Leica 77, Брошюра

Страница: 12 / 104

A particular group of six had been
feasting on the sugar beat on one of
the farms I do deer control on and the
farmer was after results from me. Shots
on this land are necessarily long by
nature as the fields are big and the only
cover is in the wooded headlands that
border them. So it’s more ambush
shooting, as stalking up to a group of
alert Fallow looking in all directions on
flat open land is never easy ! So I tend to
use larger and flatter-shooting calibres
with my favourite being 270WSM.
The week before I had taken two out
of the group and was up very early the
next Sunday to carry on the work. With
a near two mile walk from the farmyard
to the fields I skirted the woods staying
in cover as much as possible. Just as the
sun was coming up I glassed across the
field and saw that parcel of four bucks
was moving towards me. It was just then
that my body decided it had to answer
an important call of nature and one that
would not be delayed.
With a final rueful look at the ap-
proaching animals I ducked into the
woods and attended to my needs. Rifle
down, pack and coat off and all the time
the deer were getting nearer. When I
had finished I looked up to see them
about 200-ayrds away in the same field.
Luckily I was in cover so bent down
to put my coat on and ready my rifle.
Looking up again and they had gone, it
was almost as if the earth had swallowed
them up. That’s how it happens
sometimes …
Not angry but disappointed I waited
on the off chance, but after about 30
minutes realised that it was all over for
the morning and started walking back
around the field to the farm. The field
dips down to a deep ditch then up again
into another hill field of sugar beat. To
my surprise another big Fallow buck
appeared at the top left of the far field,
instinctively I threw myself down and as
luck would have it he didn’t see me.
If I wanted him I was going to have to
work for it, as he was in a ‘no shoot’
position being in front of a road. Once
and if he moved to his left about 50-
yards he would be on the hill, which was
a safe back stop. The only answer was to
crawl from where I was to make the
ditch. Slithering down the slope I made
the cover only to finds it was a bit high.
I didn’t want to be seen so setting up my
shooting sticks for a sitting shot was out
of the question. I deployed my bipod and
waited, hoping he would move far
enough left where I could point my rifle
through the cover to get the shot.
Waiting I heard the mosquitoes buzzing
around and they started to bite me,
but I kept still. He started left as I had
hoped and eventually walked into the
area where I could see to shoot and
that was that …
A funny day, I missed out on my
main target due to unforeseen and
uncontrollable circumstances, but by
sheer luck managed to get another
deer in the bag by a bit of hard work
and patience. That’s hunting.
Peter Moore, Editor Shooting Sports,
United Kingdom
Black
-chest
ed buzzard eagle
/
Ger
anoae
tus melanoleucus
The Call of Nature
Unlike Roe, which tend to move in very
small groups or singly, Fallow are far more gregarious and I have
seen them in herds of up to 40 animals. Like the Roe I have shot a
lot of them, and the big bucks with their large antlers do make some
nice trophies. Quite often the dominant male will drive the younger
mature bucks out of the herd and they tend to join up to make
bachelor groups.