Ready To Roar

[Leica Sport Optics]

Stalking during Scotland’s red deer rut is one of Europe’s classic hunting experiences. Typically, it involves a glittering, frosty morning start, some slanting autumn sunshine, the odd patch of misty rain, and the eerie sound of stags roaring all around. It’s often unpredictable, however.

Some years are a let down: an Indian summer in September can drag on and little or nothing in the way of rutting happens until the very end of the season in October as stags lie around peacefully in the sunshine, breeding being the last thing on their minds. At the other end of the scale, occasionally the beasts will be raring to go before the end of August and will be bellowing lustfully into the sunset while it’s still warm enough for the midges to make themselves a nuisance. Each presents its own challenges for stalkers and makes top quality optics a must.

This year, the signs are that the red deer at Ardnamurchan on Scotland’s west coast are impatient to get going. They began with rubbing their antlers clean of stips of velvet-like skin that covers them while they are growing during spring and early summer. “We had stags ‘clean’ by 3 August, which is the earliest in a number of years,” reports Niall Rowantree, headstalker and sporting manager at West Highland Hunting, who manages the region’s deer.

No sooner had the stags cleaned the velvet from their antlers, they set about the serious business of getting them dirty again – blackening them in peninsula’s peat-rich soils. “There were a good few blackened up by the end of August,” Niall explains, adding: “We stalked a huge 11-pointer in the last week of the month. He weighed in at 25 stone and his antlers were absolutely jet black with white tips. We’d also heard roaring by 30 August. We’re ready for an early autumn.”

Niall and his team pay close attention to the health and condition of the Ardnamurchan deer all year round, observing them through their Leica Geovid HD-Bs and APO-Televid spotting scopes. This year, Niall reckons that a good start to the spring and early summer, followed by a warm wet July, allowed the mineral-rich grass to grow particularly well. This meant that the deer were able to achieve good condition comparatively early. “The hinds are in good condition too,” he adds. “What we’re hoping to see is a short, effective early rut this season. An early breeding season like this is better for calf mortality as the resulting offspring are better able to withstand the winter.”

While the roaring gets started, many stags are still in a state known by German speakers as feist – lying up and resting before the action begins. “They do not like disturbance at the moment,” says Niall. “And they head for the high tops, often still in groups. This makes optics absolutely indispensible for stalking. Time spent observing the hill in the early part of the day is never wasted.

“You need to make sure that you’ve identified an appropriate animal to shoot and that it’s somewhere you’ll be able to get to without causing a disturbance. Otherwise, you’ll end up wasting hours of time and miles of walking.

“With the best will in the world, it takes seven to eight years to raise a good stag to maturity, and two to three hours to stalk one. You don’t want to be wasting time on the wrong beasts. It’s not vital to age an animal to the exact year when you’re spotting, but you will need to be able say with confidence whether it’s young, middle aged or old. For that you need top quality glass that will give you an accurate image of the colours and condition of the animal and it’s coat – and the Leica Geovids and spotting scopes are perfect.”

Photocredit: Tweedmedia