Do male roe deer clump together in the rut?

Movements and habitat use of 7 male and 7 female roe deer Capreolus capreolus (Linnaeus, 1758) were studied by radiotelemetry from March 1999 to February 2001. Annual and bimonthly home ranges of males were small (ca 10 ha, 95% kernel), with large overlap among individuals throughout the year. Exclusive core areas (ca 0.4 ha, 25% kernel) were concentrated in the forest, a limited and sought-after resource in the study area. The difference in overlap between male exclusive core areas and female home ranges in the pre-rut and rut periods suggested that females made excursions to search for territorial males during the rut. Our results support the mating strategy hypothesis of territorial behaviour. Different space use patterns occurred between the sexes, with females apparently playing an active role in mate choice by visiting males at clumps of core areas in the forest.