I may have a chance to stalk reds in North Cornwall (edge of Bodmin) this Autumn.

I gather the peak of the rut is mid to end October? At this time I need to be on my own land culling fallow prickets.

Is there much movement in early October? This area has not had many reds but they have recently started appearing and causing damage. I'll have a week and want to pick as good a time as possible.

1894, I can't tell you anything about the specific area you are looking into - i.e. are there circumstances that would cause you to see less animals at a certain time??

In general about reds, hunting just prior to the rut is not a bad time at all. In fact, if you come 1-2 weeks prior to the "official" begin of the rut, you are very likely to have a bunch of stags all geared up to look for the girls. It is quite common to have the stags roar even prior to the main rut, as the stags want to establish their positions in the pecking order. They will also be checking out the girls (because they start smelling so invitingly ), so you will definitely get more activity pre-rut, than what you had in August, say.

Essentially, with reds, the girls decide where the rut takes place. Even if a stag has a harem, and runs around to keep the girls together, the overall decision of where to go lies with mama. The stag sort of tags along, thinking he's running the show.

Early in the rut, most stags will be part of the fun and games, after all it was a whole year since they ... last. Sadly, for the stags,
the state of Nirvana attained by having your own harem does not last that long. While at it, the stags don't really have time to eat, and they must constantly be aware that no lesser stag gets a chance while you are looking the other way. So it a pretty stressful life in a red harem. Consequently, towards the end of the rut, you won't see many of the more dominant stags, they are simply out for the count, leaving the stage to their lesser cousins. So early in the rut is better if you are looking for a dominant stag.

If you are looking for hinds or younger animals, the roar is really only an advantage in terms of perhaps being able to locate some of the reds via the vocalizations of the stags. On the other hand, every man and his dog probably also wants to hunt the roar... Forget meat from a stag in rut, it is vile!

- mike

I would choose mid September as best chance of shooting sw stags. Thats when the boys will be moving out of summer groups looking for hinds.On my ground they are only in the wood from April to early/mid-sept then you won't see them, they're back up on the moor only summer in the wood.
Really depends how much ground you have , when they move they often cross parishes overnight.
If you got hinds they'll come to you, but if you only have stags they'll disappear overnight in early/mid sept.

quote:

Originally posted by mho:
While at it, the stags don't really have time to eat, and they must constantly be aware that no lesser stag gets a chance while you are looking the other way. So it a pretty stressful life in a red harem. Consequently, towards the end of the rut, you won't see many of the more dominant stags, they are simply out for the count, leaving the stage to their lesser cousins. So early in the rut is better if you are looking for a dominant stag.

Another good time is actually straight after the rut when a lot of stags need to eat a lot or die. From not having eaten much during the rut, they may be out in the fields feeding to put on condition again quickly.