Muntjac management with Roy Lupton
25 February 2026
Roy Lupton and cameraman David are limping along trying to reduce muntjac numbers to protect habitat and wildlife. Roy needs all his calling and tracking
What does a roebuck reaction to the call look like from the sky? Incredibly, we filmed one of four bucks we shoot on this trip to Scotland from above, plus we position the drone behind the deer when Paul takes the shot.
It’s all part of a roe stalking trip to Aberdeenshire, famous for its roebucks. Our friend Sergio Couto manages them across all types of farmland and terrain and he’s invited us for what we hope is the start of the roebuck rut 2023.
Sergio and Paul are tooled up with lots of different calls to try and entice the bucks to come to us, and we discover that every call is different. There’s even variation between the same models.
We also look at different styles of extraction from including the ‘roebuck backpack’ made by tucking the animal’s legs into each other and something that’s a bit more make-shift when faced with a steep climb.
Every shooting scenario is different and every roebuck has a story to tell, including the old boy ‘murder buck’ which is an excellent animal to take out before its single antler injures or kills other bucks it fights with for the attention of the does.
Roy Lupton and cameraman David are limping along trying to reduce muntjac numbers to protect habitat and wildlife. Roy needs all his calling and tracking
Deer manager Paul Symons gets an unusual request: there’s a deer in distress at a Plymouth police station, and please can he come and deal
Professional deer manager Niall Rowantree has shot more deer than most people have had hot dinners – In this interview during the red hind cull
Helen Tinner is cooking dinner, and she needs a deer for her freezer. She is out near Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, with stalking guide
John Myhill has a dream – a dream to go deerstalking with a stylish ‘kipplauf’ rifle. Here’s how he bought one, prepared it and took
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Njdzvn6ZsJc Why do people hunt trophy stags in Scotland? Professional deer manager Niall Rowantree explains that it’s not about ego — it’s about ecology. Hunters