Deer vs Sheep

Never say never, but Roe in particular dislike sheep, and will avoid sheep or the ground they have been on even after the sheep have been moved, there again density plays a part not so bad on moorland or scrub land where sheep have a big area and the ground is less soiled, bad where its fields.
 
It is unusual but this is one that thought it was a sheep lived with them for a fair while

 
Can't speak for roe but I've culled woodland reds sharing the same pastures as sheep all within approx 1 acre.
Might sound xxxx but I find from my experience that deer tend to look towards sheep observations from any on coming stalkers as they will tend to be the closest to us when out stalking. Again I witnessed that on the hill on woodland by taking into account sheep and there movement.
 
Seen 12 fallow in a field with sheep a few weeks ago. I think, as already stated, roe don't like mixing with them too much but am sure there will always be an exception to the rule!
 
True Reds are not bothered by sheep in the same way Roe are, certainly if you move sheep when stalking on the hill deer will move also as they know the sheep are moving for a reason the same if sheep suddenly spot you they will give a cough and stamp their feet alerting all the deer in the area.
 
I took a nice roe a few months ago ............there were 3 Roe that came into the field which had around 50 sheep in it and it didn't seem to bother them
 
I took a nice roe a few months ago ............there were 3 Roe that came into the field which had around 50 sheep in it and it didn't seem to bother them

They would'nt worry about sheep if they were tryng to commit suicide though:D:rofl:
 
I think we need to avoid absolute statments about deer behavour because as soon as we declare a situation as definitive invariably it's proved wrong, but in my experiance roe generally do seem to dislike grazing where sheep are whether this is because they both are trying to eat the same bite of grass or that they dont like to graze over ground sheep **** on i dont know.
Also the old OP sheep dip could initially clear reds of ground too when the sheep were turned out but once the sunny scottish summer had given them a good rinse the deer drifted back in again. Fallow seem to be more comfortable grazing around sheep and try to raid the feed troughs when they can.
 
Agree roe don't like sheep, but this year i had a group of red hinds that had settled into an area, but the neighbours sheep broke through and the reds vacated the area for several weeks.
Cheers
Richard
 
on some grounds i have at certain time of year it is almost surrounded by sheep, after lambing
and i now dont bother to stalk it at that time of year, as after 4 years the roe and almost all the muntjac disappear
​at that time of year on that ground i lamp for foxes instead
 
Reds will certainly mix with sheep, I have even seen them eating out of the feed ring at the same time. As for roe I have seen them feeding quite happily in adjacent fields to the sheep and also grazing fields where sheep have been moved from no more than a few hours before. As already said everywhere is different and quality of pasture / feed will have a lot to do with it.
 
Hi plenty of sika mixing with sheep over here in wicklow some of my best stalking ground has plenty of sheep and the will graze beside each other
 
The main area I shoot on has had sheep on the farm for generations, and the farmer approached us about a roe which was being regularly seen in the same field as the sheep. The farmer had observed the roe was behaving strangely, and thought it very odd the roe would be in such proximity to his sheep. As such, he said the roe must be "nae right".
 
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I know that some species of deer, especially Pere Davids, are susceptible to Malignant Catarrhal Fever (MCF), a disease that is mostly sub-clinical in sheep, but can be passed onto deer that often develop clinical symptoms of the disease.

We once lost 5 Pere Davids deer in 5 days, all developed MCF contracted from sheep in the next field.

Regards,

Mike

Mike Allison
​(Managing Director - Jelen Deer Services)
 
I to have found that deer reds sika and fallow in my case,can and will tolerate sheep to an extent unless there is just to many and the ground is fouled to much, in fact they act as great sentries for the deer just try and walk through a field of them without being noticed or seen nows there one for you to practice on ......:D
 
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