so we're heading into highseat, quite confident we'll see more muntjac.
So, it's another beautiful May evening, it's nice and warm little bit overcast
night but it's been following a period of sustained sunshine the spring really
has kicked into early summer now there's a lot of fresh growth there's a lot of
high under grace of spotting muntjac is going to be tough. I've got the Pulsar
Healy XP 50, so hopefully we can see through the undergrowth. I've got my
trusty Hawke Endurance 12x56 binos. My old favourite, you're not seen for a
while, Sauer 202 and that's topped with a Hawke
Vantage 2.5x10 by 56, so pretty sure the equipment's working, I'm pretty sure the
deer are out there it's just a matter now getting out there having a stalk and
seeing what it's about. There's going to be two parts of the evening,
I'm going to go through the woods, just gently walk up see if there's anything
out grazing in the early evening and then a little bit later on as it starts
to get dark I'm gonna go in sit in a highseat and see if we can get a roebuck or maybe
even a muntjac buck coming out feeding on the margins but it's an absolutely
stunning evening and let's get started.
Today, I'm hunting alongside my good
friend Frederic Hanner International Sales Manager for Sauer Rifles.
Although a highly experienced international hunter, Frederic is fairly
new to muntjac stalking, so this is an exciting opportunity for him.
As we both go our separate ways we feel hopeful as the calm weather should bring
plenty of sightings of muntjac and perhaps even a few roebucks.
The afternoon is eerily calm with little more than a breath of wind.
Frederic stalks slowly and purposefully, stopping frequently to scan the undergrowth for any signs of our quarry.
So, we're a bit earlier today so we're heading into the
highseat a lot of slots yesterday still so I'm quite confident we'll see
more muntjac and hope we get one from the highseat tonight.
Typically around half a metre high and
between 10 and 15 kilos in weight, muntjac are notoriously difficult to stalk
on foot at this time of year as they are able to weave their way through the
undergrowth rarely offering a glimpse let alone an opportunity for a shot.
For this reason hunting from a high seat is often the best approach.
In the highseat now, we got in without spooking anything that's so that's very,
very good we see a lot of tracks here now so quite confident and so it's a
good spot. We'll give it 15-20 minutes try the put along just let's calm things
down at the moment and then see how it goes.
We're out with the 100 today, 308 caliber we've also got their Sauer
titanium mod which is a superlight titanium alloy made 270 grams very nice
for stalking. The rifle itself a rock-solid, high precision rifle.
We guarantee some more accuracy at 100 yards with it. We've got a three position
safety so it's also one of the safest guns out there so we've got it topped
with Hawke 6x12 power scope which is again the package today that I'm using
is perfect for what we're doing. Muntjac move about a lot so I'm
really happy with the equipment. We have two main rides one to the front and one
to the left that our shooting lanes and that's hope something shows up there.
whilst Frederic continues his pursuit, I've decided to explore some of the
areas of woodland that we've not accessed in recent years. Effective deer
management is about getting a clearer idea of the deer numbers and the
environment supporting them enabling us to make a better decision as to which
deer are harvested within the context of the overall goal of maintaining a
thriving and healthy population.
The undergrowth has grown quite
substantially this year making, it quite difficult to maneuver through the thickbrambles and overgrown grass
On top of this the wind is quite unpredictable
which increases our chances have been detected.
The Hylian XP-50 Thermal
imaging scope allows me to see bucks hidden in the undergrowth.
But, the signs of multiple deer traffic are hard to miss.
Tracks have been carved into the undergrowth in grass crossing and
weaving through bushes and through fences.
So, it's been a lovely afternoon so far we've had a walk around for about two
hours through the woods behind me. The winds been a bit changeable but broadly
it's been brisk enough that we can tell the direction although in and around
trees it does tend to Eddy a little bit. Now, as you can see the light started to
commence getting a little bit darker it's about 20 past 8:00, so you've
thought we'd come and sit on a highseat now see if anything comes out now we've
seen a couple of muntjac, couldn't tell where there are bucks or doe's they're
kind of in the undergrowth and they they disappeared really quickly that really
is one of the benefits of having the Hylian XP-50 Thermal Imager is that you
can pick out the heat signatures against the undergrowth pretty easily so even
though we didn't get a shot off we know they're there and we know the direction
they went in. Now, we've stayed broadly with the wind in our faces
got back to the seat so hopefully that anything's behind us we may have pushed
it into the forestry block that's in front of us this is the time of the
evening you do you need good optics and of course you know the Hawke Endurance binos
knows that I've got their tried and tested as the first time out with a Hawke
Vantage 2 point 5 to 10 by 56 and so if I'm pretty impressed 30ml monotube
construction most importantly it's got that 56 millimeter objective
lens so readers pull lots of light in, we've still got have the deer in front
of us to be able to see them but hopefully when something to step out
we're going to be ready to go but it really has been a beautiful afternoon
and even though we've only seen a couple of deer fleetingly it's been pretty good
fun. Now, I've got to be patient.
Unfortunately, nothing has come into Frederic's area so he decides to head out on foot.
He spots movement in the far distance and decides to set up on the sticks just
in case that right animal steps out.
With nothing showing he continues on through the forest.
Following the same routine, Frederic sets up on the sticks once again.
So, the wind was a bit the swirly up on the highseat, so we decided to leave the highseat
and position ourselves on this ride here, bad thing is there's
absolutely no wind here so were eaten by the midges but what don't you do to get
a good muntjac?
This time he's in luck, a small cull buck is moving cautiously through the undergrowth not far away.
Moving quietly, but quickly Frederic closes the gap and
prepares to take the shot.
Young muntjac buck, definitely a good one for the kitchen where were you
a position before was a good spot the muntjac came in but of course we were
really struggling with the wind tonight so we spoked him and I thought the
only chance we have is to check another ride and there he was out took us quite
a long time to get the shot because he was always covered by branches and so on
but as soon as he stood clear we took the shot and got him, beautiful small buck.
So, Frederic what a fantastic evening. Brilliant, another successful outing with
the Sauser 100. Definitely, so went in sneaked through the forest a bit bit of stalking
didn't see anything so we got set up in the highseat but the wind was just
really difficult tonight it was swirling the whole time and from we were on the
highseat I found that it wasn't gonna be perfect so I thought well position
ourselves on another ride while we're stalking back we saw a badger and the
bramble really got close maybe 50 meters or something really nice
experience, got set up on our ride and then just as the light started to fade
monty came in winded us because the wind was swirling again I was like no
wouldn't wouldn't make an appearance yeah yeah absolutely absolutely it saw
and heard that it was kind of going around us came close went away again
gave it another one and there's a trouble this time of year the undergrowth
is so thick, you just couldn't see so then we had maybe 10 15 minutes light
left and I thought well let's try another ride on a stalked in there
there was a yearling monty, got on the stikes
there was one branch in the way the whole time again the wind started to
swirl so as soon as I had a clear shot I took it and went down straight away.
The rest is history. Exactly and this one is better eating, it's a young one. Definitely,
really we took good care of it straight away got everything cleaned out
so I think it's going to be brilliant eating and that's what it's all about
great experience and great food on the table. We were here to manage the
deer as well so we've got to take the older one out. The perfect culll buck for us and you've
seen as so many trails here the population is absolutely rapid I
just think we don't actually see how many they really are because of all the
undergrowth but from the tracks either they take the same route every day all
of them or there's really heaps of them. We went around you know a slightly
different area same as you were stalking this time there's also good for us from
a husbandry perspective you need to look at you know where some of the rides are
overgrown why we need to do some trimming maybe we need to move from the
highseats and so we need to see where the deer are where the deer are moving so we
saw a couple of fleeting sights through the thermal, one about 20 yards away one
a little bit away. But, it was encouraging to see so
much signs. So, yeah not quite as eventful as you I got to see what I wanted to
which is plenty of signs plenty of animals, you have harvested another
magnificent I'm I'm using all my luck at the moment, but you seem to be
stalking them you know I love that I I think in general stalking or hunting
wherever you are if you're on the ground its it adds to
the experience it certainly does very impressive sir congratulations what's
more thank you so much, it was great, great fun. I think I have to buy you a beer now. Or I have
to buy you one I think that's the thing.