Probably, every connoisseur will agree that roe deer hunting is a serious test for a real hunter. It may not be as dangerous as a bear, elk or wild boar, but roe deer are careful.
Not every experienced hunter, let alone newcomers, will be able to get to her at a distance of a direct shot. For the trip to be successful, you need to know certain secrets of hunting for roe deer, as well as to be well prepared. An important advantage is the fact that you can go to this beast both alone and in a large company.
Selection of equipment and ammunition
In many respects, the success of roe deer hunting depends on how correctly the equipment is chosen, what cartridges you will use.
To begin with, you are going to get a very sensitive and careful beast. Any rustle or unusual sound will frighten him. And for a roe deer, running in several minutes is worthless. You will then have to follow its trail for an entire hour, and perhaps completely unsuccessfully.
Therefore, great attention should be paid to shoes. If hunting will be in the warm season, well-worn berets or light sneakers are better. In the cold season, boots or high boots are an excellent choice. Wearing new leather berets for such a hunt is definitely not worth it - they can creak when walking, and such a sound will certainly attract the attention of a roe deer, like an unfamiliar one.
Attention should be paid to clothing. She should hide you in the forest as well as possible. Therefore, many experienced hunters choose army camouflage. For most forests, the domestic "birch" and "flora", the Ukrainian "oak" or the German "flecktarn" are well suited. These colors allow you to literally dissolve in the forest - getting up to the bush, the hunter becomes almost invisible from a distance of 3-5 meters.
In winter, the best choice is white clothing - you can also use an army camouflage robe.
It is also very important to choose the right ammunition. Most hunters use smoothbore weapons of domestic and foreign manufacturers. In this case, it is advisable to use large buckshot - from 6 and above. A bullet to hit a target at a long distance is problematic. A smaller buckshot, not to mention the fraction, often seriously injures the prey, but at the same time gives it the opportunity to go a great distance before dying.
More and more hunters, complaining about the poor quality of purchased cartridges, prefer to equip them at home. In this case, you can charge one bullet of a smaller caliber into the cartridge (for example, 20 for a 12-gauge gun) and several large buckshots. This increases the chances of a successful shot.
Choose the best weather
If you have to hunt, it will not be amiss to find out the weather forecast.
In summer, weather is a less important factor. The constant rustling of grass and foliage conceals sounds quite well, blurs them. And hiding in the dense undergrowth and green bushes is much easier than in the December forest, where the trees are bare.
But if you have to hunt roe deer in winter, then be sure to find out more about the upcoming weather. The ideal option would be clear weather and light wind. Thanks to a cloudless sky, prey will be visible from afar. The wind will suppress the hunter's steps and, more importantly, blow his smell. Of course, this can help both humans and prey. After all, roe deer have a very acute sense of smell. It is necessary to skillfully use the wind, coming from the leeward so that the beast does not smell anything for as long as possible.
Where and when to shoot?
One of the prerequisites for successful fishing is knowing at what point and at what distance to shoot - there are certain rules for hunting roe deer. If you have a smooth-bore gun loaded with large buckshot in your hands, then the optimal distance for shooting will be 30-40 m. Almost never gets closer. In addition, at a distance of 15-20 m, the dispersion of buckshot is usually small. As a result, getting into the roe deer is much more difficult, but if the shot is successful, the carcass will be literally crammed and scattered with lead.
Shooting from a greater distance is pointless. It is likely that buckshot, breaking through the skin of an animal, simply does not get to the vital organs. Because of this, the hunter will not be able to boast of a trophy, and the roe deer will receive very painful wounds that are unlikely to kill her, but will cause a lot of torment. Of course, a true nature lover will never want to inflict such pain on an innocent animal.
It is very important to know where to aim. The most successful places are:
- head;
- neck;
- chest:
- front scapula.
Getting into the head allows you to instantly put the roe deer - ideal for an experienced shooter. Once in the neck, you can be sure - the animal will quickly bleed and die. You don’t have to run after him for a long time, and it will not be tormented for long.
Getting into the chest and under the anterior scapula almost always leads to damage to the heart or lungs. Roe deer dies quite quickly.
Hunting with a hitch
The most calm, but, as it seems to some hunters, a boring variety of fishing.
It is necessary to wait until the production is suitable, sitting in a specially equipped tower. It is installed in the immediate vicinity of animal paths along which they pass at least several times a day. Often inside the tower is upholstered with felt, a bench is installed there. It takes a long time to wait, so the opportunity to sit will be very helpful. And thanks to the felt used as sound insulation, the likelihood that the animal hears the hunter is reduced - it can sneeze, turn awkwardly, or something else.
It is very important perseverance and patience. It’s really difficult - to sit for several hours without moving, without talking, without being distracted by extraneous activities.
A plus is the fact that hunting for roe deer is not very active - the prey itself will approach the desired distance. You just have to wait for the right moment and shoot accurately.
Hunting from the approach
This method is much more complicated than described above. Sometimes you have to walk many kilometers before you can find prey. Usually, roe deer hunting from the approach is arranged in the winter. It is desirable to have not smooth-bore weapons, but rifled ones, at least with weak, for example, double, optics.
The hunter has to look for places where animals feed, determine the direction of the wind (some experts specially carry several light feathers from a pillow or a handful of talcum powder in their pocket for such an occasion) and pick up from the leeward side. Also, complete silence is especially important here. But walking through the crisp snow, under which branches and dry grass are hidden, without attracting the attention of roe deer, is very difficult. It is unlikely that she will let the hunter reach her at a distance of 40 m (the distance of a sure shot from a smoothbore weapon). If you have a rifled rifle or carbine (SVD, Tiger, SKS, Saiga-M), the likelihood that hunting a roe deer from the approach will be successful increases sharply.
Hunting round
Quite a simple, but at the same time productive and very exciting variety of hunting. It requires the participation of several, and preferably several dozen lovers of this truly male hobby.
Hunting for roe deer by corral is carried out by two groups. The first gets up in a well-shot area. The second, having retreated several kilometers, goes towards them, actively making noise - talking, whistling, shouting, knocking on trees with a stick. Scared roe deer run to the first group and fall under the shot.
It is worth noting that such a hunt for roe deer is quite dangerous. Arrows must fully trust each other and have strong nerves. Otherwise, there is a great risk that an inexperienced hunter, captured by excitement, will shoot at a noise and injure his comrade.
Follow the trail
Most often, this is roe deer hunting in winter. And rifled weapons are also useful here - often they have to shoot at a distance of 100-150 m and even more.
The hunter wanders around the habitats of the beast until he finds fresh snow. Therefore, it is best to leave after a little snowfall - it will dust the old path, after which you need to follow the trail. This requires perseverance and serious physical preparation, a weak person who is not used to the forest can not stand it.
Having seen the prey from afar (in this case it will be useful to have 4-8x binoculars), the hunter chooses a suitable route and, moving very carefully, approaches the distance of the shot.
We use decoys
High-quality decoy in experienced hands can dramatically increase the chances of a successful hunt. Suitable for both single and group trips.
There are certain, well-established deadlines for hunting roe deer with decoy - from mid-July to the end of August. This device imitates the sound of a female, males who have a race at this time, having heard a call-up, will surely rush right to the hunter. This is especially true at the end of summer. By this time, the race ends, and the females ready for mating become smaller, the males pay maximum attention to each of them, which plays into the hands of the hunter.
Should I take a dog?
This is a very good question - not always a dog is able to help its owner when hunting for roe deer. Still, this is a very cautious prey, and many dogs are not able to sit silently for a long time, the risk of frightening away the beast increases at the same time. Greyhound is usually not able to catch up with him.
But hunting for roe deer with huskies has gained considerable popularity. True, it is usually used only for persecution, since it follows a trail for a long time and stubbornly, helping the owner navigate in a dense forest. The presence of a well-trained dog makes it easy to find a wounded roe deer, even if she managed to run a few kilometers - to overcome this distance on her own without losing track, only very experienced hunters can do it.
Conclusion
Now you know everything you need about hunting roe deer in different ways, as well as the right equipment. Thanks to this, your chances of returning home with a rich trophy are seriously increasing.