Stags ‘sometimes end up dying’ in the rut season as they compete for mates. 

As the autumn mist descends across the forests and glens of the Irish countryside, the thoughts of the deer population turn towards the important task of finding themselves a mate. 

For deer, who to mate with is not a question of physical proximity or looks but a matter of strength. 

The result is a “quite spectacular” rut in which the stags battle one another until the weaker one gives way. 

“They start by calling,” Wicklow Mountains National Park guide Gillian Stewart told Moncrieff.  

“You’ve probably heard red deer roaring in various videos on TV and stuff; well, in Wicklow, we tend to have Sika deer - which are slightly smaller - and they actually whistle. 

“You’ll hear that echoing all around the hills; so, it starts with whistling and as the rut progresses, the males start to show off to one another and possibly even fight with each other.” 

A Red Deer at Killarney National Park in County Kerry. Image: Robertharding / Alamy

Ms Stewart said the stags usually “start small” and begin by careful appraising each other. 

“They start with a thing which is called parallel walking, so the two stags will walk beside one another eyeing each other up seeing who's the biggest,” she said. 

“Sometimes it will stop at that point; sometimes they’ll decide I’m going to take this guy on and they do the classic clashing of antlers.” 

Once a proper fight begins, it is anyone’s guess as to how long it will last. 

Sometimes, it can be all over in a matter of seconds, occasionally it can end up with both stags dying. 

“Usually, it’s quite quick, usually one will get the measure of the other and the lesser deer will gallop off over the hill being chased by the victor,” Ms Stewart said. 

“Sometimes it can go on for much longer and there have been cases in the past, not often, where their antlers got knotted together and they ended up dying if nothing was done to intervene.

“That doesn’t happen very often; I’ve only ever seen it on social media and TV.” 

A Fallow Deer stag makes his intentions known to a herd in the Phoenix Park, Dublin in October 2022. Picture by: Eamonn Farrell/Rollingnews.ie

Every year, Wicklow Mountains National Park hosts a rut watch, allowing visitors the chance to watch stags battle it out for dating supremacy. 

“Anyone who is familiar with the walking trails of Glendalough… it’s a 90 minute trek in from the Upper Lake car park,” Ms Stewart said. 

“So, you need to be prepared for it and at that footprint we will have national park guides with telescopes trained on the deer all around.” 

The next rut watch will take place on Sunday October 13th.

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Main image: Staggs rutting. Picture by: Alamy.com