Rather than bemoaning an opportunity lost, David Barrington Barnes gets back into the thick of the roebuck action

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Iwas out for an early morning prowl that May morning. My planned route was to take me from the public road deep into the ground, which comprised arable fields, grass paddocks, two spinneys and a wood. By our Suffolk standards the high ground was almost a hill and the low could be called a valley. It was, and is, good roe ground and I had high hopes of an encounter with a young buck in the course of my morning walk.

So from the outset I was proceeding with caution, rifle loaded, sticks at the ready and my binoculars in frequent use as I swept the foreground. Although the cultivated land was sticky, I was able to walk along a grass margin partially concealed by a thick hedge on my left. I was in a landscape that will be familiar to most low-ground stalkers. Nearly all the bushes and trees were well greened up. The hawthorn hedgerows were uncurling their tender, pale green shoots so beloved by roe deer, and there was a bite on the grass and in the drilled fields. All this and a soft, early May morning were the ingredients I wanted for this solitary hunt. I envisaged a gentle walk to my favourite high seat, Observation Post 1 (OP1) and then perhaps the chance to take one of my yearling roebucks.