With Christmas here and everybody on holiday, a lot of hunters will be out and about collecting venison for the freezer. 

The days are long and the nights short and it can be very hot in the mountains, especially up high with no shade.  lunchtime siestas are an important component of getting enough sleep to hunt hard at the productive times of the day during summer.  Don't kill yourself in the heat and then be half apple when the animals do begin to move. This is prime time to harvest some fat animals, especially if  you are wanting to get sausages made.  Fat venison means you won't have to add other animal fat, which can overpower the venison flavour.

Red Deer everywhere

Most hinds will have calved by now, but you won't necessarily see them.  They plant their young while they feed for the first month of their life, and won't be needing the best of feed to produce milk so you'll see them in all the easier prime spots, especially if grass is available.

The yearlings are well into their antler....  >> Download the full article to read more (pdf 6.5Mb)