Exmoor stag weekend showcases deer rutting

VISITORS to Exmoor can experience the primeval roar and clashing antlers of Exmoor’s iconic stags meeting in ferocious combat during the annual red deer rut in October.
A special safari weekend has been organised with guides who will help visitors to see the stunning hills, secret valleys, and wild moorland of Exmoor and to witness the stags’ raw combat at close quarters.
The huge, powerful beasts charge each other, locking antlers, and battle rages until the strongest wins.
Charles Harding, a deer stalker and warden for The National Trust, said: “It is an awesome but exhilarating natural phenomenon, and an experience that people never forget.
“Red deer are Britain’s largest land mammal and when the stags are driven to rut, the hills and moors resonate with their primeval bellows.
“These beautiful and majestic creatures’ ancient instincts drive them into fierce, and sometimes even fatal, combat to win female companions.
“We have experienced guides to lead people on organised safaris because stags are wild animals that can be dangerous and unpredictable during the rut.
“The guides know the terrain and understand the behaviour of stags during the rutting season, and will ensure that people can watch this amazing event in safety, and without disturbing the animals.”
Porlock Visitor Centre manager Denise Sage, who has organised the safari weekend, said: “We have a variety of delightful bed and breakfast options available in the vale of Porlock.
“However, places on the weekend are limited to 36, so we are advising people to book early.
“Visitors are welcomed on Friday and fantastic locally-produced food is served for an excellent Exmoor supper and jazz evening.
“On Saturday, after a wildlife safari in the morning, there is a red deer safari at dusk followed by dinner and an illustrated talk.
“There is an early trip to a different area on Sunday, after which guests will be served a hearty Exmoor breakfast.”
The weekend visit runs from October 10 to 12, and costs £195 per person.
The price includes two nights’ bed and breakfast, a wildlife safari, two red deer walking safaris led by Exmoor National Park Ranger Richard Eales and National Trust Countryside Manager Nigel Hester, a jazz supper, talks, and Saturday night dinner.
Guests need to be able to walk a minimum of three miles.
Bookings can be made through Porlock Visitor Centre on 01643 863150 or by email to PorlockCI@somerset.gov.uk.

• Our photograph shows a stag belling. Photo submitted.

Hundreds of red deer to be shot as part of Quantock Hills management plans

PLANS to shoot hundreds of red deer on the Quantock Hills have caused upset among animal welfare groups.
They have condemned the cull event as ‘unnecessary and barbaric’.
But the Quantock Deer Management and Conservation Group said it would be necessary to reduce numbers of deer to levels which were ‘manageable’.
The group is asking landowners on the hills to help with the shooting, which will take place during Friday, November 30.
The current deer herd on Quantocks is estimated to have grown since hunting was banned three years ago to be close to the higher end of its annually fluctuating size of 700 to 900 animals.
Around 850 deer are thought to inhabit the hills, which are a designated area of outstanding natural beauty, of which about 700 are hinds and 150 stags.
The deer spill out onto surrounding farmland and cause damage as they feed on crops, resulting in friction between the farming and landowning community with animal rights groups.
The management group believes the herd needs to be reduced to about 500 in order for it to be properly managed.
It organises an annual cull of the red deer and said this year it wanted to have proper co-ordination of Quantock landowners.
The group’s secretary, Dr Jochen Langbein said farmers and landowners became concerned when they often experienced 50 or more deer on their property at the same time.
Dr Langbein said: "We aim to get deer back to levels people are happier with."
However, South West Deer Protection Group chairman and anti-hunt campaigner Kevin Hill said the cull would ‘end up a bloodbath’.
Mr Hill said: “I am concerned that we will have guns positioned on every farm.”
The deer management group was formed in 1991 to promote greater liaison between landholders, environmental organisations, huntsmen, stalkers, and other parties.
It is committed to ensuring the long-term survival of a healthy and well-distributed population of red deer in and around the Quantock Hills in balance with its environment and other land uses.