FROM RABBITS TO ROE DEER, PART THREE

FROM RABBITS TO ROE DEER

PART THREE

Jim’s last words to me were advice on how to shoot from the high seat, he had said it was best to slip off the seat and down one rung of the ladder to achieve a better rest for the rifle, as it was a poor design with the bar being too low.  Once I regained my scenes after seeing the buck, I put his instructions into practice, I eased myself off the seat and put my left foot on the next lowest rung of the ladder, but as I put my weight on the rung to allow my right foot to step down my view suddenly changed, and I mean exactly that.  I had been looking out on to the plantation and possibly my first deer, but now I was hanging on for all I was worth and looking in the opposite direction.  The ladder had spun around, my weight on the end of the rung had caused the opposite side of the ladder to lift and round we had both gone, the ladder unable to fall was tethered to the tree with a rope.  I was not so tethered, and falling was looking inevitable, but what was foremost in my mind was my rifle that I still had hold of, and I really did not want to drop it.  Then as people often do when facing a difficult situation, I found the strength to hold on, I turned to get a better grip, and hooked a leg and an arm through the ladder.  I was considerable more secure now and my gaze returned to the plantation, and to my surprise the buck was still there!

 

Could I still take my first buck? I didn’t know the answer to that but I was going to try.  He had moved a little to the left, and I was now two or three feet lower than when I’d started, due to the ladder slipping.  All this meant I no longer had a clear shot, the tops of the trees in front of me were now partly obscuring the buck, the only chance I had was if he decided to move a little further to the left where there was a clear line of fire.  I readied my self as best I could, not easy when one hand was keeping me from falling, but I managed to brace myself with my arm, which freed my left hand to hold the fore end of the rifle.  The buck moved to the left, and the rest as they say is history.

 

 

I climbed down and walked over to the buck, feelings of elation tinged with sadness washed over me, it had taken twenty years to get to this moment, and it had been worth the wait.  Jim returned after hearing the shot, he shook my hand and congratulated me on my success, then he noticed the high seat, partially collapsed and facing the wrong way, he looked at me quizzically, I told him the story as we admired the buck.  My first deer was a nice four pointer with a beautiful red coat, and in good condition.  Jim showed me how to gralloch (clean out) the buck and look after the meat, it was while we were doing this that Jim spotted another buck on top of a small rise in side a walled plantation not two hundred yards away.

 

We soon found ourselves in pursuit of this deer, it had dropped down from the rise into the long grass and conifers that lay with in the dry stonewalls.  As we approached we noticed a low spot in the wall, these low spots are created by deer jumping the wall, and over a period of years they slowly erode the wall by knocking the top most stones down.  It was here we entered the plantation, slowly now I followed Jim up to where we had last seen the buck, Jim was in front, and it was he that spotted the buck first, walking from right to left in the long grass.  With out saying a word Jim made it clear that the buck was there, and I should move up to his position, but as I looked over the rise I saw no deer.  Try as I might I just could not see what was right in front of me, after what seemed like an age I spotted it, I had been looking to far out, the buck was only forty yards away, I raised my rifle, Jim gave a low whistle and the buck stopped, a moment later I had my second deer in the space of an hour. 

             

Both bucks mean a lot to me to this day, I took another buck the following evening that rounded off the best hunt I shall ever have, since then I have travelled further, paid more money, hunted in far more exotic surroundings and taken many larger animals, they are all special, but you can only take your first buck once, and although the moment is fleeting the memories will stay with you forever.