Red Deer​ Rutting in Scotland 2025

As the summer days are nearly over, the temperatures cool off and the leaves become yellow and red, here's when the autumn arrives. Scotland boasts four different deer species: red deer, fallow deer, roe deer, and sika deer.

Red Deer is one of the highlights of the Scottish wildlife, particularly during the exciting rutting season when stags fight with each other to win as many females for mating as possible. During the battle, the deers use their antlers and body weight. It is a pretty exhausting fight with stags often using 20 percent of their body weightwa during the skirmish. The clamor of deer rutting heard here and there across the Highlands evokes true excitement and intrigue.

For those hoping to get a closer look, Red Deer safaris allow you to witness the rutting rituals from a safe distance. The best places to observe rutting activity are the Isle of Arran in Ayrshire county, the isles of Jura and Rum in the Inner Hebrides​, the area around Torridon hills, and Lochaber, and also the Knoydart peninsula. Red deer rutting season runs between September and October.​ Though some deer activity occurs throughout the day, it is at its highest intensity after dawn's early light.