Flexitime

Jon Snowdon urges stalkers against fixed habits when it comes to the rut

- Jon Snowdon

I am writing this just as the rut is about to kick off. We now have another permission to carry out deer management on, though the current restrictions mean that the Greenlee team is not on the land as much as we would like. It wouldn’t surprise me if the rut hasn’t already been simmering away for a while. I have often been questioned when I have said this in the past. Many stalkers talk about not calling until a certain date – the said date often being around 20 July.

Many are focused on this, what is considered to be the most common time that the rut becomes visible. Just because we haven’t witnessed it, however, doesn’t mean that it hasn’t been happening. I have witnessed rutting behaviour as early as 27 June, and before you say it, yes, they were rutting; the action wasn’t just a one-off pair, and the estate was in full rut by 3 July. The latest I remember bringing a buck into the call was 28 August.

Timing