Monday, 14 April 2014

Johnie's Passion For Deer

My old mate Johnny McGee has been has been up to his old tricks, shooting shooting in the UK. Johnny's films and photography are really top notch, with incredible attention to detail and a colour balance that shows the difference between the pro's and video-lummoxes like me. He's just posted Part 1 of A Passion For Deer where he accompanies Shavegreen Shooting Services stalking in the New Forest. This is just what woodland Deer Stalking in the south of the UK looks like. Minus the inane banter and bickering. Still with parts 2 to 6 still to come I'm sure that can be addressed.
More soon
Your pal
SBW

17 comments:

hodgeman said...

Loved- thanks for sharing!

Chas S. Clifton said...

Good video, but I have a question: with a magazine-fed rifle, why do we keep seeing him loading rounds one at a time. Or is he such a specialist that he has one load for roe deer, one for fallow, and one for New Forest pony? ;)

The Suburban Bushwacker said...

Chas
I've not heard back from johnnie but i'll add that to my list of questions
SBW

Phillip said...

And what load, precisely, does one use for forest pony?

That cut did seem a little strange... at first, I giggled. Then I thought, well, a habitat manager might have to eradicate various non-native species and that wouldn't be funny at all (just harsh reality). And then I thought... well, that can't be what just happened.

Then I thought I was thinking too hard, which I'm subject to do.

Great video, though, and I look forward to the remaining segments.

The Suburban Bushwacker said...

Phillip

Hmm pony load? Considering the size of even a small pony's heart .243 would do the trick. But sadly we don't have a new forest pony season, so many of them end up as lion feed at the zoo, shame as they are bound to be good eating.

SBW

Phillip said...

By all accounts, horses (and ponies) can soak up some lead. I'm not too interested in finding out, though. I couldn't even bring myself to go shoot feral zebras in CA when I had the opportunity... I love my horses way too much.

The Suburban Bushwacker said...

Phillip
You dont know what you're missing! honestly if I could I'd eat horse over beef any day. Annoyingly France is the nearest place to me where its sold as horse :-) and the black pudding is beyond delicious
Zebra is also good I'm told
SBW

Jonathan McGee said...

Good morning all, and thanks Sten and guests for your comments.

No ponies where harmed in the making of this film, the wildlife is shown to a greater understanding of what can be found in the area.

The rifle I believe is a Sako 75 in 30.06 cal. A big calibre and easily suitable for all deer in the park be that the huge reds, fallow, sika, roe or muntjac.

The next film is in progress, it follow my guide whilst Roe Buck stalking. I hope you enjoy it.

To view more of our films simply visit http://www.jonathanmmcgee.com/fieldsports/shootingvideography/


Jonathan McGee

Chas S. Clifton said...

Silly me. I thought that those long cartridges looked like .30-06, and then I convinced myself that it was unlikely that anyone in the UK would be shooting that caliber, so perhaps they were 7x57 . . .

The Suburban Bushwacker said...

Chas
30-06 is pretty popular here, and VERY popular in southern europe - so much so that the hunting department of El Corte Ingles in Valencia didn't stock rifles chambered in anything else. 7x57 is an unreasonable price pretty much everywhere - like £2 a pop!!! .243 is still the ubiquitous round as that's the prefered choice of the licensing department of most police forces, then .308 currently cheaper to buy than load, with .270 and 6.5x55 lagging well behind. They all kill deer.

Phillip said...

Sten, I'm sure there are a LOT of things I'm missing. One day, given the opportunity, I'd probably try horse meat. I'm not opposed to the idea, but just too emotionally attached to the critters themselves to do the dirty work myself. Sort of like bears, I guess, which is another animal I can't make myself shoot.

And Jonathan, thanks for chiming in. Didn't really think you shot the pony... it's just the timing of the cut and a bizarre sense of humor (that was apparently not unique). I definitely enjoyed the video, and look forward to more. I'm not likely to ever take the opportunity to hunt in your part of the world, but I do enjoy seeing how folks go about it there.

Anonymous said...

Sten

Me and my shooting buddies currently reload all of the calibres on your list, along with a good number not mentioned from 17's thru the .20cals and into the likes of 300RUM. We have yet to discover a supply of factory made ammo at prices cheaper than we can reload for. Could you divulge the name of your cheaper than dirt supplier? The cheapest we have found for some of the calibres is PPU from Kranks but even with their budget prices we can reload for less.

Atb

Wilf

Anonymous said...

Jonathon

Looking forward to your roe buck offering.

Charlie is a steady ol` boy and between you, you've produced something the UK Deer hunting community should be fully supportive of.

Bring on the rest of the series mate.

Atb

Wilf

p.s,.have you any plans on doing a series around the subject of hunting with hounds?

Jason said...

Wow. What a fantastic video. You're right about your friends capability with the camera. Fun watch.

The Suburban Bushwacker said...

W
He's probably reading this
SBW

Dan said...

Hi, nicely shot video - thanks for sharing, what camera was used there? I am learning how to take videos among other things :)

To Phillip: horse meat is great! heard a theory that it's eating horse meat that made the Mongols so strong that they conquered most of Eurasia - just a theory ;)

Unknown said...

As a gun enthusiast I'll bias enough to say that hunting is the most exciting form of recreational activity I have ever tried in my 26 years. With long guns, you'll enjoy going home with some good meat :-) See what advantage it'll have once you go out of an indoor shooting range. You'll have a live target and a delicious meal after.