When black is the new red

It is a case of second time lucky as Thomas Nissen travels to Germany in pursuit of the newly recognised species of black roebuck

It’s been a quiet start to our expedition. We are in north-west Germany on the trail of black roebuck, a newly recognised species that lives alongside its red brethren in this part of the world. It’s a small party for this stalk — our guide Kim Jensen and his young guest, Mark Longhi Andreasen. As usual, I’m tagging along to chronicle events, but just as excited as the others.

We have been up since dawn, hunkered down opposite a field of corn where our quarry has been active in recent days, but so far no opportunities have arisen in the open marshland. The drainage ditches and rectangular parcels of grass and corn have been empty of black bucks. In fact, I’m beginning to wonder if the lone black doe we glimpsed through the early morning mist is the only one of her kind we will see that day.

Just then, vibrations from Kim’s mobile phone make a faint humming in the warm summer morning. It’s the landowner Robert calling. He has seen two black roebucks on the meadow near the marsh. It’s the news we have been waiting in vain for all morning. The two stalkers quickly pack up the shooting sticks and hunting bags, and head to Robert’s location. I follow with my camera.

It’s the rutting season for roe deer, so we know that every time we catch sight of a female — red or black — that a male could be close at hand. But while we see both does and bucks near the marsh once we catch up with the

landowner, the black animals have gone, and we only see reds for the rest of the morning.

The German site where we are located is a few hours’ drive from the Danish border and runs to 2,000 hectares. We are not in the country’s central area for black roe; the best locations are at Haste and Lüchow. According to Kim, 20% to 30% of the roe deer population in those areas consists of black animals. By contrast, the terrain where we are contains around 7% to 10% of black roe; the rest are red. Three black roebucks have been identified in our current hunting ground: two are six-pointers, while the third has four tines.

Busy roaring

In the end, the action doesn’t start until the evening. As the sun begins to dip, Mark and I creep out to take up position behind a large round bale of hay in the middle of a meadow. We are a few hundred metres from the edge of the marsh. As we sneak forwards, we see more red deer. They are busy roaring this evening. Kim is a couple of hundred metres behind us in a high seat, where he can get a better view of the terrain.

A few hours before sunset, Kim climbs down from the high seat. Covering the ground with great stealth, he moves up behind Mark and whispers the news that a black buck has emerged from the marsh. It is behind a line of bushes and trees to our left, just a few hundred metres away. Black roe deer generally grow thin, pearl-less antlers and Kim is struggling to assess his size. We have to stalk closer to see for sure.

We aren’t given a chance, however. Before we can move, the black buck comes thundering across the meadow, following a red roe.

It is a beautiful sight to see the two contrasting animals running at full speed so closely together. They pass within 115 metres of our position. Just before they disappear, the black buck stops to stare at a red male four-pointer to the right of us. For an instant, it is motionless and Mark has a chance to shoot, but the young stalker isn’t fast

The black buck is recovered from the marsh area and Mark finally catches up with the quarry that eluded him a few months earlier

Mark Longhi Andreasen only sees two black roebucks during his trip, including this four-pointer