The hardest winter I can remember was giving way to the inexorable arrival of spring. Not only did the night get shorter, but also the temperature began to be benevolent, the winds to calm down, the shy grass of the frost-scorched meadows, giving the fields that velvety look of green and brown patches that only the arrival of March knows how to create. We were once again in Tuscany, for the latest outings to the bald roe deer, in search of an adult female. The biology and demographic studies on this species are in agreement in identifying the January-March period for the collection of adult females: parental care for the young born the previous spring are now over, the "class 0" are sufficiently autonomous and close to becoming "class 1". The females that have been covered in summer mating are presumably pregnant and, in March, one can sometimes observe in the outline the bulk of the belly that houses the young in gestation, after the embryonic diastasis of winter.
This aspect has always troubled me a little and, although I think it is scientifically correct, I have always felt a certain reluctance to shoot a somersault imagining the little lives that are developing in her mother's womb. Whenever possible I choose to take a class 0, but the rules (of ATC or nature) are not always in favor of our feelings. Thanks to the courtesy of Swarovski Optik Italy, for the occasion I have the pleasure of field testing the superlative rifle scope Z8i 2-16 × 50 P combined with Swarovski EL Range 8 × 42 binotelemeter.
We get out of the car which is almost daylight and within a few hundred meters we are in the hunting area. Expectations are high. The night before Gianni, my friend and today a companion, went on a patrol tour before dinner and at the table he thrilled me by telling me how many animals he had seen in the area. "I counted six, and I walked a little! At least two adult females ... and the beautiful beak that also this year has escaped me!“, He enthuses. Now that we are on the spot we move cautiously and cautiously: the area is very beautiful, chestnut and oak trees surround the wide expanse of hills, which change into docile hills sloping down into thick bushes of broom and holly.
We move practically uncovered, crawling on our knees and crawling. "Up there on our left!”Whispers Gianni without lifting a finger. I turn slowly to frame the female with the little one not far from her, grazing on the top of the nearby hill. Let's confabulate what to do. From here it is 300 meters, we could approach them. But if they do not go down it will be impossible to shoot: they are silhouetted against the sky, like two Chinese shadows, it is not a wise or correct shot. Let's wait a bit. The little one, taken by his childish enthusiasm, begins to roam down, good! The mother follows him. "Let's hope they stop halfway!”I whisper to Gianni. "You get ready!"He intimates to me. I open the rifle on the backpack, frame the female, adjust the enlargements as she approaches us, lowering her altitude. It's a moving target, obviously I don't intend to shoot, but… if it stops !! "Fiiiiihhh”Gianni with a whistle catches his attention for a second, maybe less. I'm not ready, the female reacted to the curious sound but her immunity lasts too little for me, her concern for the baby immediately pushes her to resume the chase of the urchin roe deer, not leaving me the time even to regret the my poor timing. Small and female sink into the thick dirt at the base of their hillock. I remain with a dry mouth, spread on the ground, with the eye still in the optics. A bit disappointed Gianni smiles patiently as he encourages me to resume hunting. "Sorry Gianni, I wasn't quick enough! Between understanding what was happening, the whistle, the female not exactly postcard, a minimum to concentrate etc ... I lost the moment". He: "You have not lost anything! You would have lost if you had fired without thinking, missed the shot or worse, wounded the animal. You did well, but now we have to take it, okay ?!".
My second chance materializes in a roe that from the edge of the wood at the top, on our right, is going down towards the ditch. It looks like a male, framed in the binoculars, it is.
From here we do not see down to where it is headed. But it's worth a look. "No - says Gianni - to look below you have to crawl slowly for at least twenty meters, from here we are too exposed. But I think you have to get there ready, with the rifle on your backpack. When you look out you evaluate the situation and if there is an adult female you have to be quick because you are visible and that male could bark!".
I walk belly to the ground following the directions of my companion, hoping not to disappoint him. I feel that he follows me a short distance away so that he too can observe the scene. When I glance down, I immediately find the male who acted as a "call" and further down, two young accompanied by the adult female who is grazing from the shoots of the bush. This time I must not go wrong. I would have been more relaxed to take one of the two class 0, but I have to focus on the female, without thinking about anything else. Rangefinder 220 meters, I don't have to change the clicks of the optics. I increase the magnification to 10, take the time for two long breaths and wait patiently for the somersault to brazenly offer my side. The Blaser breaks through the bucolic calm in which the four roe deer were grazing. The young get stuck, the male runs up to the wood from which he came out and the female ... I can't see her anymore! It was practically close to the brambles from which it was grazing. I turn dumbfounded to Gianni, who has his eyes on a small camera. "Guarda”He says smiling, handing me the small monitor. In the scene there is the female who stretches her neck towards the highest branches of the brambles, a second later she jumps and then two legs stretch to the sky before falling softly to the ground. My companion was very wise and foresighted in providing a video footage of the killing. "If I can, I do it even when I'm alone. The reaction to the shot is essential to understand the outcome and sometimes to find the animal". I agree, admired.
Without waiting long we go down to the now deserted anschuss and honor the prey. The sampling plan is completed, there were no injured animals, dubious shots or other unpleasant incidents. I think of the two little ones who have escaped, and who will now necessarily begin to fend for themselves. I try not to think about the ones we will find later managing the undress of this beautiful female. Again I think hunting is not killing an animal, but learning. From their mistakes, from those who are more experienced, and from Nature.