Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting A Few Days in Thetford

Just returned from a few days stalking on the Club ground in Thetford, in SE England.

We were primarily after Roe does, plus Muntjac, but for some reason both were rather scarce to what we normally see. In three and half days stalking, with five people on the ground most days, only 4 deer were taken..

The ground itself is commercial foresty, and is very flat, with little standing water...Stalking is a mixture of still hunting and from highseats, depending on personal preference.

Below are a few pics I snapped while out:

The forest is severed by a good network of "rides" which makes getting about easy whether on foot or by vehicle.



Some times its productive to get off the main rides and follow the deer racks into the timber. Its feasible this time of year, but some the spring and summer arrives, its virtually impossible to still hunt due to the noise factor.



Timber operations are ongoing in various parts of the forest, so there is always new areas of clear fell or replant to watch over.



Some areas are not being planted but instead being encourage to revert back to the original heathland:





The biggest problems we have are the high public access and the flatness of the terrain ie few back stops, making safety paramount.

The ground and the nature of the stalking is very different to that in the more remote parts of the UK such as Scotland, but still very enjoyable in its own right.

Add to that its spending a few days with like minded friends, good food and a few beers in the evenings, and its far better than being in work!

When everything goes right, and the deer co-operate, the results are below:

A Muntjac doe taken with the .260Rem



and a short while later, cleaned and ready for the larder:

[img]http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l237/PeteUK24/Thetford%2001Jan2011/IMG_0059.jpg[/img]

Followed latrer the same day by a Roe doe, again with the .260Rem

[img]http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l237/PeteUK24/Thetford%2001Jan2011/IMG_0070.jpg[/img]

Both taken by still hunting, the Muntjac with a heart/lung shot, and the roe a high neck shot..

No struggling like an elk hunter getting these carcasses out!

We have the option of taking the carcasses home, or if they are cleanly shot, they can be sold to the game dealer.

The pic below shows the carcass of the Roe doe hanging in the Club larder ready for collection.

[img]http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l237/PeteUK24/Thetford%2001Jan2011/IMG_0071.jpg[/img]

Each carcass is tagged and inspected, and has to be fit to be put into the commercial food chain via the game dealer.

[img]http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l237/PeteUK24/Thetford%2001Jan2011/IMG_0073.jpg[/img]

A part from the "red tape" aspect, I always think its a matter of personal pride /professionalism to submit a carcass in the best condition possible...

Please note, although the terrain is easy going, no golf carts were used in the taking of these animals, and neither were shot in the arse!

Pete E:

My worst day of hunting was better than my best day of working.

KC

What size tract is the club?

When I saw the title of your post, I thought that you were hunting whitetails in Thetford, Vermont, USA!

Jeff

The area in Thetford is about 6000 acres I think...Its made up of a number of smaller blocks or beats and each time you go out you are allocated a beat or block to hunt...We have a small cottage on the ground with a larder/chiller and usually have between 10 to 15 members for the majority of weekends of the year..

Members can also go up and hunt mid week should they want as well...The only real "down side" to the Club is that you can't take casual guests up to hunt as it is strictly "members only"...Part of that is down to the Club rules, but it is also driven by the Forestry Company who own the ground who don't want "unknowns" bimbling about with rifles given the safety and liability issues it may cause...

Jeff,

I think a few members on here probably know the area quite well as its literally only a couple of miles from the big USAF bases of Lakenheath and Mildenhall. Quite often I get to watch the F15's, plus assorted transport planes flying low over the area..

Regards,

Peter

What species of trees does the forestry company manage for? Some of the pulp companies plant tamarack because the deer leave them alone. The down side is the trees provide nothing for the deer.

Depends where it is...historically, the main one was Sitka Spruce which was planted over huge areas from the 1920's on wards..Other firs and pines were also planted, but not on the scale of Sitka...

These days more hard woods are being planted and there are moves to revert areas back to their original habitate whether it be hard woods, open moor land or the heathland in the pic above...

Man ,you English dudes grow some BIG rabbits...

Thats exactly what Muntjac are in many ways, being the cervine equivalent. From the age of about 8 months, the does are more or less constantly pregnant and drop a kid about every seven months.

Being small and pretty low down on the food chain in their original habitate, they are nervous little critters and rarely stay out in the open long, much prefering heavy cover like thick brambles or cloud berry bushes.

They are great fun to stalk though, and its quite something to hear the bucks bark at each other across the forest as they do their territory thing...They also fight like crazy and most mature bucks carry scaring and sometimes the embedded K9 teeth from a rival...

Regards,

Peter

I could have killed one of those with a slingshot and river rock.

PeteE, great pics, love your moderated .260, good shooting and awfully good to see those pictures of the Thetford area.

Never got to hunt there, of course, but spent many quality hours swilling room temperature beer at the Bird in Hand whilst TDY to RAF Mildenhall and spying on Rooshians (the last time they were our enemies) with the SR-71 Blackbird in the late '70-early '80s.

Still got my Winmau dartboard bought at the Lakenheath Rod & Gun Club, too!

Often wondered if you guys realised you were in such a good area for deer? Also surprised there is no hunting club at the base...I would think a bunch of guys could form a syndicate and lease a block of land, or maybe stalk on the Military land, quite cheaply..

It's very refreshing and interesting to see a post of hunting in other countries.The pictures were great as well as the telling.Thank you.

Stan in SC

Great post Pete. Thanks for sharing with us.

How big are those deer?

Small!

The Roe carcass as it shown in the larder, was 9kg which is about 20lb and the Muntjac carcass when I'd finished tidying it weighed 6kg which is about 13lb..

Looking at the teeth, I'd say they were yearlings and both are fairly typical weights for the ground.

Our primary "job" is deer control, and with that madate, last year the Club took around 350 deer a year off the ground and the forestry company has increased the cull again for this year..

In addition to the Roe and Muntjac, we get the odd groups of Fallow coming onto the ground and there have been sightings of wild boar not too far away,and we are under instructions to take both of those should we come across them.

Regards,

Peter