StephenToast
Well-Known Member
It's more likely that the does hold their territory and the bucks wander.
Roe management - reading recommendations
- Thread starter J@son
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It's more likely that the does hold their territory and the bucks wander.
J@son
Well-Known Member
And am I right in thinking that does tolerate other does on the same ground - in a way that bucks obviously will not (during the rut).
baguio
Well-Known Member
That's what I think too. Unfortunately, some newcomers on here take what they read as fact when it's often nothing more than a personal opinion based on nothing factual. Some people type too much and stalk far too little IMO!
paulbshooting
Well-Known Member
Lots of good book suggestions there but really depends on your ground and especially your neighbours. Fortunate to stalk a variety of good roe ground in Hampshire and whilst I am selective there's always an influx from neighbouring ground. I leave prime mid aged bucks to hold the best territory and foxes on young cull bucks and the occasional old buck. On the does, just shoot what I can, always more in qty than the bucks
Depends on food availability, population density and disturbance. And that can vary even on the same ground through the year.
Also depends on what you mean by ‘tolerate’. What we might see as ‘tolerate on the same ground’ may actually just mean that they have very small core territories.
The general pattern with all the small non-herding ungulates is for females to defend tiny territories - just enough to provide enough food to keep them alive. Males then defend as many females as they can. So two does 40m apart may well be highly intolerant of each other, but we wouldn’t realise without watching very carefully indeed.
J@son
Well-Known Member
That makes sense. I understand that behaviour (especially in relation to staking out a claim to a patch of ground and defending it) will change over the course of the year and particularly as we approach August. At the moment, I've got two bucks (one older than the other but both in very good condition) that appear to be hefted, for want of a better word, to specific parts of the ground. The younger one in particular can be reliably found in a one area and appears, even now, to be very terratorial. He seems quite bold and assertive. The older one (impressive head) favours in a different area (not miles away but markedly different in terms of topography - so quite clearly defined). At the moment I am likely to find this older buck in the company of at least two mature does whereas the younger one is always alone. These accompanying does are fully grown and appear willing to rub alongside each other.
David Barker
Well-Known Member
My take on management has always been to take the pourer beasts and leave the quality deer. Roe does will show good quality and produce good twin or triplet offspring. Good bucks are clear to see because of the body size and sometimes this is shown in good antler growth. To shoot these animals will only remove them from the Gene pool. Breeding the best to the best has always been a good philosophy. That said you will need all the other ingredients to produce special animals. But even if your ground cannot produce top animals it is always nice to know that you are doing the best you can. Sadly in scotland not many hold enough ground to manage deer properly and with the mass culls going on at the moment there is little chance of managing for top quality. You need good mineral rich ground lots of cover little disturbance top quality Does and they will bring in your top quality Bucks.
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