Red deer are a distinctive rusty red colour in summer turning to a brown winter coat. Adults are not spotted.

Stel je voor: je leeft 7 jaar in een vochtig bos. Dag en nacht. Nu gaan wij ook kamperen in de winter, maar dan is het aan de kachel in de tent warmer dan nu binnenshuis en overal een warm schapenvel om op te gaan zitten. De Hertenman had geen tent of slaapzak, zelfs geen dekentjes, ik vermoed ook vaak geen droge schoenen. Af en toe liet hij slechts twee twijgjes branden om af en toe zijn handen te warmen. In 2004, Mike was working for what was then called the Deer Commission when he and his colleagues were called in to conduct an emergency cull at Glenfeshie, an estate owned by a Danish billionaire in the Cairngorms National Park, where deer numbers had been allowed to grow to remarkable levels: an estimated 95 per sq km. Sharpshooters were flown in by helicopter to the estate’s remotest corners, and dozens of contract stalkers were bussed in for an intensive effort. Mike was in the larder, processing the bodies. It has been raining constantly for several days. We move into the pine forest where it is less damp. Star eats some chanterelles, and I put the rest in my billycan. My plan is to cook them over a wood fire this evening. I’m soaked, I’m cold, and a good hot soup made from old nettles and bramble leaves with mushrooms will do me the world of good.Geoffroy Delorme är bara nitton år när han söker sig till bort från sin franska by. I Normandies skogar kommer lugnet och harmonin. Allt det som han inte känner i den vanliga världen, varken med vänner eller familj, får han i skogens stillhet. Till en början tillbringar han några timmar per dag med de fascinerande rådjuren. Registrerar deras beteende och fotar dem. Despite being sexually mature before their second birthday in productive woodland populations, only stags over five years old tend to mate. In woodland populations, hinds over one year old give birth to a single calf after an eight-month gestation, between mid-May to mid-July. Puberty may be delayed until three years old in hill hinds, which may give birth only once every two or three years. The conservation lobby are the most vociferous proponents of the culls. Those concerned with woodland and wild flowers argue for an all-out war, pointing to research from the University of East Anglia that mooted a mass cull of 50–60% of all deer in the UK. Wildlife foundations find themselves calling for the deaths of tens of thousands of wild animals.

Yesterday I sat down and decided to start reading it, and get a few chapters in…and ended up reading the whole thing in one sitting! Burrunjor · Elephantman · Hairy Lizard · Hook Island Sea Monster · Kabagon · Landsborough Gangle · Moha Moha · Pukehina Predator · Queensland Tiger · Tusked Yowie But the controversy speaks of a deep unease about mass killing among many of those who earn their living on the hill. The gamekeepers protesting at Glenfeshie were not parading their “respect” for their quarry for effect. A specialised strand of folk ethics has grown up among stalkers: the rules are based on perceived sportsmanship, on fairness, on tradition. To them, flying in by helicopter simply feels wrong, like cheating. So does leaving carcasses to rot. So does taking too many in one go.

The Gaelic for red deer is fiadh ruadh. In the Highlands people once called them ‘fairy cattle’ and people believed fairies milked them on mountain tops. If any of this resonates with you then the DEARMAN, a 7 step conversational technique, will change your world. The language employed by protesters in these cases is emotive: those who conduct the cull are accused of “senseless slaughter”, of creating a “bloodbath”, or a “massacre”. To Mike, these slurs are hurtful and hypocritical: the numbers shot by the John Muir Trust are a fraction of the total culled each year across the country. And many of those levelling the charges are shooting deer themselves. Finalement, on comprend aisément pourquoi les chasseurs ne veulent pas croire l’histoire que Delorme a vécue. Ils devraient se regarder dans le miroir et se poser la question : maintenant que je sais tout cela, est-ce que je veux être cette personne qui occasionne toute cette tristesse, et complètement inutilement ? Est-ce que je suis ainsi ? Ou est-ce que je pose mon fusil ? The Native Americans used to say that when hunting roe deer you shouldn’t think about them too much, in case they sense your thoughts and make their escape. That seems entirely reasonable to me. Thoughts become moods and moods become scents. So I force myself to have positive thoughts, in the hope of making my silent dialogue with Daguet last as long as possible.

At what point does a cull turn into a massacre? Big questions, these, to ponder as you stare down the barrel of a rifle.

C urrently we are Scotland’s only guide and outfitting company marketing sport hunting opportunities directly to the world market and providing wildlife management services to clients on a contract basis in the following structure. What was animal is now object. I observe my reactions as if from above, lifting and weighing each thought as it comes to me, alert for squeamishness. There is some. But not as much, perhaps, as I expected. If you love nature writing, and unusual and fascinating stories, you will enjoy Deer Man. Thank you to Greystone Books for the advanced copy.