I had one of the best mornings in the week,
it was such a nice change to get out with the sun rising, instead of the usual rain and crappy weather.

the first morning out i waited in a high seat for a wee while, not long into the seat i could hear that throaty bellow of the fallow deeper into the woods, that was great, those boys were really going for it, the constant grunting was broken only by the clash of antlers.

i managed a pricket early on and then thought a stalk on foot would be the order of the day.
off in the direction of the noisy bucks,
getting the approach right and the wind in favour i headed deeper into the thicker area where all the noise was coming from, i found myself in a spot where i had to keep checking behind me as more does and prickets kept coming along the same trail i was on, as i stalked further and further into the wood the first things that became apparent were the smell and then the noticeable change in ground conditions, under all the trees the soil looked like the gateway on a dairy farm, almost for as far as i could see through the trees was just well trodden wet mud everywhere,
i stayed put for a bit to take stock, i personally have never seen anything like it, the realisation dawned on me by the nearing sound of bellowing, staying put the trees in front almost came alive, there was movement in front both sides and behind, there were big bucks in all directions, each one making alot of noise and fronting up to each other, when the clashing started no more than 30 to 40 feet away it was very impressive, i stayed put and soaked it all in, there were a good few big bucks drifting all around the position i was in and i could hear more further on down a steep bank beyond.

after a couple of hours taking it all in i stalked back out, trickier than it sounds, with the amount of does around there were alot of eyes on, i didn't want to disturb things too much, after getting some distance away i managed a nice little stalk on another pricket.

i suppose i was totally un prepared, i didn't have my camera with me,

i thought i would come back in a day or two and see how things were going.

The next outing proved pretty spectacular, the weather again was great, after a nice leisurely stalk in to the same bit of wood the grunting was still very much in evidence, the angle of approach was slightly off to the side this time, again the scene was something else,

the grunting was followed by huge clouds of breath spewing out into the cold crisp air, the squeaks of the does were all over the place, after spending the next hour and a half spotting all the bucks and glassing everyone with alot of scrutiny one was picked, he seemed lacking in condition, he wasn't huge and seemed the best option, i lost sight of him for a bit when a fight broke out between some other bucks, on moving to change position he was picked up again, this time he was laid down next to a yew tree, approach was tricky indeed, it seemed to take an age to get to within clear shot, when i was so nearly there i could tell he was aware something was up, every twitch of his head and ears i froze, by now i was within about 40 feet, i had to clear about another 10 feet to get a clean shot with he undergrowth, when i was so nearly there in the distance of the wooded valley before me i saw movement, alot of movement, i had about a split second to make the decision to wait till he was preoccupied with these possible sparring partners on the approach, then as i saw he had spotted the visitors i made the large step forward while presenting the shooting sticks ready, rifle up safety off the the buck leant forward gave out a large bellow to warn off the approaching bucks and the peace was broken by the shot, the approaching bucks made off pretty sharpish, i waited for a few moments in case a pricket presented but nothing.

i can easily say the next few minutes took a while to sink in, when i got up to him he was lying still.on closer inspection he had lost an eye in a fight, very recently as well by the look of it, when we skinned the head his the orbital on the other side was cracked on the the top, this boy had definitely had a good beating at some stage.

the extraction nearly killed me, it wasn't so much the weight, more the terrain, eventually i got him to a spot the vehicle could get in.

one where he lay


after the drag on my phone camera






and one cleaned out


it sure does beat going off to work some days!!

well done Alex, fantastic report and an even better trophy! is that a normal size of a buck in that area? on my ground the bucks are quite big and heavy but there antlers are crap, and are very dark (almost black) there are a number of nice comon does but I have only ever seen 1 comon buck???

Nice story, well told and nice to see that you took a cull buck out of the circuit to allow the younger ones in. If you mount that rack on the wall, should make for a compelling yarn over an after dinner whisky!

Nice one Mr Y!!

Puts that Norfolk fallow to shame for sure!

Trapper Dave, be very wary if you get with Alex in a "little" after dinner whisky, the bottle top is thrown away and you know you are in for a session - only concelation is that we cannot handle the next day so well now!

Will get the shield in the post for you - a silver perhaps??

308,

it seemed to be a run of the mill compared to all the other bucks i saw him with, he wasn't that heavy, with being well into the rut he didn't have the greatest condition, carcass weight was only about 110 lb.
colouration was pretty even on that bit of ground, have shot some very grey prickets there, nearer to my home i have seen some almost black ones, they tend to have fantastic coats when you get up close to them,

i think i will give up drinking!
with a new baby in the house the next day is hard work....
well maybe just one for the road.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by nightwalker uk:


Trapper Dave, be very wary if you get with Alex in a "little" after dinner whisky, the bottle top is thrown away and you know you are in for a session - only concelation is that we cannot handle the next day so well now!

QUOTE]

Well I'm quite partial to the odd dram of Talisker myself as it happens. So, I hope I'll meet up with him at some point!

Nice one, that is a great buck!

Nicely done!
Congratulations.

Alex,

Great story and great result!!

Rgds,
FB

That's a nice head, will be looking for his big brother on this side of the pond in 10 days.

Nice deer and an excellent report. Made my morning morning!

That's a really nice trophy, as wild as they come, well formed and an old boy to boot. Waidmansheil!

Thank you for the photo's Alex, see you at Baldock

ATB,

Amir

Alex Y,

good on yaaa, a great story and head to boot, that is one trophy to be proud of.

What can I say but Waidmansheil.

Best regards Chris

Alex, I'm curious which county he came from as I understand most of the UK doesn't have the genetics to produce such heads in the wild...though this may have something to do with most bucks getting shot before their 5th year.

Gabe,

You'd be surprised what's out there around the country, but the big boys don't get big by being careless.

Most big wild fallow bucks are almost exclusively nocturnal so stalkers tend to see the advance party and shoot one out of that when the big boy is yet to make himself visible. The rut is generally the time to catch up with them as other encounters in my experience are purely chance.

FB

bog,

i shot him in Sussex,

there were a few this size, even bigger maybe, when they are all fighting sometimes its hard to evaluate some heads.

i have seen similar in Wiltshire,

to be honest i doubt i will ever shoot such a head again, generally where i shoot, heads like these are untouchable.

I would say it is the same size or bigger than the one I got a gold for in 04. A true wild gold fallow is a trophy to treasure.

The measurement takes considerable account of age as well as colour.

I felt a bit guilty about mine. I had had high ideals about letting a big boy go for the good of the heard. The moment he showed my rifle was up and he was shot on the full run. My eye was in due to having shot the running moose test the day before and I just knew it was the opportunity of a lifetime.

Richard Prior assuaged my guilt - he was old, would never have been as good again and had previously been subjected to a bad head shot with 4 teeth missing on one side.

Pictures Adam, pictures....?
Please.
- mike

That's probably the nicest wild fallow I've ever seen. A special beast indeed - any measurements yet?

If I was being really picky I don't personally like the fallow heads that turn a right angle but it takes little away from this fine animal.

Very nice. Well done. Forked brow tines are not something you see every day on a Fallow. Have you had others with forked brows in the same area?

spoke to another stalker who was trying to get into a big buck with forked brow tines on a bit of ground a few k away, when i shot this one the thought was of this other buck, but the other chap had seen this other one since,

so there is definitely another one, it may have been nobbled by now though.