Spooky red deer

[NTSOG]

G'day,

I went down the road to a nearby property to look for hares and foxes a week ago. As I parked the car, I noticed a large animal about 450 yards away across the paddock. As the paddock is full of round bales there are no cattle allowed in so the beast had to be a red deer, probably a stag by the headgear it had. [I had seen a pair of deer in the paddock three weeks prior while whistling foxes at night.] The deer was standing tall and looking towards my car on alert. The moment I opened the door and stepped out the deer took off like a rocket and quickly disappeared. Given there are drongos around spotlighting from vehicles I wonder if this deer has been 'educated' by said drongos stopping to take potshots? In the distant past there was a large herd of red deer that used to graze on this particular paddock at about 3:00 PM each afternoon in clear sight from the road. They didn't last long as the spotlight boys quickly shot them all.

Jim

[JohnV]

In all fairness mate Red deer are highly mobile more so than say Fallow so they can be there for a while and then suddenly gone and move many kilometers away . I doubt the whole herd stayed around to get shot at .

[Oldbloke]

In all fairness mate Red deer are highly mobile more so than say Fallow so they can be there for a while and then suddenly gone and move many kilometers away . I doubt the whole herd stayed around to get shot at .

That's what I've come to understand. All deer, but especially fallow and Reds are pretty transient. Here today, gone the next. Food, weather, human activity, sex, all will encourage deer to move.

[bigpete]

In all fairness mate Red deer are highly mobile more so than say Fallow so they can be there for a while and then suddenly gone and move many kilometers away . I doubt the whole herd stayed around to get shot at .

That's what I've come to understand. All deer, but especially fallow and Reds are pretty transient. Here today, gone the next. Food, weather, human activity, sex, all will encourage deer to move.

Actually fallow tend to hang within a 5km or so radius

[JohnV]

Actually Fallow will stay around their original release and birth range to some degree even under some hunting pressure . That's why there is still Fallow herds in places like Glen Innes and Stanthorpe Qld. where they were originally released . If the herd stays large and well established they tend to stay and the alpha bucks push the young buck out to the extremities of the range . If the herd gets weak and small they can migrate . Reds on the other hand move around a lot more .

[NTSOG]

JohnV: " I doubt the whole herd stayed around to get shot at."

That's what happened. A few got taken by the spotlight lads and then the herd moved off to the other side of the highway and heavier cover.

As for the flighty buck I saw from the road in daylight a few days ago, he turned up last night while I was looking for hares with my .222 Rem. He did spot me in the dark, but lost interest quickly and started grazing. He has a small [to my inexperienced eye] set of antlers, but they're not easy to see in the photo below. The range was 243 yards, but he was closer than that at one point. At that range the old ATN 4K scope isn't great for detail even with a very good IR illuminator.

Jim

[JohnV]

JohnV: " I doubt the whole herd stayed around to get shot at."

That's what happened. A few got taken by the spotlight lads and then the herd moved off to the other side of the highway and heavier cover.

As for the flighty buck I saw from the road in daylight a few days ago, he turned up last night while I was looking for hares with my .222 Rem. He did spot me in the dark, but lost interest quickly and started grazing. He has a small [to my inexperienced eye] set of antlers, but they're not easy to see in the photo below. The range was 243 yards, but he was closer than that at one point. At that range the old ATN 4K scope isn't great for detail even with a very good IR illuminator.

Jim

You are contradicting yourself . There is nothing visible in that image other than the cross hair

[NTSOG]

JohnV: "You are contradicting yourself . There is nothing visible in that image other than the cross hair."

Please explain?

Jim

[Blr243]

I see a reticle. A feeding deer and two eskimos building an igloo next to a crashed Robinson chopper

[Oldbloke]

JohnV: "You are contradicting yourself . There is nothing visible in that image other than the cross hair."

Please explain?

Jim

I think its meant to be a joke.