UNITED KINGDOM: Muntjac Mayhem

Dudders

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Harvest was over and i decided that an evening stroll with the rifle was needed just after 6pm I headed out to a narrow valley on the neighbouring property. Having parked up the landrover got my gear together rifle, ammunition, binoculars, phone and a knife I was ready. I made my way quietly up through the small orchard and out onto a grassy bank half had been mown down while the other half was still tall weedy grass. this bank runs from a small stream upto a wooded valley side. I scan the edge of the wood along the mown part of the bank no sign of any deer but it was still early. I worked my way along the stream as i rounded a small bend I notice some movement in the tall grass on the bank, I sat down in the grass and scanned the area with my binoculars it was a small group of fallow does with thier fawns after a minute i stood up and carried on along the edge of the stream. After a few yards the fallow in the tall grass spotted me and took off into the wood luckily heading in the direction i had just come from. I headed away from the stream and onto a track which leads uphill through some scrub before entering into the woods.
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Although there was still alot of cover in the wood i decided to carry on as it was a nice evening and i knew there would be some more open areas with hopefully less cover.It was not long before i saw more fallow this time above me in the wood a nice black doe with black fawn, I continued on along the track for a couple of hundred meters and was contemplating turning back when i was distracted by a sound i counldn't quite figure out coming from the opposite side of the valley it was an animal of some kind. I began looking for a gap in the trees that would enable me to look across onto the opposite bank, once a found a suitable view point i began to scan with the binoclars it was not long and it all became clear i there was a group of fallow does quietly grazing a small fenced paddock with them were several large fawns running circuits around the paddock while one smaller fawn unable to get through the fence was creating all the noise I watched again for a while then decided to go a little further down the track as i set off i glanced into the wood above me and and stood not more than 15 feet away were a pair of muntjac a doe with a buck not five feet behind her had emerged from the brambles and we had spotted each other at just the same moment , I froze the muntjac froze and the stand off began who would blink first. As i stood on the track the buck was at the 2 o'clock position the doe was at 4 o'clock with both above me I made the decision to go for the buck as it would involve less movement to get a shot I placed my hand around the magazine began to slowly slide the rifle on my shoulder from the vertical into the horizontal while watching the muntjac buck, I slightly drop my shoulder and the sling slides down my arm. The track had been cut into the bank which blocked most of my movement from the shoulders down from the muntjac, I slowly rotate the rifle into position and remember magnification without breaking sight with the muntjac i twist the magnification all the way to the right the lowest setting I prepare myself this will have to be quick i pick a spot on the muntjac buck and carefully raise the rifle as the scope reaches my eyeline the buck fills the lens and i squezze the trigger and the buck disappears from the scope i spin round to go for the doe just to see her dissappear up the bank into the brambles and away. I make the rifle safe and go to pick up the buck.
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I found him collapsed where he had been stood.
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He turned out to be a very nice buck and will be just shy of a cic bronze less than 1 point off a medal and the beauty of these little guys is they are great to carry on the walk back.

These were out when i returned to where i had started earlier but still no bucks with them
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Congrats ! That´s a nice one !
 
I returned to the trusty landrover and decided that i would take another look at the other end of the property but with the light fading i would return tomorrow morning at first light things couldn't improve on this evening though could they ?
 
I leave the house at first light and a couple of minutes later I am at my destination I sit in the landrover and think for a minute, If i set of from here i will walk though our sheep which would end up with me being accompanied through out the stalk by a gang of last years bottle lambs. i decide to drive to the far end of the property along an old farm track in the wood at start from there. Another couple of minutes and i have parked the landrover and I am looking along the valley it has a small stream that runs through the middle of it .
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At first glance there appears to be nothing about I pick up the binoculars and begin a closer inspection I ponder should i wait a bit longer or start to work my way up along the valley i quickly scan around again and under one of the trees 400m away on the opposite side to me is a muntjac slowly working its way in my direction. I grab the rifle do i head to the right along the woodland edge which would put me in position for a shot quickly but would mean being exposed for most of the way or left along the stream edge which would provide cover but may limit the oppertunity of a shot I choose left along the stream. I cross to the scrubby willow on the left as i reach the end of the willow i check on the muntjac again, it is a young buck he has began to head uphill away from the stream and behind the area of scrub in the middle of the picture as he moves out of sight i move again i decide to cross the stream to put me onto the same side as him luckily at the end of the willow there is a small foot bridge ( it was put in so the owners elderly father could walk a circuit round the valley but is regulary used by our sheep it is amazing how quickly they began using it I always think of the three billy goats gruff when i cross it. ) I quickly head towards the scrub in the middle of the picture using the cover of the stream edge , as i approch the scrub i slow the place and head above the scrub thinking he will be moving through the scrubby area below me or on the grassy bank ahead of me i slowly walk scanning left on the grass bank to right into the scrub no binoculars required for these distances i am 3/4 the way past the scrub and am beging to think i have missed or spooked him, I stop for a moment to contemplate my options as i do i catch sight of him we are on each side of a small rise he has his head down sniffing the floor he does not see me as i drop to the ground and get into a sitting position rifle ready and wait. A couple of seconds later he emerges into view he stops walking and he becomes alert he knows that lump 20 feet away is not right as he stands trying to figure out what i am i line up on the neck as the rest of the body is still hidden and fire the little buck drops rolls down the bank and ends up in the stream, i will be getting wet boots today.
 
Luckily the stream in the area the muntjac rolled to is shallow less than four inches so extraction was not to taxing i lay him out on the grass in the meadow having crossed back onto the right hand of the stream I think about heading home but then realise this whole event has taken like 15 minutes so it is still early it is a small area but i am here so i will carry on just see if any fallow are moving about i head off again following the stream along the valley i have gone 50 meters and i stop and just look back to the area where i had shot the muntjac, I look up the bank to an area of brambles i had cut with a mower and something looks out of place is it a lump of dead bramble a dead furn perhaps or maybe another muntjac what would be the chance of that, I lift the binoculars to answer those questions as i focus in stood in the middle of the mown opening between the to patches of bramble was a muntjac buck and no ordinary buck this was a holy **** **** **** of a buck in a fraction of a second i was down on the ground again binoculars discarded somewhere bipod set all i could think was please don't run off into the brambles never to be seen again he stood motionless as i picked him up in the scope placed the cross hair on him and without a hesitation squezzed the trigger and saw him drop on the spot through the scope i continued to watch him for awhile but he never moved again.
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I headed off to retrieve the buck off the bank and to see if he was as good as i first thought would he suffer ground shrinkage i decided not to look until i got to him. Back across the stream and up the bank and it is steeper than it looks.
So what do you think?
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Waidmannsheil @Dudders ! That is one huge muntjac! Do you reckon he will be a silver or gold medal?

The buck from the first story was nothing to laugh about either!

Very well done and I hope to hear more of your stories!

Cheers!

V
 
Wow, thanks for posting your story, great & what a monster Reeves that guys is, surely a Gold ?

Bloody lovely, I wish we had them or there Bigger cousins here .
 
Very nice indeed. Congrats on some fine animals. Well done.
Bruce
 
Yes the large muntjac will comfortably make a cic gold medal. There is definatly a difference in the type of animals that make the gold medals they tend to be a larger type of muntjac and the antlers tend to have a set type. I believe they tend to be more of the reeves muntjac type.
 
Well done thanks for sharing. Is there a season for muntjac or can you hunt them the whole year since its an allien species?
 
Well done thanks for sharing. Is there a season for muntjac or can you hunt them the whole year since its an allien species?
You can hunt them the whole year in the uk male and female .
 
Well done! Congrats!
 
You can sure see the difference in the two both in body and antler. Muntjac are such cool animals...congrats! A deer hunt in England is a bucket list trip!
 
I dont't know what you mean. You should know landrover reputation worldwide is known for its comfort and reliability .:ROFLMAO:
Ha! As my good friend says, “Landrovers are like women, nice to look at but there’s either something wrong or about to go wrong with them”
 
Heres the two heads cleaned up
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The two outside heads are gold medal the middle head is just short of bronze notice the thickness in the bone common in the medal quality bucks.
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