Shooting Times & Country Magazine
The call of the wild for rutting roebucks
August roe stalking in Scotland is among the best in Europe, as Thomas Nissen discovers on a magnificent 8,000-hectare site in Fife
The roe doe is eating from the high vegetation in the ditch below the two stalkers, Palle Johansen and Steven Wade. Carefully, she selects the best morsels while slowly moving to the left. Palle quickly picks up his Viper-flex shooting sticks while Steve prepares to make the call.
The rut has been slow over the past few days, but with a doe below, it’s worth calling to see if there is also a buck to excite and entice. Steven calls a couple of times with the Buttolo.
The doe looks up, but otherwise nothing happens.
After a couple of fruitless attempts, they pack up and proceed further down the trail, into the barley field. Then suddenly, the buck flies. He is less than 80m away when he stops to check the situation. But just as Steven makes the decision to shoot, the buck takes off.
Across the Woodmill Shootings patch, two more stalkers are preparing to take a shot. Stalking guide Johnny Readhead gets the call ready, as Christian Juul wonders where the buck is expected to emerge. Before they are ready, a mature buck in the barley field takes up the chase on the roe in front of him.
Soon, they approach the hedge near a small wood. Christian is ready as the doe passes through the hedge. The buck follows, but stops for a short while. He stands with his snout to the earth, checking the scent of the doe, getting excited. Johnny tries to keep the buck on the spot by piping with the call, without any luck. Soon the buck disappears into the woods.
The hilly landscape spreads across a variety of green pastures, yellow crop fields, hedgerows and small copses. Palle has stalked Scotland several times since reading an online article about it in 2013, but never for roebucks.
It is Christian’s first trip to Scotland, having previously stalked roebucks in Poland, Sweden and Denmark.
This area, however, has been the best of all so far.
The pair are even allowed to shoot selected beasts that would cost several
hundred pounds at many other destinations in Europe. Palle feels the high standard on the afternoon of the second day. On a grassy meadow, they see a younger buck that Steven confirms can be taken. The grass is high and it is difficult for Palle to get the animal in his sights.
Charging in
The stalker lures the nervous buck closer, while Palle waits for it to turn broadside in an area with low vegetation. Suddenly, another buck charges in. Only 30m away, it stops, a little to the right of the pair. Over the next few minutes, Steven tries to draw the two young bucks, but neither presents a shot. They have to continue the stalk.
Fortunately, Steven has excellent eyesight and soon spots an alternative — a buck among raised grain. Within seconds, it is decided that it is a cull buck. In the same few seconds, Palle gets ready. The shot drops the buck and shortly afterwards they find the animal — a young, small six-pointer.
Woodmill Shootings only stalks its 8,000-hectare site for seven weeks of the roebuck season, starting in
May rather than on 1 April. This is primarily because they want the antlers to have some colour before the bucks are shot.
The difference between stalking in May and early August is primarily the height of the crops and the movement of the bucks. In May, the bucks split up and are easy to spot in the fields. For stalkers, the longer nights allow for more sleep than in August. These are two huge advantages.
Stalking in early August may be good if the rut is on and the strong
“The buck checks the scent of the doe, getting excited”
bucks are active. If the heat is too intense, however, it may be quite dead, as the strong bucks do not move much, preferring to wait for activity to come to them.
“The excitement is crazy, the specimen is fantastic — the roe rut at its most thrilling”
On this occasion, early in the afternoon, Johnny and Christian observe a good buck in an almost mature barley field behind a high rapeseed crop. There are two roe in the field as well, one on either side of him. Covered by tall trees in a hedge and 80 roe does are shot in the area. Although almost a quarter of roebucks taken are of medal quality, Steven explains that the success of the animals comes down to nothing more than good geography and careful management. with a stony fence, the stalkers move quickly but silently. They are almost in a position to attempt a shot as the two females begin to pull out of the field. If the buck follows one, the chance will be wasted; if he chooses to go after another, the opportunity is clear.
Christian manages to drop the rifle on to the shooting sticks just as the buck makes his decision. The beautiful six-pointer follows the right doe and, in a few seconds, will break
In many places on Scotland’s east coast there is limestone in the soil and it is thought to be one reason for the high-quality roebucks in the area. The fertile ground, combined with low hunting pressure and no significant disturbance from larger deer species (or wild boar), seems to be a recipe for quality roebucks.
Many of the guests are returnees and, therefore, Woodmill Shootings has only one to two weeks open for new bookings every year. out of the tall, dense sea of grain and into an open area in the field. There is no need to call. Nothing can be done to improve the situation, nothing but waiting for his stunning dark pelage to present in front of the wild flowers.
For further information, email stalking@woodmillshootings.com
Intense mood
Five seconds later, he presents his vital areas to a shot. Christian curls his finger and sees the buck drop on the spot. A moment later, the buck jumps up and runs away. The mood is intense. Was a follow-up shot required? The buck then drops again in the middle of the open area. The excitement is crazy and the