Last night was my 1st outing this season and I shot this very nice buck .

Excellent buck - looks pretty old??

I'd say 5-6 years old. Age evaluation is only certain when counting growth layers from a sliced tooth. Based on sole teeth erosion, the evaluation is only valid when based on experience in a given territory. Tooth wear is largely dependent on the nature of available food (soft or fibrous food, sandy soil,...). I was surprised to meet this big guy as I never saw him during 16 years in this same hunting lease. It proves how elusive old bucks do grow. I didn't intend to shoot a good buck before rutting time and was hoping for a fox instead. Therefore, I ambushed a clearing not heavily frequented by deer and where the buck apparently felt safer than in more populated/hunted areas.

Waidmannsheil! Nice buck!

Waidsmannsdank !

Great buck
Wish I was there

Andre - as we would say here "Lovski blagor!" = "Hunter's bless!"

.

Andre congratulations on a fine May roebuck!

1st May is something that I do miss living in Africa.

WMH

.

Lucky Man

Waidmannsheil

André,

Waidmannsheil!

Thank you all, here are some more pics

Here's Mabel, my Münsterlander bitch, keeping a watchful eye from the mirador.


Family photo



My aim was true too, heartshot at 180 meters, The buck dropped on the spot.

Outstanding. Very nice.

I love the rich European hunting traditions. Waidmannsheil!

Waidmannsdank to you all.
In the meantime, the skull has been cleaned, prepared, bleached and should be mounted on an escutchon soon. I'll post a pic soon.

I had the pleasure of sharing camp in Burkina Faso several months ago with a group of three Swedish hunters. Among the many topics we discussed around the campfire with a scotch in hand was roebuck hunting and how it is such a deep and rich European hunting tradition. I gather that for some European hunters it is in fact a consuming passion, with them going from country to country to pursue the sport.

The trophy is ready, tadaaaa :

Leave for my first roe buck hunt tomorrow.....pretty excited!

I have not shot roe buck in three years
It'll be on intinerary next year, maybe this Fall if all falls in place

quote:

Originally posted by Andre Mertens:
The trophy is ready, tadaaaa :

Andre how much does it weight?

Hello Mouse,

I've not weighted the trophy. 1st, it hasn't dried long enough yet (shot on May, 2nd) and to put it frankly, I'm not a trophy hunter ; my trophies help me revive pleasant hunting souvenirs or adventures and I often daydream, while looking at them. Among my collection, I only possess 2 officially C.I.C. scored bronze medals : a wild boar shot on a Royal invitation and a chamois buck taken in Tyrol, on the Swarovski hunting preserve. In both instances, trophies are automatically scored before being awarded (months later...) to the shooting guest. Oh yes, I also have a nice muntjac which received an unofficial silver quotation.

Back to my latest buck, what I will always remember though, was that I didn't plan to harvest a big "platzbok" at season's opening and before rutting. I had, therefore chosen to still hunt in a small clearing not overly frequented by roedeer but often crossed by a foraging fox, vulpes vulpes being quite active at this time of year. It turned out that my experienced buck avoided the places his fellow deer commonly meet, a fact not unnoticed by us hunters, and prefered instead secluded but safe locations to trendy places to be, but where his 4-legged brethren might run into a 2-legged predator...

Why did I shoot then ? Wel, our meeting took place close to the border of the neighbouring hunting preserve, which is run commercially (labels are sold to visiting hunters). On the contrary, my partner and I do manage our deer population with respect for ethics (the numbers of fawns, adult females or bucks we harvest depend on a legal shooting plan aiming to stabilize, de-,or increase population). On opening day (may, 1st) our "neighbouring Nemrod" sat in ambush with 3 "sponsoring friends" along a 800-900 m line, facing the edge of the woods...

Is death more honourable when dealt out by an respectful hunter than by a profit driven "meat merchant" ? I made the decision...

Last but not least, after 16 years of hunting this territory, I fancied knowing all local big bucks. While Mr Big was no greenhorn, neither my partner nor I had ever seen him around. How's that for living discreetly...

We just back from a great Roe hunt in Romania.



We were able o take 6 great bucks and the people of Roania treated us like family.

Nice bucks, Tom, typical of Eastern Europe. They don't grow that high in the West and their size culminates in Siberia where bucks grow antlers of 30 cm (12") and weight up to 50 kg (110 lbs), live weight. The same may be said of red deer, bear and moose which match the girth of their Alaskan brethren.

Thank you and congrats on your very fine animal as well. I love these little deer. I may be back in the states but my mind is still back in the Carpathians

Cheers

Andre, what rifle and cartridge did you use?

I dragged my old Pre 64 model 70 fwt in 270 win to Romania.

A Sauer 202 in .30-06 loaded with a handload of 165 SGK / N 160 / 60.5 at 889 m" / 2900 ft". It's very accurate (.3 MOA), shoots flat and kills like lightning.

Beautiful rifles, I would love to own one.

I was using 130 grain TTSX, 58.5 grain RL22, 3035 fps. The old girl routinely gives me 3/4 moa or better after I bedded and floated the barrel.

Best wishes for your future pursuits, I'll look forward to reading about them.

Cheers

Here's my Sauer with 2 barrels, 7x64 & .30-06. The original caliber was the 7x64 and I acquired the .30-06 when the law prohibiting military calibers was amended.

Beautiful!

Deer that size should be hunted with a .223 at most.
A wee bit over gunned isn't it?
Just conversation mostly.

Andre: that's some fine shooting and lovely rifle.

George

I must of missed the "should be" manual.

Georgeld,
There's lot of room to argue between just enough and too much. Personally, I feel safer having a spare wheel, especially when the unexpected comes up.

Rut is in full swing - bagged this little fella first - shot steep uphill at 170m.



Note to myself when shooting at an angle aim lower - grazed on top (rifle is sighted at 220m so at angle of 40deg bullet hits almost 9cm above POA). Anyway - old girl was up to her job and tracked it surely - was a present for her 15th birthday.

Then I got this one - came to a call - shot just by pointing the gun at 2m.

Nice!

André - what ammunition (bullets) do you use in the 7x64?

- Lars/Finland

Hey Mouse, that's a hell of a buck !

Scauckis,
Before my .30-06 barrel, I shot a lot of game with the (just as accurate) 7x64. My pet load was 160 Sierra SPBT GK*/N 160/ 56.0 (NB : CCI 250 primers. With std. LR primers my groups were stringing vertically. OTOH, in .30-06, with the comparable Sierra 165 BTSP, I use WLR primers and get 1-hole groups. Same rifle, bullet, powder... go figure).

* in both calibers, I made it a habit to carry along the same handloads but with the corresponding BTHP bullets, which is much harder (in the event a wild boar crossed my path). As a bonus, both SP and HP shoot to the same POI).

Andre - not been here for a while. Nice to see what you are up to. I imagine Czar has departed this life as has Poppy who was starting out the same time all those years ago.

Oh how I miss the old days of AR - Frizkraut, Carcano, Deerdogs, PCH, Montero, Mats, Claretdabbler, MHO (God rest him) et al.

Still things move on - I have a young dog (well 4 actually) and a stainless rifle but opening day on the Bucks still gets the heart going.

Weidmnasheill

Welcome back, 1894, quite a lot of souvenirs you're waking up. Yes, my lab Czar is gone 3 years ago. He underwent a heavy operation to extract a nasty cancer ut never wake up... The only medicine to heal the loss of such a companion being a puppy to care for, I bought a Small Münsterländer bitch (the one in the pics above). It's quite a change to switch from a retriever to a pointing spaniel.

quote:

Originally posted by 1894mk2:
Oh how I miss the old days of AR - Frizkraut, Carcano, Deerdogs, PCH, Montero, Mats, Claretdabbler, MHO (God rest him) et al.

Weidmnasheill

Hola, 1894! Good to hear about you and the good ole days!
Fortunatelly I am still alive and kickin' ... Mye new BGS is now three years old and I still hunt here and there... just got back from the Carpaths where I shot a fantastic stag...
Best regards!
montero

Man you guys got some cracking heads. Nice job.

Waidmansheil!