Shooting Times & Country – 17 July 2019

SPORTING ANSWERS

84 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

Aftertherut,roebuckretire

torestandrecuperate,often

hiding among tall bracken

Theexperts

THEULTIMATE

SHOOTINGQUIZTEAM

BILLHARRIMAN

BASC’sheadoffirearmsand

globalauthorityonguns

MATMANNING

Airgunnerandjournalist from

theWestCountry

BRUCEPOTTS

ShootingTimes rifl e reviewer

andstalker

DAVIDTOMLINSON

Highlyregardedwriter and

ornithologist

LIAMBELL

NGOchairman,Shropshire

gamekeeperandkeenwildfowler

GRAHAMDOWNING

Shootingconsultant and

sportingauthor

CHRISDECANI

Riverkeeper,withspecialist

knowledgeofchalkstreams

TONYBUCKWELL

Veterinarysurgeonwitha

specialinterestingundogs

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TONYJACKSON

A gameShot,keenstalkerand

formereditorofShooting Times

TO MPAY NE

Professionalshootinginstructor

andavidpigeonshooter

TIMMADDAMS

FormerheadchefatRiver

Cottageandrunsa shootinDevon

JEREMYHUNT

RunsFenwayLabradorsand

a professional gundog trainer

SIMONWHITEHEAD

Author,professionalferreter

andrabbitcontroller

IAINWATSON

KeenstalkerandseniorCIC

international trophy judge

STALKING

I haveonlybeenstalkingfor

threeyearsbuthavethegood

fortunetohaveaccesstomixed

woodland,whichseemstoholda

reasonablenumberofroeaswell

astheoddmuntjac.I havefound,

however,thatshortlyafterthe

roeruthascometoanend,the

roebuckseemtodisappearfor

severalweeks.Isthisnormal

behaviourand,if so,whatis the

reasonfor their disappearance?

Itallcomesdowntosex!During

therut,thebucksareina state

ofexcitementastheyseekdoes.Asa

result, they have little time to feed and

willexpenda considerableamount

ofenergy.Theythenretiretorestand

recuperate.Inaddition,tallbracken

at thistimeoftheyeartendstoactas

camouflage.Theanimalswillremain

outofsightuntilthebeginningof

September.Occasionally,a so-called

falseruttakesplaceafterthenormal

periodinJulyandAugust.

Considerationforthebucksshould

beexertedduringtherutbecausethe

deerarethenmorevulnerableand

likelytorelaxtheirnormalcaution.The

spectaclecanbeabsorbing,especially

if youhavethegoodfortunetowatch

a buckchasinga doeina tightcircle

arounda bushortree.It is alsoworth

notingthatbucksnearly always run

anti-clockwise.TJ

Disappearing roebuck