Thread: Fallow activity in winter, different than summer?

Man youre keen, it was bloody miserable here today. Went for a wander up behind the farm the other night with Bow, and Bo (Pup) didnt come across much in the bush but dog was keen as, was walking back down through the bush towards a steep paddock where I had my truck parked at the bottom. Could see the paddock come into view through the trees but couldnt see any deer out on it and dint really expect them to be there anyhow since my truck was parked at the bottom in plain view. Was just about to pop out from behind the last wee bit of bush and hop the fence then holy hell there was a buck out in full view in the open, how I hadnt seen him I dont know, wind was wrong for the dog to pick up on him also. I sat down and told dog to lay down also and just watched him for a bit, he knew something was up as spent about 10 minutes just staring straight at the spot we were hiding. Eventually he went back to feeding so I ranged him, 43 yards, sweet, had been practising heaps with the compound at 40 so thought it was a done deal. I slowly stood up and came to full draw, settled the 40yd pin high just behind the shoulder and released.... TWANG!!! Shit!! Shit!! Shit!! my line of sight made it seem I was shooting over the fence in front of me but I had collected the top wire! Deer definately knew something was up then and he bounded away. Bo looked at me as if to say "you daft bastard" and that was that. Was getting pretty dark by that stage but managed to find my arrow stuck in the ground nowhere near where the deer was and bent broadhead confirmed I had hit the fence. Bugger, would have been first deer with the compound. Lesson learnt
I dont read into the whole "they will be sitting in the sun/shelter" thing too much, I see them heaps daily and they are where they are. Fallow will duck out for a feed at any time of the day, even if a quick 10 minute graze and then back to bed again. Definitely more active morning/evening as with most game but they can be down in a shaded frosty gut on a miserably cold day if theres something to chew on down there. We have a resident group that we could watch from our house at our other farm and they would be bedded up in frosty cold shady faces quite often and spend the whole day in there getting up to browse several times throughout the day and not necessarily headed for sunny spots either. I reckon they are very smart little deer, yes heaps of them get shot on farms etc but the very fact that they can continue a thriving population whilst surviving on raiding paddocks and crops etc if near farmland tells you they definitely arent stupid by any stretch of the imagination. Ive watched them from a distance using contour to travel vast distances out in the open without being noticed by people working on farm, watched them move around a small gully totally avoiding a team of working dogs mustering sheep out of the same gully etc. Very cool little deer.