Who among us, attending an appearance hunting area, has not become fond of a wild animal that has something peculiar due to its behavior, anatomy, chromaticity? It happened to me very often, and lately in the roe deer outings I came across an old woman fox with a completely white hind leg, hence the little fanciful nickname given to it of "Zampabianca". My sly friend appeared almost systematically in my long stalking in the period of hunting the bald roe deer, and only on the very rare occasions when roes they did not show up the fox did not arrive. This led to a certain superstitious sympathy on my part, in the binomial Zampabianca-capo to be taken. If there was one, the other would come, and I started looking for the fox as a good omen for every outing.
Even in this sunny afternoon the old fox's slightly limping pace was not long in coming, announcing the now unexpected encounter with the roe deer. "I see two on the field in front!”Says Fabrizio, who accompanies me, breaking the disconsolate silence of the first two hours of stalking. "No, wait, there are three ... or rather ... five!". Zampabianca this time brought more luck than usual, now let's see we deserve it!
While col binoculars we lazily scroll through the fresh grass scenery that winds below us, at the far right something catches our attention. "Here is your friend Zampabianca”Grins Fabrizio, mocking under his mustache my superstitious affection for the fox. "And in fact if you look up there is the female with the baby!”Comment, enthusiastic and incredulous for this new wave of adrenaline that hits us just before unloading the rifle and putting it in the scabbard. A little more than 200 meters from us the female is grazing the grass with the little one always attached. The conformation of the terrain does not allow us to shoot from the position on the ground in which we are. Not even to get up to talk about it, so we try to get closer. We advance at a leopard's pace, rubbing the backpack and walking on all fours. Every time the female lowers her head to graze we steal two or three steps and, meter by meter, we arrive at 190 meters from the couple.
Backpack on the ground, a pile on top and there carbine firmly, I lie down and frame with the lens. I have a band and both classes in the plan but I decide to take the class 0. The little one is always in front of the mother. "Take a step forward, come on!”I try with the thought to push the chosen garment away from the mother, but they seem glued. As she moves so does he, his shadow. Out of the corner of my eye I see Zampabianca peeking out of the ditch and skirting the hedge towards the roe deer. It risks alarming them and making them escape. I keep a cool head and try to regulate my breathing, although I have armed and disarmed the rifle several times in the long wait between the flight of the dreaded roe deer and the displacement of the desired little one. At a certain point the little one advances in front of the female. I wait for the distance to be adequate but I already have my finger on the trigger. I warn Fabrizio that I am about to shoot even though I know that he has already guessed my thoughts. I am surprised by a shot that explodes as soon as the baby stops moving away from the female. A leap up and then the deer collapses, while the female escapes into the woods that has kidnapped the herd from before. The pat on the shoulder of Fabrizio confirms the success of the shot. The waving white of a slightly lame paw sinks into the darkness of the wood, and greets me like a wink, with the understanding of a promise kept.