When is the red deer rut, and where can you see it?

When is the red deer rut?

The rut is the red deer breeding season. The British Deer Society (BDS) puts it at the end of September to November. The Isle of Rum Red Deer Project, which has studied one population for decades, says mid-September to mid-November. Forestry and Land Scotland just says September and October.

For the peak, the BDS says red stags usually hit it from late September to early October. The rut really gets going in the last week of September, so if you can only go once, the first week of October is a good bet.

What happens in the rut?

Male red deer are stags, females are hinds and the young are calves. Through the summer the stags have been growing new antlers. They shed the old set in March or April, and the new one is fully grown and clear of velvet by August or September, just in time.

A stag gathers a group of hinds, often called a harem, and spends the next few weeks trying to keep them together and other stags away.

You'll usually hear the rut before you see it. The roar is deep and throaty and carries right across a glen, and stags use it to advertise themselves, challenge rivals and attract hinds.

When two stags are evenly matched, they walk side by side a few metres apart, sizing each other up. This is the parallel walk, and often one of them backs down without a fight. If neither does, they lock antlers and shove. The Wildlife Trusts describe the fights as ritualised, a way of settling who's boss rather than doing damage, though stags do get hurt.

It takes a lot out of them. The Rum researchers say rutting stags eat little or nothing, roaring day and night while they fight, chase off challengers and herd their hinds. A stag can weigh anything from 90 to 190 kg going in, and he comes out of it much thinner.

What time of day is best?

Early morning or evening, says Forestry and Land Scotland, and the Wildlife Trusts agree that early morning is good for seeing stags in action. But the BDS has listened in with sound recorders on Highland estates and found roaring often peaked in late morning and early evening. So go at dawn or dusk, and don't give up if the middle of the day is when you can get there. Stop now and then and listen: a roar tells you which way to walk.

Where to see the red deer rut in the UK

Scotland

Red deer are most at home in the Highlands, and Scotland has the most places to see them.

• Glen Affric, and Kinloch on Skye. Forestry and Land Scotland singles these out for their red deer.
• Galloway Forest Park, which has a Red Deer Range with a viewing hide.
• Forsinard Flows, Sutherland, an RSPB reserve where you can watch the rut.
• Ben Mor Coigach and Rahoy Hills, Scottish Wildlife Trust reserves on the Wildlife Trusts' list.
• The Cairngorms. Red deer are on the hills around the pinewoods all year.

London: Richmond Park and Bushy Park

Richmond Park has about 630 red and fallow deer, which have roamed free there since 1529, according to the Friends of Richmond Park. Bushy Park has both species too. Being in London, they're the easiest to get to and the busiest, so read the safety section below before you go.

Elsewhere in England

• Studley Royal, North Yorkshire, a National Trust deer park with red, fallow and sika deer.
• Arlington Court, Devon, and Dunwich Heath, Suffolk, both National Trust places with red deer.
• Minsmere, Suffolk, an RSPB reserve where the rut is one of the autumn sights.
• Blacka Moor near Sheffield, Hillbridge and Park Wood in Derbyshire, Rackenford and Knowstone Moor in Devon, and Bedfords Park in Essex, all on the Wildlife Trusts' list.
• Exmoor. South-west England is one of the red deer's strongholds, and Exmoor is the best known place for them there.

How to watch the rut safely

Rutting stags are big and full of hormones, and they don't want company. The advice from the people who look after them is simple:

• Keep at least 50 metres away. That's the Royal Parks' rule for everyone, photographers included, and at Bushy Park they suggest 100 metres if a stag is active.
• Watch through binoculars or a long lens. The BDS asks people to keep a respectful distance and to stay out of active rutting areas.
• Leave the dog at home. The Royal Parks recommend walking dogs outside Richmond and Bushy Parks during the rut, and the National Trust asks the same. If a deer does come after you and your dog, the Friends of Richmond Park say let go of the lead.
• If a deer comes towards you, don't wave or shout. Back away slowly and put something big, like a tree or a car, between you.
• Don't get between two stags, or between a stag and his hinds.

Getting closer won't get you a better photo. A stag that's watching you isn't roaring.

Red deer or fallow deer?

Plenty of people go to see "the rut" in a park and find fallow deer instead, which is no bad thing. Fallow bucks rut a little later, peaking in mid-October according to the BDS. They don't roar. They groan, loudly and over and over, from traditional rutting stands that they defend against other bucks.

You can tell them apart easily. Fallow deer are smaller, often spotted, and the bucks have broad, flattened antlers. They're the only deer in the UK with antlers like that. Red deer are bigger and plainer, and a stag's antlers branch into points.