Houghton Hall - Private Estate.

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13-05-2013, 03:53 AM
Pop Shot

Houghton Hall - Private Estate.

I haven’t managed to get out hunting since leaving New Zealand in August of last year to embark on my overseas experience. Not long after arriving, I joined up with several online hunting forums and began sharing my experiences and contributing information when and where I could. Before long, offers to go hunting started rolling in. However, six months later and I am still waiting on all except of these guys to get back to me with ‘dates’ despite being impatient and sending them friendly reminders from time to time.

I began exchanging private messages with one guy in particular and before long, we had confirmed dates and I was able to book time off work. Three weeks later, I found myself being picked up in the early hours of the morning and I was off hunting for the weekend.

We were to be hunting on the private estate of ‘Houghton Hall’ – (residence of David Cholmondeley, 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley). Exploring the grounds of this place was an experience in itself. There were over 20 different species of deer on the place – mostly of Asian origin.

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Houghton Hall.

The hunt itself was very different to what I am used to back home in New Zealand. Generally, it involved us stalking down ‘rides’ (vehicle tracks) through the wooded areas and scouting for deer along the way. There were two main species to be targeted for the weekend,

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Typical hunting environment - 'rides'.

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High seat - plenty of these around.

Muntjacs are an incredibly small and agile deer and very seldom do they stand still. When you also factor in the size of these deer in relation to the height of the vegetation on the ground (spring time) – spotting and being able to shoot the deer proved challenging at times. Both males and females were in season.

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Muntjac - young buck.

Roe deer on the other hand are slightly larger in size but are a lot more cunning. At this particular time of the year, females were out of season and just as luck would have it; we predominantly only saw females and what males were seen, were a little frisky and already on the move.

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Roe deer - there are two (third hidden) deer in this photo.

In total I saw around 50-60 deer for the two days hunting. Of those seen, around 30 were Fallow (out of season); around 10-12 Roe (all except two were female and out of season) and around 15-20 Muntjac – of which I shot two good bucks off sticks using a custom built .300wsm.

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First Mutnjac.

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Second Muntjac.

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Shooting of the sticks.

The game keeper managed to shoot around a dozen Fallows throughout the weekend. Although out of season, he has a special permit to harvest them if they are caught eating the estates crops – as they were. When processing the animals for the chiller – he informed me that just last week his beloved Sambar stag ‘Sammy’ had passed away at 17 years of age. I couldn’t resist a photo with the head.

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Sammy.

Despite not shooting a roe buck it was an amazing weekend. I’ve been invited back up to the estate the Roe buck rut and the opening of fallow season – can’t wait.

Fingers crossed I can shoot a Roe buck before returning back to New Zealand later in the year.

Pop Shot
13-05-2013, 05:17 AM
Raging Bull

Congratulations on the bucks mate, I know you've been hanging out to shoot one for a while now!

Certainly a different way of hunting, "Sammys" a cracker! Any other decent Sambar Stags on the estate?
13-05-2013, 07:18 AM
Rushy

Way to go Pop Shot. Mate marry into that family and you'll be set.
13-05-2013, 07:28 AM
veitnamcam

Mate that would have been a wicked weekend:thumbsup:

Those muntjac are tiney little fellas huh.
13-05-2013, 07:34 AM
Rushy

Quote:

Originally Posted by veitnamcam

Mate that would have been a wicked weekend:thumbsup:

Those muntjac are tiney little fellas huh.

I would be tempted to put one on a spit to see how it turned out. Probably sacrilege but well basted and not over cooked it could be delicious.
13-05-2013, 07:43 AM
Munsey

Slap one between two bits of bread ! . Man they are tiny . Thanks for strory
13-05-2013, 07:46 AM
Rushy

Quote:

Originally Posted by Munsey

Slap one between two bits of bread ! . Man they are tiny . Thanks for strory

Ha ha ha ha and leave the thigh bone in as a tooth pick for later.
13-05-2013, 08:30 AM
Pop Shot

Quote:

Originally Posted by Raging Bull

Any other decent Sambar Stags on the estate?

Believe it or not but Sammy didn't die from old age, another stag killed him (punctured his lungs). Only a small mob of 16 if I remember but it's still the biggest herd in the western hemisphere.

They are of a different sub species to the Sambar of New Zealand. The deer on the estate of the cervous niger strain (Indian) and grow slightly larger in terms of body size and antlers, whereas, New Zealand's herd is the cervous unicolor which originates from Sri Lanka. I couldn't stop reading all his books on how deer where introduced into New Zealand - very interesting.
13-05-2013, 08:36 AM
BRADS

Sweet pics mate, thanks for the write up:thumbsup:
13-05-2013, 09:00 AM
ebf

Cool, tx for the write up.

What brand shooting sticks, comments about shooting off them ?
13-05-2013, 10:16 AM
geezejonesy

great stuff awesome pics :thumbsup:
13-05-2013, 10:40 AM
R93

Way cool! :thumbsup:
13-05-2013, 11:05 AM
kotuku

well done that man.certainly makes a contrast to our shooting conditions here in NZ.be interested (like others)to get your impressions of shooting off the sticks.
sammy RIP-an impressive looking beast.
13-05-2013, 12:06 PM
Scouser

Great yarn, pop shot, i didnt hunt when i lived in pommyville, as a 'scouser' they probably would have shot me!....very interesting mate, as Rushy said, pity the daughters were not 'in season'.......
13-05-2013, 05:24 PM
TimeRider

Nice :thumbsup:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rushy

I would be tempted to put one on a spit to see how it turned out. Probably sacrilege but well basted and not over cooked it could be delicious.

Sounds good.
13-05-2013, 05:38 PM
Bavarian_Hunter

top shit mate!
13-05-2013, 05:53 PM
Rushy

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bavarian_Hunter

top shit mate!

You are a man of succinct words Jack.
13-05-2013, 06:15 PM
Bavarian_Hunter

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rushy

You are a man of succinct words Jack.

Efficiency is my middle name Rush! why use five words when three will do ha
13-05-2013, 08:37 PM
P38

Thanks for the insight into Estate Hunting in England Pop Shot.

300wsm seems way over kill for the little Munjac and Roe deer.

Do they not have any 222's up there? ;)

What was the typical shooting distance?

I'm assuming it's an invite only type of hunt, Is it expensive too?

Cheers
Pete
13-05-2013, 08:50 PM
Pop Shot

Quote:

Originally Posted by ebf

What brand shooting sticks, comments about shooting off them ?

Unsure of brand.

As for shooting off the sticks. It was a little awkward having to stand but learn forward into them but to be honest, they were actually surprisingly stable. Of course - it's not as steady as using a bipod/day pack but for the ranges I took the shots at (70-80 yards), I had no issues with them and at several times throughout the weekend I lined up on a fallow at 250-300 yards and would have been confident in taking the shot.
13-05-2013, 08:59 PM
Pop Shot

Quote:

Originally Posted by P38

Thanks for the insight into Estate Hunting in England Pop Shot.

300wsm seems way over kill for the little Munjac and Roe deer.

Do they not have any 222's up there? ;)

What was the typical shooting distance?

I'm assuming it's an invite only type of hunt, Is it expensive too?

Cheers
Pete

Right - I'll try to answer them all in one go.

You are correct - .300 wsm is an overkill. The owner of the rifle explained to me that here in the UK you have to register each firearm with the Police and thoroughly explain your intentions for its use. You have to give land owners details, species intended to hunt, any courses(qualifications) you have etc..... so much drama. Hence he went with a .300wsm so he can use it on all species without any issues. That said, he's in the process of get a .257 mag built.

Typical shooting distances would have ranged from 0-150 yards in the woodlands, with my two shots being around 70-80 yards. However, if shooting across the fields then anywhere up to 250-300 yards could have been likely.

Yeah - invite only. I was invited by the best mate of the deer keeper of the park - he arranged everything. The security around the place is a little over the top to be honest - might have something to do with the art collections inside worth hundreds of millions of pounds.

Can't wait to get back up there - that's for sure.
13-05-2013, 09:00 PM
scottrods

That is shooting as I remember it. What is the caliber limit on muntjac? I thought 243 was the smallest allowed?
300WSM must have shredded its innards.
13-05-2013, 09:04 PM
Pop Shot

Quote:

Originally Posted by scottrods

That is shooting as I remember it. What is the caliber limit on muntjac? I thought 243 was the smallest allowed?
300WSM must have shredded its innards.

England.
For Muntjac and Chinese Water deer only- a rifle with a minimum calibre of not less than .220 inches and muzzle energy of not less than 1000 foot pounds and a bullet weight of not less than 50 grains may be used.

For all deer of any species - a minimum calibre of .240 and minimum muzzle energy of 1,700 foot pounds is the legal requirement.

Source - BASC - Deer Stalking Code of Practice
13-05-2013, 09:44 PM
P38

Thanks for the explaination Pop Shot.

Thats even way more regulated than I ever thought.

Poor bastards.

We just dont know how lucky we are.

Cheers
Pete
13-05-2013, 09:47 PM
Dundee

Muntjac jee thats tiny I hope the jersey calfs are bigger than that:D Not that I will be hunting them tho:)

Awsome reading different game hunts from over seas,thanks Pop Shot:cool:
13-05-2013, 09:53 PM
scottrods

yeah, it's pretty restrictive. I was still awaiting a centrefire approval when I decided to give up and come to NZ. It was hard enough getting a 22 and shotgun. Luckily for me a mate was assistant keeper on an estate near Nottingham, so I helped with beating on big day shoots in return for a free day shooting pigeons here or there, rabbits, spotlighting foxes with him and his rifles, and loads of fishing on the estate lakes. But yep. I KNOW how priviledged it is to be here now.