Damwild Morbihan

Fallow deer prefer open deciduous and mixed forests with interspersed meadows, glades, and clearings, as well as well-structured field copses, the Feldgehölze. The species is highly adaptable and uses woodland primarily as cover, while moving onto adjacent open ground to feed. Damwild is strongly gregarious and lives in herds throughout the year. Outside the rut the sexes separate: female groups of does, yearlings, and calves, known as Kahlwildrudel, form the core social unit, while younger stags band together in bachelor groups, and old Schaufler often range alone.

The rut takes place in autumn and is tied to traditional rutting grounds, the Brunftplätze, which are used over many years, sometimes across decades. The buck either holds a rutting territory with a Brunftkuhle, a wallow scraped and urinated into, or tries to keep a group of does together as a harem. During the rut he feeds very little and loses a substantial share of his body weight. In day-to-day hunting practice across German-speaking Europe, the high seat, the Ansitz, plays the leading role, particularly along game trails, on feeding meadows, and at the rutting grounds. In addition, fallow deer are a classic quarry of the autumn driven hunts, the Bewegungsjagden, including Drückjagd and Stöberjagd, in which the herd is gently moved and confirmed at fixed stands.

Game management, the Hege, focuses on a balanced age structure, a healthy sex ratio, and physically strong main carriers of the population. On the male side, harvest decisions follow the antler stages Spießer, Knieper, Löffler, and Schaufler, which calls for careful identification in the field. The shovel of a mature stag is a traditionally prized trophy and is preserved within ethical management, without trophy thinking being placed above the duty to keep numbers matched to the carrying capacity of the habitat.