Stalking Diary

An early morning stalk for a mischievous six-pointer roebuck ends in frustration and a plan to return to set matters straight that evening

TDay comes alive

Paul Childerley is an award-winning gamekeeper and runs his own sporting agency he month of May is my stalking Elysium — the weather is warm and sunny, the days are long and the woods are in full bloom with carpets of bluebells. When you’re out stalking at this time of year, everything feels right.

The management plan here is to reduce the roebuck to a sensible number, where you can still see a nice few bucks but there is minimal damage to the forestry and crops. I tend to take off all the younger bucks quite early to minimise fraying; then, in May, I will take out a couple of the poorer six-pointer bucks to keep the numbers balanced. With this in mind, an early start was looking promising, as there were several options of animals to take, including any muntjac.

An early start is normal for me — it is fantastic to see the sunrise and the day coming alive. I’d already taken four young bucks from the area, so my reconnaissance had already been done. Heading out to the adjacent plantation, my plan was to cut the bucks off where they would be heading home to the main block of woodland. I stalked quietly down next to a Cotswold stone wall, which gave me a great vantage point and rest when I finally got between the two blocks of woodland.

Settling in, I could see deer moving across the far horizon at the bottom end of the field, but nothing within shooting distance. After waiting a while, I decided to stalk down through the plantation to see if I could find one that had chosen to stay in there for the day. There is a nice ride that splits the plantation, which is always great to stalk down and gives great views between the rows.

I had almost stalked through the whole block when I saw movement to my right. A tree guard had been launched into the air by a poor-antlered roebuck, which was working its way along the row and ripping the guards off the trees. I couldn’t believe my eyes. He had obviously learned how to do this and was having great fun. Unfortunately, it was right on the ridge of the bank, so no shot could be taken. I moved to my right to gain height and improve the backstop, but the clever destroyer got the better of me and left the wood barking with disgust.

On leaving the estate, I bumped into the forester. The first thing he mentioned was the tree guards in this plantation, so I assured him I would return that evening to try to catch the roebuck out.

My plan for the evening was to get to the plantation and settle in, ready for him to return along the same tracks he left that morning. There was a stone wall and three bales piled on top of each other, so I decided to sit up behind the highest bale and rest the rifle on top, giving me a fantastic view of the bottom end of the field.

“The clever destroyer got the better of me and left the wood barking with disgust”

The accused

While sitting there, I started to suspect that the six-point buck would be one of the last animals out, so I’d have to be patient. However, as is often the case with deer, predictions can be wrong. A group of four animals started to meander across from the bottom end of the main wood and I could see the one at the back was the accused. A dominant buck, he was chasing a young doe and not being particularly gentlemanly, which is unusual for this time of year. After chasing the doe, he ran out to the middle of the field, which gave me a comfortable shot. The buck was down and the forester, when I caught up with him a few days later, was delighted to report that his tree guards all seemed to be staying in place.

To hunt with Childerley Sporting, visit childerleysporting.co.uk

The fun is over for a trouble-making roebuck that had learned how to rip the guards off trees