with Pete E. Stand or high seat in the dawn, stillhunting in the middle of the day when they usually have a feeding session, and stand or high seats in the afternoon.
The roe are wery unpredictable and will easely skip the rules and show up where least expected. But where I hunt on the Norwegian northwest coast, the dusk is the safest time to connect.
Anyway...a wery challenging deer to hunt
( and good eating too !! )

Arild

what Roebuck? All i see is knife handles!

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NRA Life member

You can see the roe deer all time of the day, if there is not too much tourism in the area. Normal they have a rhythm of feeding, chewing and resting of arround 4 h. So you can find them during the day also.
We have here a lot of people arround, and so the roe prefers the quiet time like early morning, lunchtime..
Whether you sit lazy on the stand or you stalk arround, that is dependend what you prefer or how good you can see in the area.

But there was a good sentence in Germany I try to translate: Who is walking a lot, will see a lot (of animal), who is waiting a lot will shoot a lot.

Best regards

I'm not so sure that you'll shoot more if you sit still and wait.
One method I've found to be quite effective is too walk slowly over a clearcut and when you scare away a roe, he will most often only run a short distance and stop and look back to find out what bothered him. THen you have a few seconds to take the shot.

I think this works best on clearcuts where the deer have some cover as compared to an open field where the roe will run for cover and then stop and look back.