We were going out to hunt deer with our dog this day but I wanted to check for a beaver that had been damming up a field, and now the landowner had had enough so I thought I would help get rid of the beaver or beavers that are there. So I went out early in the morning, checked the wind and then I sneak down.

I have hunted a lot of beavers but never succeeded this time of the season but I thought that at home on the couch there will be no beaver anyway. I got down and stopped about 50m from the stream and scouted with the hand binoculars but saw nothing, sneaked up on 30m but completely dead, so I got up on about 10m. Then I hear something sliding into the water very close to me but behind some reeds so I crouch down and put down my shooting stick, then I see how the beaver comes sliding just a few meters in front of me!

I freeze and hardly dare to breathe! The beaver swims a little more and when it is behind a small rope, I slowly get up in a crouching position and then the beaver stops. I sneak the gun up to my shoulder and immediately feel that it will be a very difficult position to shoot in, but I have no choice! Then comes the next little problem, when the beaver is so close, you have to aim a little over because the bullet does not reach the height of the binocular sight, so I needed a few seconds to aim correctly!

The CPX bullet in 7x57r takes exactly as intended in the middle of the head and then the short but very intense hunt was over! And I just stood and shook for a minute afterwards. Then it was off to the collection with a very large beaver on the basket on the hitch.

We decided a little quickly and easily which one we would hunt, the passers went away and I soon unleashed the drever Tuffi. It's my uncle's dog but usually it's me who releases it, and we're a very close-knit group so we usually don't even have a radio with us but we know where everyone usually goes, sometimes it's just a phone call.

I just had time to disconnect her and then it was taken up immediately! It curved around really nicely for about 20min before it pulls away, so it was to knead after, but I have some control over how it usually can turn so when I saw on the pointer how it started to turn a bit, it became to put proper speed out towards a car road where it usually goes over. And I get there but then see how it waits back more anyway so I turn around to pull back along the road.

When I turn around, I see how there is suddenly a deer 50m away in the middle of the road straight towards me! How did it get there? I stand perfectly still, but I have time to see that it is a small buck so when it turns up the broadside and is going to run further, I place a CPX: bullet behind the bow! The buck runs 30m and then it falls over and stays lying down.

So it was both a buck and a beaver on the same day! Not so bad at all I must say.

Regards Erik Bertilsson