The last time I was here it was full winter, but the day was mild and sunny. Now we are at the end of August and this magical place at the foot of Monte Amiata, in the lush green with hints of autumn decadence, maintains the same charm and welcomes us with a pleasant freshness, thanks to the pre-mountain altitude. We leave the car at the end of the paved road and walk cautiously towards the ridge: we proceed on the ridge, behind us we have a young wood, in front of a huge expanse of uncultivated field bordered by thicker scrub. We must be very careful, we are in the open but there is no alternative way to position yourself on the firing area. As soon as I turn the corner I see two. "Gianni! I'm already out”And on the last syllables my belly touches the ground, the rifle is on the backpack and the magnification ring of the scope slides towards the decimals. "Female and small!”, I comment with my mouth as I compose myself. "If it had been a boy there wouldn't have been so much taste, come on!"Gianni encourages me.
Let's proceed a little longer, I in front with the rifle, Gianni follows me making me the kindness to bring the tripod already set up to support the fast. In my pocket I have two M2 zip ties that burn me like the desire to take a good roe deer. Forward, forward, skidding and proceeding slowly, we see nothing. I pass a large oak whose foliage covers me a good piece of field and there two dismayed eyes surmounted by a slender forked stage widen and meet mine, no less surprised and excited. "It's not you I'm looking for ... come on! be a good boy”I tell him with my thoughts, but the young roe goes on a mad run down the valley barking. Following him with our eyes we realize that he was not the only one who was already in pasture. "Two adult males chasing each other ... noooo, he takes them away!”Comments Gianni observing with the naked eye the abundance of goblins that we had under our feet and who have now fled.
We decide to position ourselves here anyway, and wait. "No we can do nothing but wait here, by now it's too late to change stakeout and then it is not certain that they will not come out again”, His voice is unconvinced. My instinct tells me instead that it is not in vain to hope, the sun is still high, there is time and ... the ladybug that has settled on my backpack gives the coup de grace to the despondency and we begin to bask confidently. Not half an hour goes by before I see the red legs of a roe deer through the thin trunks at the edge of the wood. He comes out in the field but immediately the foliage of the row of oaks at the bottom obscures my view of the whole animal and above all of its stage. Female and small follow him a few meters higher and resume grazing in the corner. "Have you seen? The ladybug brought you luck! We have to understand what male there is over there, but from how I remember the field from where the roe deer has recovered there is a fold in the ground that could keep it hidden for more than a hundred meters to the left ... let's hope it reappears!”Whispers Gianni quivering.
Not half an hour goes by before a handsome male reappears in the center of the field. As soon as I see it, even before evaluating the stage, I position myself with the rifle on the backpack and look at it in the optics. She is always on the go and moves nervously. In front of him the other male advances with a martial step: they have resumed the dispute that had stopped before. Neither of them mentions a mouthful, they are taken by a duel, despite the calendar says that by now the females have already been covered. I focus on the first male, on my left. I follow his movements through the fronds of the oaks but he is never calm or like a postcard. When he turns to the other M2 on my right, he hands me his side, I try to drive out of my mind the respect and pity that this royal male inspires in me at the idea of arresting his authority with a bullet. I cock the rifle and put the cross back on the blatt. The time to exhale away the emotion from the lungs and the deafening noise that I have not heard for a long time announces the fall of the old roe deer and its disappearance in the tall grass at the foot of a luxuriant oak. Rearm. "The other stayed there! He is also an M2, look, he still makes the parade! I recommend cold blood. But hurry up because in a while you won't see him anymore!"Gianni urges me.
The roe deer stalks towards the downcast old man, he didn't understand what happened. Its trajectory makes me understand that it will never be perfectly postcard-like, it is turned a few degrees but in a still correct position. If I thought that I am going to shoot the second roe, both warriors who up until a few minutes ago were facing each other in a belated hormonal storm, maybe I wouldn't shoot. The presence of Gianni who guides me, encourages me and calms me is fundamental in this moment. I aim and wait for the moment. The moment arrives and this male also falls. A deafening silence follows the second shot. The female and the baby are still there, while the young male who had alarmed and taken everyone away on our arrival looks out into the open field, revealing his presence and confirming Gianni's hypothesis. "Now this kingdom without a king and without his rival is in your hands. Make sure you deserve it, boy!”Whispers Gianni, a little excited and a little touched. The plan for this year is concluded, hunting has served the roe deer species and has gratified the hunters. While we go to honor the remains of the two beautiful roe deer, the ladybug, on the other hand, is still attached to my backpack.
You May Also Like ..
