And so spring is once again upon us and that can mean only one thing
its Roebuck season. Now, this is one of the favorite times of the year for me
not only do I get to hunt Roebuck again but I also enjoyed the change of season
we can see the sun starting to come through the trees now things are warming
up the habitat is changing lots of new growth and it's a great time to be out
in nature. It's also a great time to start selecting your deer hunting gear
for the season. Now, I've already picked my stuff and I'm going to run through
that with you a little bit today. Now, I've got some new things and I've got
some pretty old things, but everything comes together in a very familiar way. I
suppose we could start at the bottom. I use a nice lightweight breathable set of
boots, these are Ariat catalyst VX as you can
see they've had a pretty hard life they're a great set of boots and I don't
just use them in the spring and summer I also use them all the way through the
winter. They are unlined but I tend to layer up with the socks I need depending
on the temperature. They have a grippy sole but there's enough feeling in them
that I don't unexpectedly step on twigs or branches or anything that might crack
and give away my position and then moving up we have a nice lightweight
waterproof and breathable hunting suit I use Deerhunter Mouflon Lights in Realtree
Edge, the new patent for this season. It is unlined I am an active hunter I
like to move around in the forest when I'm stalking so I don't need insulation
I use my movement to create body heat and that keeps me nice and warm. The
spring does bring with it rain showers so you do need something that is
waterproof but it's also breathable. The great thing about the Deerhunter
Mouflon Light collection is there are multitude of storage options there's a
nice mesh lining here which helps to wick away moisture for the more active
hunters and also the Realtree Edge camouflage pattern is ideally suited to
this environment. So moving up towards the top of my body depending on how cold
it is I might just wear a shirt like this Deerhunter Caribou shirt which is
a nice lightweight breathable cotton shirt or I might layer up for this
Cumberland Quilted Vest just to keep my core nice and warm either way I don't
like to take too much with me you won't find me wearing lots of heavy layers
although it might take an additional waterproof in my pack if it's
threatening rain. In terms of my rifle use something that's pretty familiar to
me this is my old Sauer 202 and 302 Winchester this has been with me must be
getting on for 18 years now so it's seen quite a lot of action. I've had the
barrel shortened down to 18 inches which is perfect for stalking woodland
environments and on the end of that is a brand new Sauer titanium Pro moderator.
very lightweight nice and sculpted and brings that noise down quite
considerably. On top of that have a brand new Hawke Frontier 32.5x215 by50. This is
an amazing scope it's a smaller sister to the one that I use over in Alaska the
5x30 by 50. But it's pretty much the same package. Mono tube
construction nice and rugged 21 layer multi coated optical system it has a six
time zoom magnification range so 2.5 to 15 which can be adjusted easily using
this high torque Nold ring it has low profile turrets but
underneath these as you can see their target adjustable style and they can be
Reaser 8 it has a rheostat adjustable illumination for its glass recital and that
has 12 stages of brightness it also has a side focus so taking you anywhere from
25 yards up to infinity I tend to leave that set on around 100 because that's
ideally suited to this type of environment and the distances that I'll
be shooting. So that is a pretty trusty bit of equipment top with some fairly
new accessories. Now, I'm support that using these, now for those of you irregular
followers of Team Wild TV you'd have seen these quite a lot over the past 8 or
so years, they're my Vanguard B62 shooting sticks. Now, they are dented they're
scratch ,they're chipped, but they're incredibly reliable.
I fixed the tape on the top here they were getting a little bit loose so
that's a homemade adjustment there but other than that they've been pretty
bomb-proof ever since they bought them. They fit just about every variety of
rifle in the top here and I know exactly what they're going to do aluminium built
as I say pretty strong pretty dependable. I don't use a bipod very often when I'm
hunting in a woodland environment I'll either lean up against a tree or use
sticks if possible. I typically use a bipod when we go somewhere like Scotland
where we do have lots of wide open spaces and lots of shots that we can get
down and then we can take our time adjusting sometimes when you're shooting
in a woodland environment you just don't get the time the deer is in front of you
you bark you make it stop you've got to get on the sticks and then you got to
make that shot and that's where this piece of kit comes in
this is a Vorn backpack this is a Lynx model. Now, this has a quick-release
system to fit the rifle into you carry it on your back as you would do any
other normal backpack there is additional storage in that but the rifle
has this unique system there's a quick-release catch on your left
shoulder you pull that and the rifle swings out
quicker than it would be if you're pulling it straight from your shoulder
so an incredibly innovative piece of equipment that also has nice storage
facilities included. So, I have my rifle and I have my sticks which are quickly
deployed and then we have this the trusty boast low roll call and this is
pretty irresistible to any Roebuck as he approaches the rut. These calls are also
quite useful for just catching a deers attention, Roebuck is quite an
inquisitive animal as are the doe's and I fetched just as many doe's in with
this call as I have bucks. So, always useful to have in your pocket even at this time
of the year and know it's early season but take it out and see if they start
responding you never know you might be able to bring one in. When I am shooting
I used to use a little phone plugged into my left ear and I've got tinnitus
now for the rest of my life so always invest in it the best pair of ear
defenders you can these are Peltor Sportak ear defenders they use them for
pheasant shooting as well as deer stalking. Not only are these goods from
protecting you hearing but they also amplified ambient sound around you it
can make a squirrel sound like a cape buffalo because they do pick up sound
very very well but I also find them very handy for trying to hear movement around
me as I'm walking if I stop and I can still hear movement in the bushes or
undergrowth there could be a deer close by so very useful multi-purpose hearing
protection. When I'm sitting in a high seat I like something that's a little
bit bigger a 56 millimeter objective lens the Hawke Endurance is a good style
of bino pretty heavy weight for that but this is a new Hawke Frontier EDX Range of
binoculars and this is the 8 by 42 model, nice lightweight compact incredibly
crisp image perfect for walking around I like to keep things light weights I like
to stay maneuverable and I don't want things weighing over me I'm pulling my
shoulders down so these binoculars not only a high performance but they're also
a nice lightweight and compact package we're not gonna get anywhere without
ammunition I use Horandy Superformance SSTs 150 grains in 308 Winchester and
they bring down pretty much anything that the UK has to offer. The 308 is a
good all round caliber, it's great for bigger deer
if you're going up to Scotland shoot red deer but it's just as capable on smaller
deer such as muntjac and Chinese water deer or roebucks the provided you use the
right ammunition of course. Always go something that your barrel likes fire a
few rounds through see what groups best but Sauer and Hornady seem to work
really well together for me. So, they're just a few of the bits that I use of
course everybody has their own preferences and I'm sure you'll get your
own system my advice to you is whatever you do keep practicing keep shooting off
sticks get used to being able to take 100-150 yards shot some
sticks but also give yourself the opportunity of making that insurance
shots you might take a shot at a deer at 60 yards it may not go according to
plan for 150 yards shot might be the one that you're given to bring that animal
down. It's all about familiarity it spent a lot of time working with your
equipment a lot of time down at the range a lot of time getting used to
deploying your rifle whether it be from a sling on your shoulder on sticks or
from one of these innovative new Vorn backpacks. The more familiar you
are the more second nature that using this equipment is the more likely you
are to take advantage if a shot presents itself. Also, get used to calling there
are various different calls that are available on the market this is a butyl
o which everybody seems to know but there's rosewood peeps and feets and
lots of different whistles and give everything a go in fact take quite a few
out with you maybe take two or three different varieties the guys at
www.bestdeercall.co.uk have a huge range and they're really experiencing can give
you the right advice you need to pick the right model and also practice making
those calls and as you get in towards the rut you get in towards July in an
August time when the bucks will start responding to calls and hopefully your
practice well enough that you're gonna start bringing those in. So, there we have
it there's just a few of the bits that I use a season I'll be fascinated to hear
what you guys are using so please be sure to leave some comments below and
happy hunting.