Fallow & Boar

Welsh Guy

Well-Known Member
Coincidence who knows?


I had just finished writing to my local forestry commission office (Forest of Dean) asking to be put on a list for stalking (Some hope I know), picked up a book on stalking an retired to my garden with a cup of tea and some jam on toast when upon entering the garden there was a disturbance in the undergrowth behind my bamboo. As I peered over the fence a Fallow doe froze mid flight and stared back. I happened to notice that she was a little cautious about carrying weight on one of her hind legs during her brief burst. She stood still and eyed me as I stayed still as possible (the tea was hot and the cup was thin!), when she noticed I was not in full camo and there was no quality optics on my toast he rightly assumed I was no threat and put her head down had a few munches then laid down in the bramble encrusted undergrowth that lies to one side of my garden and there she still is.


My house is in the Forest of Dean and backs onto a large expanse of mixed woodland that is not overly managed but is walked frequently by all the local dog owners. Boar have been present for years behind me on and off but recently I bumped into a group with about 8 piglets. I got to within 30 yards when I thought best to retreat as I had my Jack Russell with me and he seems to think anything under the size of a white rhino is worth having a pop at!


So Back to my question, does anyone have experience of interaction between Boar (With young) and Fallow? Could the deer have been wounded? And as I am a complete novice could someone say if it is normal for a fallow doe to be on its own and so close to humans without fleeing far and then taking to rest? I though them more a social deer than solitary?
 
Last edited:
Coincidence who knows?


I had just finished writing to my local forestry commission office (Forest of Dean) asking to be put on a list for stalking (Some hope I know), picked up a book on stalking an retired to my garden with a cup of tea and some jam on toast when upon entering the garden there was a disturbance in the undergrowth behind my bamboo. As I peered over the fence a Fallow doe froze mid flight and stared back. I happened to notice that she was a little cautious about carrying weight on one of her hind legs during her brief burst. She stood still and eyed me as I stayed still as possible (the tea was hot and the cup was thin!), when she noticed I was not in full camo and there was no quality optics on my toast he rightly assumed I was no threat and put her head down had a few munches then laid down in the bramble encrusted undergrowth that lies to one side of my garden and there she still is.


My house is in the Forest of Dean and backs onto a large expanse of mixed woodland that is not overly managed but is walked frequently by all the local dog owners. Boar have been present for years behind me on and off but recently I bumped into a group with about 8 piglets. I got to within 30 yards when I thought best to retreat as I had my Jack Russell with me and he seems to think anything under the size of a white rhino is worth having a pop at!


So Back to my question, does anyone have experience of interaction between Boar (With young) and Fallow? Could the deer have been wounded? And as I am a complete novice could someone say if it is normal for a fallow doe to be on its own and so close to humans without fleeing far and then taking to rest? I though them more a social deer than solitary?

Good luck with getting stalking. I lived in Monmouth for 30 years and the closest I got to FC stalking in the forest was going out with Edgar Gwilliam the ranger to help now and again but he retired and that was the end of that.

I can't comment on the interaction between fallow and boar but it would be unusual for a doe to be alone other than immediately before she dropped a fawn but we are a few weeks off that yet. I suspect that might not have been well with her but whether it was a result of an encounter with boar it's difficult to say.
 
Welsh guy,
i also live in the forest of dean
and yes i have seen interaction between boar and fallow
although not in real life, just two weeks back in the forrester paper i dont know if you get it
but there was a picture a reader sent it of a fallow buck and pricket with a group of boar
i will try and hunt it out for you if you like.

you mention that your house backs onto a "large expanse of mixed woodland"
would it not be more fitting to think that one of the many dogs/dog walkers going through this expanse the deer was chased by the dog
and in a bid to get away jumped a fence, log, tree stump etc and caught her leg.
although of course it could have been a sow protecting her piglets and the doe got to close. who knows. . .

anyways good luck with the stalking
Atb
Steve
 
Back
Top