From the High Seat; making smart choices.

After working late in to the night making repairs to our little forest range, there seemed little point in driving home for 3 hours sleep, just to turn around and come back in the morning, so I lit a lovely blazing fire and had a brew before sliding in to my sleeping bag at Midnight. The air was already below zero but I had been working hard, was warmed by the fire and knew that I was exhausted enough to get a fantastic night’s sleep. 

I was right to some extent, I was really cosy in the sleeping bag and I went ‘out like a light’ and slept very soundly until about three in the morning! After the 3 hours’ sleep I could have had at home in bed, I awoke to find my extremities very cold indeed! There was nothing for it but to get up, stoke the fire and have another brew before trudging off into the darkness for an early session in the high seat.

The walk, the multiple layers, the car journey and exertions had warmed me for a while as I trudged in over noisy ice covered puddles and finally took my seat and loaded up ready for the long wait.

The inactivity soon had me thoroughly cooled down again and as the light gathered I could see frost forming on my barrel and moderator! There was no choice but to sit and shiver whilst I continued my vigil.

I heard the unmistakeable barking of a Muntjac about a 150 yards away then, a little later, I spotted a couple of Roe does in the distance but then on one of my innumerable scans with the binoculars, I caught a glimpse of something that hadn’t been there before. Your eyes and the light can play tricks sometimes but I was sure this was something real and as I focussed and scrutinised the spot, I realised it was a fox. I hadn’t come for a fox but as I watched its slow progress along the edge of the field, I knew exactly where he was heading, he was off to the breakfast bar which we call pheasant pens. We ‘share’ this piece of wood with a little syndicate who have a few pheasants and out of good neighbourliness, I couldn’t let Charlie go and wreak havoc in their pens, I remember all too well the night a fox took my last 4 chickens. So even though I knew that my deer vigil was over when I pulled the trigger on Charlie, it was a choice that had to be made.

I squirmed around in the seat to rest the rifle on a side rail and began to watch him through the scope, I was comfortable and the next time he stopped, it was going to be his last stop! He made a 90 degree left turn and disappeared in the blink of an eye. Still certain as to his destination, I started my ‘distressed rabbit’ squeak and thankfully he reappeared just as quickly but a few yards closer. I was watching more intently through the scope now and the safety was off, ready for the shot, he was at about 65 yards and all thoughts of deer had gone.

I will never know if a deer was going to show up, so I made a choice based on my neighbour’s pheasants and I’m content with that.

Choose wisely in the woods!

From the High Seat; Early Season Outing

November sees the start of the Chinese water deer (CWD) season and to open it I often make an outing with a few like minded companions to make a good start on the cull. This is an account of one of those early season outings from a year or two ago:

Before we even reached our parking spot, we saw our first CWD, unperturbed by our presence we could only watch him briefly before trundling on. Once parked, we wished each other good fortune and set off after a careful re-brief on safety and communications procedures and where everyone would be seated on this grey, damp and increasingly windy morning.

A few minutes later we had all taken up our respective positions and began our vigil as the light slowly gathered in the east. Through binoculars, dark shapes could be seen but not yet in sufficient detail to be useful, weeds and the ever present ‘bog oak’ projections, can all take on the form you want them to in poor light and patience is the only solution.

A double Crack and thump told me that Carl had found his mark with 2 rounds in quick succession. I awaited Carl’s call so that I could leave my seat as I could also see deer now, though not close enough for a shot and I was eager to move but didn’t want to rush Carl and safety and communications protocol demanded that we were in touch before I moved. Carl’s report came, he had two deer and was observing another, as was I. We agreed that he would make safe and I would leave my seat to pursue one of my opportunities, Steve hadn’t seen anything yet but the day was young.

I was out of my seat and crossed a very rough track to the cover of some tall weeds, from here I confirmed the position of 2 deer and dropped back into deeper cover to make my advance unseen. Progress was slow to avoid making any noise in the brittle cover and soon I had closed the range to around 75 yards, a safe and comfortable shot even in this morning’s stiff breeze. I opened up my shooting sticks and rested the rifle on top, made a few minor adjustments and slipped behind the stock to take the first view of my target through the scope. It was a good size yearling buck, no fangs to speak of and moving confidently and freely with no sign of impediment. I slipped the safety catch off and as he turned broad side on to me, two deep breaths, exhale as I put the cross hairs just behind his shoulder and squeezed the trigger. The rifle cracked and nudged me gently in the shoulder and I heard the bullet strike its target and saw a shower of hair to confirm the fact. 

Chinese water deer often shed huge clumps of fur when they are hit, this makes is fairly strait forward to track them down if they run from the point where they were hit. 

My phone buzzed almost immediately with a message that Steve had dropped a nice buck and I replied that I had too. The deer I had shot had disappeared in to cover as they often do but experience told me that I was only going to walk a very few yards to find my prize. This was my hundredth CWD. I made safe and started my gentle stroll to the spot where I last saw my deer and as I expected, I found hair and blood at the point of impact confirming what I already knew and a significant blood trail led the 8 or 10 paces to where the little fellow lay motionless in a dry ditch. He was in lovely condition, fine coat and fat. I carried out all of the carcass inspections required for meat to be put in the food chain and got to work with knife and rubber gloves to prepare him for the carry out.

Back at home, the butchery confirmed that the animal was in great condition, very fat from a plentiful supply of quality fodder, kidneys almost invisible in a shroud of thick fat, this is going to eat beautifully!

MG

From the High Seat; Seat Life

It will soon be Chinese water deer season so it's time to check and carry out maintenance on all our high seats. There are always seats to check, build and locate, the older seats need checking for ageing, rusting, rotting or even malicious damage because some people don’t understand what we do, how we do it or why and they feel that damaging a seat is helping the deer and hope that someone tumbling out of it is wildlife pay back.

Over the years, we have put in a lot of seats from purpose built single seaters, purpose built two seaters and some homemade seats and observation towers, improvised from stacking IBC frames and crates but all have their place and can take a beating from the weather during the space of a year, I even had one stolen!

Shooting from one of our two seat high seats

Today though, we just had to check security of the structures and the seats and all was well, a little pruning and we are good for our first outings of the season. We all know where we are going to be sitting on the first day of the season and have a reasonable expectation of what we could see but of course, the wildlife isn’t briefed, so it could do something completely different! And that is the joy of it, it’s not a computer game, it’s not predictable, it’s the application of skill and knowledge against an infinitely variable set of circumstances, wind and weather, a tractor showing up unexpectedly, a dog taking its owner for a walk or a particularly wary deer spooked by a strange deer showing up on its patch.

We’re as ready as we can be but on the day, we are at the mercy of so many factors out of our control and we may need to use all of our skill and experience to overcome any challenges which may occur, the important thing to remember is that a session in the high seat or foot stalking is to be enjoyed not endured, I am as happy with a picture or a memory as I am carrying out 20Kg of warm venison!

Enjoy!

MG

From the high seat; a doze in the high seat.

My working week consisted of a half day at a remote warehouse, three long days, two short nights, 2 planes, 3 trains, a tram, two cars and a cab, along with two hotels in two cities and I was wrecked at the end of all that!

I arrived home at 11-00 pm on Thursday, barely safe to drive so, after 6 hours of deep sleep, I did the bare minimum in the office on Friday, before taking the rest of the day off to get some rest and recreation in the Cambridgeshire woodlands!

I headed to the woods where our cameras had captured a daily visit from Muntjac and an occasional Roe. I have the faithful Browning X-bolt, with 100 grain hollow points today.

A range of ammunition performs a range of tasks, lighter bullets for foxes and vermin to heavier bullets for the larger deer species. 

The matching Browning x-bolts one in .223 for smaller deer and foxes and one in 6.5*55 for the larger deer. the 6.5 was my choice today. 

I made slow and near silent progress to my high seat. I ascending the ladder and made myself comfortable in my seat for a long, warm afternoon and it really was warm! I think I had a little doze.

Checking my watch, it was close to the time of the regular visit, this is the joy of trail cameras which date and time stamp pictures, I was focussed on the right spot at the right time, the shortening days creep up on you and I was a little surprised as roosting pigeons started to drop in around me and the light faded by the minute. I was wondering if it was going to be a no show day, when, as if by magic, a nice little Muntjac buck stood just clear of the trees about 70 yards distant. I readied myself but I wasn’t going to wait long as it was a narrow field of view and if he spooked, he’d be gone in seconds. I followed him through the scope with the cross hairs over his heart and as he paused to sniff the warm evening air, I increased the pressure on the trigger and sent the bullet on its way.

The little fellow put up his white flag of a tail and sauntered off at a brisk pace, clearly disgruntled but completely unharmed! I wasn’t so tired that I couldn’t see straight and that Muntjac should now be lying dead in the leaf litter of the forest! Disappointed, I made safe and climbed down, making for the spot where the deer was standing when I fired. I did all the right things and checked for signs of impact, blood, hair etc but I knew I wouldn’t find any, the deer wasn’t touched, which is the best possible outcome if he’s not lying dead where he should be, no wounded animal to track, no worry about any undue suffering.

Then I saw it, a 2 inch diameter blackthorn stump had been exactly over the Muntjac’s heart as he stood a couple of yards behind it, there was no colour contrast between the deer’s coat and the blackthorn when I took the shot but now there was, the reddish orange of the freshly shattered shaft showing where the hollow point bullet had struck it and come to pieces instantly throwing a few splinters of wood but nothing more deadly than that towards the unsuspecting Muntjac, who had immediately done the smart thing and left the scene! There was nothing more to be done, I cursed my luck and l laughed a bit as I collected my kit and headed for the car. There are no guarantees, this is hunting not shopping and you don’t always get what you came for, today was one of those days!

Enjoy the journey, not just the destination!

MG

From the High Seat; Angry Birds

I have a theory which I believe is well founded enough to share with you: birds make mistakes!

For as long as I can remember, the alarm calls of ‘angry birds’ has been an extension of my own senses whilst sitting in a high seat, often in low light conditions. I like to arrive early, very early and the hour between arrival and having enough light to shoot, is enough time for anything disturbed by my arrival, to settle down again.

In the dark, all of your non visual senses can appear to be enhanced, hearing is the primary one but occasionally you will get a whiff of fox too. You can hear the footfall of animals, the thrashing of antlers in bushes and the call of every kind of wildlife, rabbits thumping, deer barking, every kind of bird call and the staccato drumming of woodpeckers. My personal favourites are owls and wood peckers.

Thrushes like blackbirds or this fieldfare are often very vocal and their alarm calls are a good sign that something is moving in the woods. 

I have found the most useful to be Wrens, Robins and Blackbirds. The very essence of these tactical accomplices, is that the birds mistake small deer for foxes and therefore give them the same kind of verbal abuse that they would a fox! Recently I was on an outing with a novice and was able to explain the alarm calls of these little spies, the first chorus was fairly high in the trees and fast moving, these were driving out an unwelcome owl. The second however, was lower and slow moving as I suggested that these may be concerned about a fox, which may actually be a small deer walking through the undergrowth. My suggestion was spot on and a minute or two later a little Muntjac trotted in to view and paused briefly to breakfast on a little pile of wheat which I had strategically placed near the high seat.

Muntjac are often mistaken for foxes by humans and birds seem to be just as confused as we are sometimes. 

Go ahead and team up with the ‘Angry Birds’ and see if you agree!

From the High Seat; Seeing Things

Isn’t it amazing that despite the boast we often make as country folk that we are far more observant than ‘townies’ that we can often be tricked by the simplest things. 

Is it a buck or a doe? It's standing on a rutting stand, so it might be a buck,but it's quite small and skinny so it might be a doe, you can't see any antlers though so what is it really? 

One occasion I remember particularly clearly occurred many years ago, at the time I was a relatively inexperienced, but very enthusiastic, deer stalker I had woken well before dawn to get down to my chosen spot well before light to await the muntjac I was sure would be there. I quietly made my way through the ditches and along the hedgerows until I was at my chosen vantage point and waited. As the sky started to grow light I saw a shape, a slightly hunch backed, dark shape moving slowly from left to right at what I thought was about one hundred and fifty yards distant. I watched it intently through the binoculars waiting for there to be enough light to allow a safe shot at what I had convinced myself was a muntjac. I never took the shot though, when it became light enough to see what I was looking at it became clear that it want the 150 yard muntjac that I thought was there but a badger seventy five yards away. The combination of the darkness obliterating the colour and making it hard to judge range had me completely fooled for the best part of twenty minutes. 

As well as showing just how easy it is to be thrown off by low light and less than ideal conditions this highlights a really important safety consideration. Scopes should not be used to identify quarry or targets. That’s what binoculars are for, while it might be common practice to use scopes to observe with, or to scan a potential target in military situations in the countryside good practice and plain common sense dictates that we don’t point our rifle at anything until you are sure it’s a muntjac not someone’s Alsatian or a fox and not just a pair of eyes that might just as easily belong to a Chinese water deer, badger or someone watching owls with night vision goggles. 

I’m sure these mistakes don’t only happen when we have a weapon in our hands though, I remember several occasions when I have been watching deer without a rifle, either as part of a deliberate census or just to take a few pictures and I have been convinced that I have been watching a buck only for it to take a step and the tree branch that was behind it no longer looks like an antler and it’s suddenly a doe. I’ve also been stood behind a student who was taking part in a deer census as part of his practical studies towards a college qualification in game management who had not noticed a group of three young fallow bucks sitting amongst a patch of gorse because all that was visible was the top of their antlers which just looked like twigs. They were only forty yards in front of him but almost completely invisible until they stood up. 

Amongst these does is a Busk with a broken antler, he blends in well, can you spot him? 

While we do sometimes convince ourselves something is there because we want it to be, we want to see something that’s in season, or bigger and better than the last stag we shot or something unique in some way, that strange abstract shape becomes that massive buck, a bit like modern art I suppose. Sometimes though we aren’t seeing things and just get distracted by something even more awesome that we were looking for in the first place. This has happened to me plenty of times out in the countryside. On one occasion, out on a stalk I was walking alongside a drainage dyke, where I have often walked before, mostly concentrating on what was in the field to the side of the dyke I was suddenly distracted by a movement in the water, not a duck or a moorhen but a mammal, jumping to the conclusion that it was a mink I began to unsling my rifle only to see it joined by another, and another and it became clear that they were too large to be mink, I got out the binoculars and it became clear, three young otters, joined a second or two later by two adults from around the bend in the dyke. I was mesmerised, all thoughts of muntjac and venison forgotten I sat on the dyke bank for a good twenty minutes, totally still and captivated by these otters. I had seen otters before in the wild but never in a family group and had never expected to see them there. After a long time they moved off and I was released from whatever spell they had me under as I stood up I saw stood not more than fifteen or twenty yards behind me a muntjac buck stood still watching me, as I moved it ran off but I didn’t care. On another occasion I lost the best part of half a days work on a deer farm in New Zealand because I was watching kingfishers catching crabs in the estuary and smashing them open against a log when I should have been feeding the deer. 

A New Zealand king fisher catching crabs.

So while I should probably not publicise how easily distracted I am to my current or future employers it’s great to work in the countryside where so many distractions can be found and where as long as we are safe a little bit of wishful thinking about the size of the buck we are looking at is absolutely fine.

Reconnaissance

Reconnaissance isn’t just for the military, it’s for deer managers and wildlife photographers and should be for everyone in my book, it’s very therapeutic!

Camera collection is a task which has to be done periodically, if I had my way, every child in the land would have one of these instead of a Gameboy or X-box! We use it as a tool to collect data on the wildlife in the area but what a fascinating way to learn about the world around you. We put them in key positions, close to a game trail, a hole in a fence or hedge (or even in my barn roof). It will tell us what wildlife uses a particular trail and what time, so you can establish patterns of use so that you can be in the right place at the right time. We don’t always get what we expect either, on a high use deer trail, we get all kinds of other things, like fox, badger, hare, rabbit, squirrel and even smaller things like stoats, hedgehogs or rats, all making a guest appearance on the camera.

This is just a small portion of the footage that we have taken in and around Riddy wood and other places we watch and manage the wildlife;

                                  

                                  

                                  

                                  

As a deer manager of course, it's the deer that get most of my attention but I love the other species too, I just love being out there with nature all around me. 

MG

Preparation Pays!

To write about scenes from a high seat, first they have to be installed! Well before the season started some like-minded friends and I went to the farm and installed some high seats, these were mounted 8 to 10 feet above the ground and usually secured to a nice solid tree and access gained via an integral ladder. The purposes are multiple but primarily to facilitate observation over a wider field of view than would be possible from ground level and second, to permit the bullet to go downwards harmlessly into the ground after it has passed through the target or, heaven forbid, if you should miss!

The location of the seat is decided based upon multiple observations during the closed season, how many deer have been spotted in an area which can be overseen by the seat, is it safe, away from public access and is there a tree to attach it to. The locations for the 2 seats we set up pre-season  had been carefully considered based on the points above.

The first was placed against a big old oak tree, slightly withered by a lightning strike at some time in its history. The size of tree and softness of the ground required some ingenuity to get it rock solid but we got there in the end, aided by a ratchet strap for further solidity, a chain and padlock for security and a little pruning to improve the view! Job done.

On our way to the next tree we saw a big old buck Chinese Water Deer standing defiantly and looking at us all in turn, in a couple of weeks, such a defiant posture at such close range will have him in the freezer but all we could do was watch and smile!

Murphy’s Law is alive and well in the countryside as we found out on arrival at tree 2! We found that there was something already living in it, a wasp nest deep in the tree had a continual stream of busy and threatening looking workers entering and leaving through a hole where a small branch had rotted off. None of us felt like sharing, so we found an alternative tree close by!

Always good to have a plan B! Whatever plan you’re on, enjoy it! 

There is Always Something

Another regular series that is being resurrected here on the Bushcraft Education Blog is Martins regular 'from the highseat' series where he shares his latest encounters with wildlife as he goes about hes deer management work and other outdoor excursions. We hope you enjoy todays instalment and you can expect regular updates on a monthly basis. 

We start the year with a reminder that there is always something out there worth seeing in the countryside and some of Martins rules for 'doing it right' when it comes to deer stalking. 

My work as a deer manager takes me along hedgerows and ditches, through woods and scrub and I know pretty much what can be found and where at any time of the year. I see the trees blossom and come into fruit, I watch them ripen and I take some home. My quest may be a deer but I am happy to come home with a rucksack full of apples, plums or cherries, a photograph or a memory, hunting is a journey not a destination, the secret is to enjoy the outing, not the outcome and I do.

Until November, hardier crops such as Apples, Crab Apples and Sloes are still on some of the trees and ready to eat or be converted into Jellies and sauces for the meat crops which come during our peak deer season. I love fruit sauces with meat and Bambi and Cranberry is my favourite roast! But sadly the Elder Flower cordial from the summer is long gone and the blackberries are already in jam or been eaten in pies.

a haul of blackberries and rosehips picked opportunistically while out looking for deer.

It saddens me that people think that all a deer manager does is kill deer because it is a whole lot more complicated and involved than that and it starts with many miles of walking, interspersed with picking fruit and watching birds in my case!

First of all we need to know what species we have on the land (we have three, Roe, Muntjac and Chinese Water Deer) then we need to know how many and where they are, how many we need to take out during the season to maintain a healthy and sustainable population but which won’t cause too much damage to crops. A happy farmer is the key to coming back and doing this each year, it is a privilege not a right and it has to be done right!

Doing it right means:

· Doing it safely! Safety will always be the top priority, we have to share the countryside with everyone and our presence cannot impact on their safety or enjoyment of the environment.

· Safety is closely followed by humanity, if we have identified a poorly looking animal, taking this one will be our top priority, one with a limp is the most obvious and common sign of something being amiss and only a close inspection will reveal the cause. The most common cause is old age and/or bad feet, arthritic joints, and overgrown feet are common place, encounters with agricultural equipment can be a factor although many of those are fatalities during the harvest, where young animals just sit tight until it’s too late to flee. Fighting and road traffic collisions are other causes and just occasionally, a deer peppered with bird shot, where someone has exercised poor judgement.

· With all of these other factors in place, marksmanship, stealth and an understanding of the weather (wind in particular will betray your presence) all add up to a unique experience. 

practising regularly is important if you plan to humanely and safely harvest deer or other wildlife from the countryside. 

· I believe that one of the greatest obligations on me and anyone who engages in any form of ‘meat harvest’, is to ensure that there is no waste, or at least the very least possible.

· Finally, leave the countryside devoid of evidence that a deer or I was ever there.

For someone who knows and loves the countryside, there is always something to eat, something to watch and a myriad of things to appreciate, from a sunrise to a sunset, from a fruit bush to a mushroom patch, a pigeon pie or a venison steak.

Wrap up warm and get out there soon, you will never regret it!

MG

From the Highseat; Abnormal Antlers

A lovely morning, complete with crimson sunrise, owls and great company, just continued to get better and better. We parked in the dark and waited for the sunrise to illuminate the world, when it got light enough to see, it was evident that we parked in the right spot. A Muntjac buck joined us just 150 yards away and he was a lovely specimen too and he eventually joined us for the ride home.

A reeves muntjac buck with fairly typical antlers by
By Nilfanion (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]

Once he was dealt with, we set off walking on a route of 3 to 4 miles to see if we could find a Chinese Water deer for my colleague today. We saw a few but not as many as we had 6 months ago and it has perplexed us as to why.

Anyway, we spotted another muntjac in the distance, he hadn't seen us but was moving slowly away towards cover and I knew where he was going. When we eventually got close he had vanished into cover and we stood silently scanning with our binoculars. Then I heard it, a crash as the little buck butted the pheasant feeder to see if grain would fall out, I have seen and/or heard this behaviour a few times now and it narrowed down his position a bit, a minute later I glimpsed him leaving cover towards the east and I set up on sticks to intercept him. As he ambled off I squeaked him to a stop and dropped him where he stood. He was a good size buck but with deformed antlers and I was left wondering if he was from the same gene pool as one I shot a few years ago also with deformed antlers.

The recent muntjac buck with deformed antlers

The buck from a few years ago, also with deformed antlers. Maybe the two were related.

Next week we will be publishing an article in the bushscience series all about antlers; how they grow, what they are made of and why deer need them. 

With the buck on my back now we headed off on our circuit but found a dead and headless CWD in just another few yards, sadly confirming our fears that some poaching had been going on. It took the shine off an otherwise perfect morning and left us with a quandary as to what we can do to stop it.

In light of this recent poaching the 'Hunter Gatherer Ethics' post this week will be on the topic of poaching

Go on out in the countryside but please leave it unspoiled for the rising generation!

MG

From the High Seat, ready, steady......wait and see!

Everything that can be done, has been done. Additional new high seats have been installed and secured, the trees and paths are trimmed to permit quiet (if not silent) travel through the woods and clear visibility from the vantage points. Cameras have been checked and our numerous visits and surveys have been reviewed. We know roughly where we will sit (wind direction may dictate otherwise) and what we expect to see.

We have harvested various hedgerow fruits to make into fruit sources for our fresh venison and of course the rifles have been zeroed to check everything is perfect for the big day. Of course, the deer may not see it that way but those of us privileged to be involved in the meat harvest have to be as ready as we can to ensure the best and most humane result possible.

We have had a fairly heavy fruit harvest this year; sloes, cherry plums, apples and haws have all featured in meals recently and will complement the venison we hope to harvest very nicely.  

We will be up at 04-00 and in our seats before 06-00 so that we are there to watch the world wake up, to see the sunrise cast it's early rays over the countryside and paint the new day with new colours, the greens now less common and more yellow, orange and red hues to be seen, many of those colours laying on the ground now in carpets and drifts, creating their own 'noise hazards' and keeping everyone focused, not least the deer!

The Autumn colours of Gamsey Wood

What will we see? Who knows! Deer hopefully but what else? As always, I will enjoy the outing irrespective of the outcome. If I have to walk out loaded then that will be great but if I have to walk out empty handed, that must be fine too, which birds will I share my tree with this week? What badgers will still be out and about? what foxes? I'm petty sure that I will hear and see water fowl but what exactly, I have no idea, sometimes you see them, sometimes not, I have stood in the fog and heard them pass just a few tens of feet away and never seen them, it will be an adventure, new every single trip, watch this space for our update after the 7th. See you there!


MG

From the high seat

This week, it's more like to and from the high seat but what a journey it was.

It was worth getting up at 04-45 just to see the stars, the sky was inky black and the  stars were beautiful, Orion was just East of South and The Dipper was just East of North, the Moon and Mars, I think, were clearly visible as I set off.
As soon as I arrived at the farm I was out of the car in a jif to watch the stars and listen to the world waking up, a Chinese Water Deer (CWD) didn't waste any time in barking his objection to my presence, others joined in too but even with binoculars in the gathering light, it was impossible to see any detail at all, just a dark shape contrasted against a slightly lighter background.

As the light gathered, the stars were overpowered and soon only the moon and planets were visible and as deer became visible my attention was focused at ground level not in the sky. CWD are still out of season but every visit now is geared to preparation for that great day, checking how many and where we can encounter these fellows on the 7th of November, our first outing of the season.

A very brief excursion revealed only CWD, no Muntjac for the freezer today and besides, I had a primary objective which was to find my glasses which I think I lost while trimming trees around one of our high seats last Tuesday evening, the light that evening had really dropped below a level that made sense for this kind of task but when you have little spare time, you have to use it as best you can.

So off I went to retrace my steps of the journey where I think I lost my glasses but as the sun and temperature rose just a little bit, the frost turned to dew and the dew to mist which came and went like a giants breath over the fields. Every piece of vegetation seemed to have a cobweb on it and every cobweb loaded with dew to diffuse the low sun, it was a picture hard for any artist to capture or poet to describe, every droplet like a jewel, it was magnificent! And as for the glasses, they remain in a location unknown, who knows if they will ever show up but the morning outing was superb, the weather, the location and the constantly varying array of wildlife a joy to me. I saw in excess of 20 CWD , Reed Buntings, Buzzards, Kestrels, Long Tailed Tits and more ducks and swans than I could count, an ever present cloud of Pigeons and an increasingly large group of Lapwings which appear to be making a bit of a come back in recent years. Every one of these were welcome companions on my journey and each added to its variety and wonder, I never tire of seeing these things and hope I never will.

In just 4 weeks, we will be on high alert, watching every movement as the light gathers to reveal our options on our first outing of Chinese water deer season, today I have seen singles and groups of three in places I have not seen them before. These sightings and all out of season reconnaissance will dictate where we sit on that day, twigs trimmed, seats checked, everything in place but the most important thing will be to enjoy the day irrespective of success or failure, there is always something to see and there is always another day and another reason to get out in the fresh air, don't take my word for it, come and see for yourself!

MG

From the High Seat, Good to Share!

My very first and fond memories of the outdoors, was as an ornithologist. Home had moved from the suburbs to a quite isolated farm house with a few acres around it, woodland around that and Romney Marsh not far away.

A view of the Royal Military Canal running through the Romney Marsh
Ron Strutt [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Life felt safer then, we would ride for miles on our bikes, be gone for half a day or more, no high viz, no hard hat and no mobile phone. We would ride, stop and pick black berries, watch the birds along the Royal Military Canal and come home tired to watch the black and white TV and read a book. 

Home computers, internet and the like had not yet become the widespread distraction they are today, not for us the X-box and Game Boy, for us we had books to read and if we had more energy to burn, the woodshed and the splitting axe would provide an outlet for it, no gym, no jogging and no personal trainer. The woods, trees and garden were our training ground, hedges to be cut, vegetables to be carted, ditches to be dug, gates to be hung. Working around edged tools and being able to put in a fence post were all part of our extra curricula activities from which we benefited greatly. All of these activities and a score of others all contributed to my love of the outdoors, drove me to the high seat instead of the games console and had me reaching for the binoculars instead of the I-phone.

Maybe that has set the scene as to why I love to share the high seats and the trees they stand against.

Being able to sit still is a great skill to practice and if you need to move being able to do it slowly, smoothly and quietly, will provide you with viewing opportunities aplenty.

If you love the outdoors and wildlife generally, you won't mind what it is that comes to share your space, be it the tree itself or the ground beneath it. I have watched just about every British mammal from a high seat at one time or another, shrill Shrews, wiley Weasels and bumbling Badgers to name but a few. My real favourites though are the birds who share the branches and fill the air with tweets and song, Robins and Blackbirds, Wrens and Long Tailed Tits all give me a smile but my absolute favourites are the Wood Peckers and birds that use the trunk as their hunting ground. Unless you are incredibly lucky, your most likely sightings are the Green Woodpecker, the Great Spotted Woodpecker, the Tree Creeper and the Nuthatch in that order of likelihood.

The Green is the largest with a striking green plumage (surprise surprise) but also yellow parts and a red head in mature birds and a beautiful bird in every respect. Despite it's name, these are often seen on the ground as well, where they spend a lot of time hunting for ants but also in trees of course, often hanging on to impossibly thin branches.

Green Woodpecker

The Great Spotted is again a pretty bird which is predominantly  black and white but with striking red patches on rump and head. It was one of these which ascended the tree behind me one day as I sat in a high seat deep in a bluebell wood, lovely to see and hear though on this occasion I only heard it. You may not have to take to the woods to see this handsome fellow, if you have a bird table and feeder, he may come to you in a modest garden.

The magnificent Tree Creeper plays a wonderful game of hide and seek as it goes up, down and around the trunk of a tree with it's superbly camouflaged back in stark contrast to its Snow White belly transitioning from highly visible to "where'd he go?" A dainty down turned beak ideal for taking grubs, forcep like, from the bark.

Last but by no means least is the pretty Nuthatch, with it's slate grey back and orange belly with a stout beak, much more like a true woodpecker. Once again you might see it in a garden with a feeder but it's real party piece is that they go up a tree facing up and down facing down. I guess that you can do that if you don't have to worry about stuff falling out of your pockets! They are all a well dressed class act and I love to see them all, I'd share my tree with any of them very willingly. Good to share!

A nuthatch

MG

From The High Seat - Not!

A high seat to a stalker is like a telephoto lens to a photographer, it's a great tool for some applications but you don't want it all the time. The following is an account of a stalk with an experienced deer stalker who had never seen Chinese Water Deer before, my job therefore was to get him close enough to see, identify and harvest one.

On arrival, we just trickle along the tracks in the dark, just on side lights, we don't want the headlights cutting through the dark to announce our presence. At our parking place the lights are off and every word is in hushed tones, the doors are opened and closed very gently, no slamming, no speaking unless absolutely necessary. As we set out from the car we flushed our first CWD, heard but never seen, then a minute later we saw a Muntjac and not yet 100 yards from the car, it could be a reasonable morning, the Muntjac was then flushed by our CWD and we headed off in the gathering light to see what else we could find.

We hadn't covered 400 yards before we had seen another half a dozen CWD and a distant Roe, so all three resident species spotted within the first 30 minutes of daylight, looking good!

We followed our planned route based on wind direction and about half a mile in to our route we rounded a corner to see a little yearling buck about 140 yards away and quite oblivious to our presence. I set up the shooting sticks for my companion to rest his rifle on and having verified safety, the shot was taken.

As we carried him out on a circuitous route back to the car, I spotted a CWD in a typical 'hide and seek' mode, where a head pops up out of the weeds, ears extended and makes a quick swivel before descending back in to the weeds. It took a few 'shows' to explain to my colleague where to look and exactly what he was looking for. It was a quite a difference to his previous experience and he was happy to take a seat in the sun while I made a stealthy and circuitous approach to an already wary animal.

CWD in hide and seek mode

My route took me back the way we'd come, under a hedge in to a wood, through the wood then out the other side in to a ditch. I crawled 'worm style' across some open ground and in to another ditch, whilst I was going through this assault course, my CWD had gained a 'lookout' a big buck laying in an open field a bit further away and just watched me, barking periodically to let me know he could see me!

After paddling down the ditch for a while, I was now obliged to get back out on the other side and do some more 'worm style' approach to a point where I thought I could not risk getting closer without flushing at least one of them. I could see both my original objective at 65 yards and the 'lookout' at about 120 yards distance. This is when it pays to know your quarry and their likely reactions on hearing a shot. I planned to take the lookout first then make ready in very short order, to take the original one as it stood up to see what the commotion was about. If I took them the other way around the lookout would take off in 'launch mode' and be out of sight before he stopped running.

I checked that I could swing from the first to the second target without moving my body at all and made a little adjustment. Safety checked and plan executed, the lookout rolled over dead where he lay and as the doe stood, she also laid back down again in exactly the spot she had laid in previously, all over in seconds.

One of those occasions when you get two deer in your sights at the same time. 

  

The jeans may not be the best camouflage but it's too late for these deer and now that they have stepped down into the ditch there is a perfect backstop.  

A busy and successful morning had arrived at  a different stage now and after preparations and ruck sack loading, we were headed for the car and home, where meat processing could begin. A lovely morning, great company and time well and productively spent. This is part sport, part harvest and part countryside management, I feel privileged to be a part of it, to share it and teach others about it. Come and join us one day and experience what we do at first hand.

MG

Attitude, Commitment and Respect, all in black and white.

I've seen it on the way to and from the high seat and I've sat in the high seat in awe of the industrious and slightly bumbling black and white bandit, who is our beloved Badger! Not everyone shares that view of course, perhaps foremost the dairy farmer but if there are no cattle around, as is our situation, they do little harm, apart from blocking the occasional ditch.

Badgers caught on a Bushnell Trophy Camera on 'our patch'

The industrious badger is a committed and capable excavator and in the soft fen soil of our region they can move a massive amount of it in a very short space of time. Overnight, they can fill a ditch with spoil from an excavation, certainly three or four hundred pounds of soil, which is quite an achievement for such little legs! Their determination is commendable, not just in building their home but also keeping it clean. A trail of clean bedding material from the site of collection to the mouth of the set is a clear sign that Brock is at home.

The badgers attitude toward food is also one of extreme commitment, a favourite food is wasp grubs straight from the nest and that takes some commitment if any meal ever did. In this world of fast food and ready meals, just imagine the process which the badger has to follow to get his favourite meal. First he (or she presumably) has to dig a fair sized hole, I've seen several that would have been easily big enough to bury our microwave and maybe even the dish washer. Then he has to rip the front out of the wasp nest and stick his face in it to get the grubs out! Now just imagine the combined fury and fire power of a thousand wasps defending their home! Holy cow, 'ready steady cook' and the 'Great British Bake Off' now look like a walk in the park! If you ever walk past a freshly 'Badgered' wasp nest, the air will be thick with really really upset wasps, likely to sting anything that moves close by, including you. I have been in that situation and I have a lot of respect for anything that determined, I really like Badgers and really hate wasps!

You can in the picture above a wasp nest that has been 'Badgered' it's not a great picture but I wasn't about to stand there and get stung for the sake of a piece of pristine photography, if you can't make out the cluster of wasps still in conference in the nest, you'll have to take my word for it that there was a bunch of them in there.

Keep your eyes out for the black and white bandit and his yellow and black enemy, I know which I'd rather watch at close quarters!

MG

From the high seat; time to move!

What a difference 10 days makes! Since my last visit, the cereal harvest has finished, cultivation has started and headlands have been mown down tight. All this activity is likely to have pushed the normal deer residents to deep cover to await the return of peace and quiet to their more normal range.

Sometimes, a view from the high seat serves only to confirm that you should be somewhere else, maybe because you can see something specific which needs to be pursued on foot or maybe because you can see nothing and that prospects are not ideal (not always easy to judge but experience and a weather eye will help). So it was on Saturday, a visit to a high seat and a survey of the multiplicity of agricultural activity which has occurred in the preceding days, all added up to a day that probably wasn't worth investing 2 hours in the high seat. So off I go on a tour of the area to see what I could see and because it's such a big area, I choose to drive from point to point and then explore small areas on foot.

I watched an unusual number of herons exploring the freshly dredged dyke edges, stopped to watch a buzzard feeding on a small rodent and saw a host of kestrels cashing in on the reduced cover for their prey.

My first deer sighting was a pair of Chinese water deer at very close range, poised ready for flight and in a few seconds, did exactly that, launched from rest to flat out in the blink of an eye and they were gone!

A Chinese Water Deer making it's first explosive bound as it accelerates away from danger. 

I drove on at 'tick over' just watching all around, stopping regularly to scan with the binoculars and generally having a very gentle and enjoyable morning. As I got to a regular Muntjac haunt, I had a quick peak around the hedge and sure enough, saw a doe in long grass, with inquisitive head stretched up to max height on a slender neck. I backed away to get everything to hand that I would need to convert this sighting to productivity. My initial view provided neither the safety required or the confirmation that this animal was in an appropriate state to take, so I watched, ready to act should all of the pieces drop in to place, there was little opportunity to affect this, it was a waiting game as the little doe moved away from 75 yards to a 100 and more, all the time heading towards cover. At this point there was no 'flag up' which is the raised white tail confirmation that the deer is alarmed and off to safer places and usually at some speed!

A pair of Muntjac, doe to the left and buck to the right. 

As it moved to shorter grass I could confirm it was a 'taker' and around 120 yards gave me the clear broadside presentation I needed for a shot with a safe backstop, so I took the shot and the little doe rolled over with scarcely a twitch and accompanied me home. I drove on and 'glassed' the patch as thoroughly as possible but to no avail, I only saw the 3 deer all morning but I was more than happy with the result. As harvest becomes a distant memory and the fields are re drilled, the deer will become more comfortable again and be seen in greater number as the season approaches. Many more visits will be made before then, to clear paths, check seats and verify population numbers. This may be a quiet time but it's not an idle time, nor is it an onerous task, in 9 weeks the season will be open and our labours will start to bear fruit (or so we hope!) time will tell. 

If you want a chance to experience life 'from the high seat' why not come on one of our field to fork courses. 

MG