Muntjac habits

[Simoman 110]

Folks, just wondered about your experience of the munty, the munties i have seen here in Linconshire have all been in woodland but i have heard and read about them venturing out into the open under the cover of darkness or dusk and dawn, do any particular counties/areas find the have different habits, does density make a difference?

[dymented 2,220]

only ever seen one out in the open all the rest have been on the edge off a wood

[watchman 256]

iv seen them plenty times while out lamping for rabbits,not very often see them right out in the open though your more likely to bump one walking around small pockets of thick cover bramble little copses hedgerows etc,little terrier bitch of mine pushed one out of a bramble patch on the local park only couple hundred meters from the main town center.

they seem to like the grey damp mornings where you can often see them feeding up on the motorway banks

Edited September 26, 2011 by watchman

[paulus 26]

strange creatures, you can push them out of small cover if you put them under enough pressure in the daytime, another habbit they have is they tend to pop out before a hedge meets another hedge as if they think theres something waiting for them in there. in dense cover like woodland they will give your dogs the run around for hours. ive seen most out in the open very early on summer mornings. seen a good few on the lamp but nearly always close to cover. how these people catch theses regular is beyond me.

[paulus 26]

strange creatures, you can push them out of small cover if you put them under enough pressure in the daytime, another habbit they have is they tend to pop out before a hedge meets another hedge as if they think theres something waiting for them in there. in dense cover like woodland they will give your dogs the run around for hours. ive seen most out in the open very early on summer mornings. seen a good few on the lamp but nearly always close to cover. how these people catch theses regular is beyond me. ive shot a fair few mind.

[watchman 256]

strange creatures, you can push them out of small cover if you put them under enough pressure in the daytime, another habbit they have is they tend to pop out before a hedge meets another hedge as if they think theres something waiting for them in there. in dense cover like woodland they will give your dogs the run around for hours. ive seen most out in the open very early on summer mornings. seen a good few on the lamp but nearly always close to cover. how these people catch theses regular is beyond me.

totaly agree like i say more likely of a chance meeting rather than actively seeking them out

Edited September 26, 2011 by watchman

[paulus 26]

back then if you new where to look it helped but as you say most encounters were just random

[J Darcy 5,871]

The problem is not where you lamp, but perhaps, at what time of year you lamp. If you want to observe them (lamping them's illegal).....

[Simoman 110]

The problem is not where you lamp, but perhaps, at what time of year you lamp. If you want to observe them (lamping them's illegal).....

 

 

Do they leave cover when the foilage dies back? Or is it linked to mating, although they breed all year round?? Obviously i'll only be observing them, i know lamping deer has always been illegal

[unlacedgecko 1,466]

I have shot 3. All of them have been on the golf course/woodland boundary. This was in Essex. They seem to prefer mature broad leaf woodland with thick under growth. They also seem to use the ditches near hedge rows as highways.

 

In Lincolnshire I believe that the FC do almost all of their muntjac control from high towers overlooking deer lawns and forestry rides.

 

Like most deer they are dinural, but hunting pressure can very quicly make them nocturnal. I have seen them on the lamp in larger fields, but I would say that in the main they do not like to stray too far from cover.

[artic 595]

There is an art in seeing these in an open space.

[martin 332]

I have seen a lot and shot a good amount too,but,they do like to stay near cover and prefer dapping from one bush to another,and here is a place that is crawling with them all year round,and at night they will give you a headache with all the barking......ask Foxdropper

 

 

Martin

[tommydeer 2]

Areas like the one Martin has posted tend to be favoured by muntjac, scrub land with blackthorn and thick hedges with good rough ground. We always found them to use the hedges as go betweens, we used to stalk one piece of ground and you would guarantee to see one up each hedgerow, and this was on headlands of large arable fields, some up to 100 acres in size.

 

Quite often see them in the middle of fields, but not huge fields, the biggest one being maybe 40 acres in size, just grass fields after being cut for hay/silage. Normally in these circumstances though the density of animals is quite high, could take you to a field now where there are 3 young bucks coming out each evening into the middle to feed.

[Squirrel_Basher 17,100]

I personally find them very intriguing .They are ,around us anyway the most vocal of deer barking for a mate ,barking at alarms and ive even heard squeaks between doe and fawn .I could never set out and think 'right, today im going munty stalking' as they are so elusive here but lots about if the barking is anything to go by . .Martin has the ideal ground from what ive seen but never a guarantee as in roe stalking .They even seem to browse on the move . If theres a doe in season about then the bucks can get caught right out in the open at any time of day in their quest for a bit of passion .Most regular munty stalkers would be sat in a high seat i would of thought .

[skycat 6,173]

They sit very tight in even a small bramble in a wood, waiting till the last moment to be flushed. If they think you haven't seen/smelled them then they sit still. I've had them jump up from a clump of nettles a yard from me: it was only when I stood still and focused on each clump of cover that it finally lost its nerve. Deadly to run them in woods with lurchers (if it was legal). Had a small and very good lurcher break her back chasing one through a wood. When it was legal, I only ever had one dog actually catch one in woodland, and that was because the munty took a flying leap into a water filled dyke. They can swim faster and better than any dog alive (probably something to do with the hollow hairs which make it very buoyant) Lost plenty when they swam rivers, lakes etc.