red deer rut with a few questions

[mereside]

right firstly a little writeup from this weekend the a question time.

me and a pal went up to ayrshire on friday night we drove through the night and hit the ground as light was beggining to awaken.
geared up with full of exitement as the mist was in and the stags roaring i was full of hope.
sets off with sign everywhere and then out of the trees slinked a roe doe with a follower looked in good shape things where looking good the sounds of the roar brought the hairs standing up on the back of my neck i headed straight to a wallow where i had a camera up for two months so i could not wait to see what was on there.
i made my way slowly down taking a mental note of each stag making noises for later stalks.
i got to the wallow it had a few feetings but nothing like i was expecting so opened up the camera and found some good footage but only from hinds.
i headed off on my stalk round the beach area and was greated by a seal who was inqisitve and swam across to have a closer look till indy had a shake it spooked and dived for cover.
I carried on without seeing any stags just a few hinds so headed back for breakfast.
on my second stalk decided to head into the forest to seek out the roar I bumped a few hinds but still no sign of the stags as they had set up deep in the trees and getting in through the bracken was a nightmare as it was still up and very dense.
This morning the wind was terrrible and could not make up my mind as where to go and ended up having a drive down and just picking a spot i had not been to before all was quite and no roaring, i made my way into the trees so i had no wind to contend with.
after an hour of inching my way in out of knowhere a roar so loud i think i let out a little wee and i dropped to my knees.
another roar but on the move coming closer the next sight two rows of trees in behind a felled sitka i see the tops of the antlers swaying from side to side.
At this point my heart was racing and it was no more than 15 yrds from me but still behind the fallen tree and scrub i was stuck behind a row of sitka that had thick branches to the floor and had no shot if i could see him properly, another roar and this time the antlers where thrashing the tree and now i am thinking will he just rush in on me as he knew something wasn't right.
he moved a little further and now i could see one side of his antlers and counting five with a really nice curve i was wishing him to take a further step for at least a kneck shot, heart still racing i tried to crawl forward to a small gap to get the rifle up he moved again but looking straight at me i could not see the kneck just the snout and antlers with that i dont know if he actually focused in on me or weather the wind gave me up but he just flipped backwards and disapeared further into the trees.
I sat there laughing at what had just happened still shaking.
I had never witnessed a red roar up close like that only from afar and was truly in awe the noise was something else.
now after all that i will ask my questions.
I carried on my stalk and found a big wallow in full use and close to where he was so pressuming it was his but another 200 yrds on another.
do woodland reds use more than one wallow and what sort of proximity do reds tolarate others or what sort of area will one hold.
also what sort of timescale will reds hold hinds for as most of the hinds i came across where on there own or in small groups.
do woodland stags only hold small numbers of hinds, sorry for all the questions but very interested in peoples thoughts on the habits of woodland reds, atb wayne

[markbjones01]

Im afraid I cant help you with any of your questions but I just wanted to complement you on your right up , reading that felt like I was on the stalk with you

[welshwarrior]

Luck man I would love to have witnessed that it not all about pull a trigger. Sorry can't help with answers either on reds.

[mereside]

thanks for that i went back up this weekend to find him but as i stalked a path to the forest i could just make out the white tips of his antlers i was 2 mins late to ambush he had already crossed over the track and about to slip into the trees a bark to bring him back up ,the bank did not work and he slipped away.

gutted i carried on the rut has been none existent in my area as the weather is really warm and they had stopped calling.

this morning more calls deap in the woods i crossed the road into the trees the reds use gullys to travel the thick sitka spruce i homed in on a roar i was almost there when i run out of a clear way through the trees i had to unslip the hound who was as exited as i was and she was eager to get in front as i was crawling through the spruce. i got to a clearing but this boy kept moving on he was on a mission he didnt stop to call but kept walking looking for hinds. all i kept seeing was the back end i tried to interupt his call but it still didn't stop him.

I cannot believe an animal of such a large frame with head gear on can move silently through the sitka yet me with a slim physique struggling to keep up he slipped further into the dark spruce and away for his hinds, beaten again In all the frustration i did find some great spots inside the sitka that were great sunspots for further visits and i did stalk in on a hind and calf with a chance of a roebuck i took him home for supper.

camped out overlooking arran no midges and a bottle of vino all was well exept the distict coldsnap and the roar of reds, heres to a few weeks time when the hinds come in and i will catch up with a few staggies, woodland stags are hard going but well worth the challenge that has me hooked. atb wayne

Edited October 6, 2013 by mereside

[ferretfiddler]

Great write up, the bit where you said "I let out a little wee" made me let out a little trump, I giggled that hard.