European Red Deer Hunting

European Red Deer

(Cervus elaphus hippelaphus)

Current SCI all time record: Score 567 2/8
Current SCI all time record (preserve): Score 505 1/8

Description: During the summer, Red deer are dark red or brown with a lighter color of cream on the underbelly, inner thighs and rump. There may also be some spots on the summer coats, particularly along the spine. In winter, the pelage changes to a darker brown or grey, with lighter patches on the rump and undersides. It is notable that their caudal patch tends to reach higher up the rump than is the case with other deer. Both sexes have tails of approximately 15 cm in length which are generally the same color as the caudal patch. This tail may have a dark dorsal stripe that can extend upwards along the spine. There is also a visible gland high on the cannon bones (the long bone immediately above the hoof) of the rear legs. Appearance can also be influenced by age and condition, for example yearlings and calves have a shorter head due to having fewer teeth in their jaw than an adult. Alternatively, when deer condition begins to fail through age their coats will often appear to be ginger in colour, even in the winter months.

Other Common Names:

Size:

Range: Europe except for Portugal, Scandinavia, Scotland, and Spain; primarily September - November.

Natural History: It has already been stated that Red deer are by nature forest dwellers, however they are highly adaptive. Their selection of habitat is mostly linked to the availability of food, but other factors such as weather and fly infestation can also influence movement. Red will retreat to higher ground or deeper woodland during the height of summer to avoid flies, returning to lower or more open ground when food becomes scarce and the weather inclement. Their daily movement pattern will lead them from the lower, more sheltered areas where they spend the nights, back to higher sunny slopes where they spend the day feeding, resting and chewing the cud. These daytime resting areas will normally be good vantage points from which they can easily see approaching danger. They will also feel more secure if there is a fairly constant wind. Once the wind becomes unpredictable or above approximately Force 4 they will become agitated and move. This preferred daily and seasonal movement can be severely affected by human disturbance in the form of fencing or excessive disturbance by hill walkers and this in turn can cause sufficient stress to affect the condition of the deer. Red deer are grazers by preference, however good grass is not always available so many other food sources are taken advantage of. These include rough grasses (Molinia and Scirpus cespitosus) as well as heather and dwarf shrubs. Heather is of particular dietary importance during the dormant winter months, especially when snow covers the ground. If the weather is especially harsh, stags can be forced from the hill to maraud farm crops, most usually at night. During the winter months the nutritional requirement of Red alters as do their metabolisms; differences in eating habits can also be distinguished between stags and pregnant hinds. Despite any slowing down of their metabolic rate, this does not prevent death from malnutrition, which normally occurs in the spring when resources are at their lowest. This can be exacerbated, as has happened in recent years, by successive cold, wet winters. It is the impact of cold wind and driving rain getting under the normally highly effective double coat of the deer that has the greatest debilitating effect.

In August the stags that up to this time of year have been living in large stag groups start to become intolerant of each other. An increased testosterone level causes this reaction, along with an increase in neck and testicle size. This hormonal change is also responsible for the cleaning of velvet from stags’ antlers. As with most other aspects of a deer’s life cycle, this is governed by photoperiod (the daily period of light and darkness). At this time hinds begin to reduce their range and congregate in traditional rutting areas. Shortly thereafter, in early September, stags ‘breakout-out’ from the stag groups and take possession of hind harems. Once resident, these ‘master stags’ which are invariably between the ages five and 11 years old, start defending their harem and herding in any passing hinds. All of this rutting activity, which even precludes eating, takes its toll on the condition of mature stags and they can lose as much as 20% of their body weight during the six week rutting period which peaks in mid-October. Fights between stags are common and very often cause serious or fatal injury. The severity of these fights is directly related to the degree of threat, that is, the bigger the stag, the bigger the fight.

Hunting Characteristics: