- Title: May the best stag-caller win, it's all in at German hunter's contest
- Date: 29th January 2023
- Summary: DORTMUND, GERMANY (RECENT - January 27, 2023) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF STAG CALLING CONTEST PARTICIPANTS IMITATING RED DEER CALLS AUDIENCE MEMBERS DRINKING BEER VARIOUS OF AUDIENCE MEMBERS SIGN WITH PARTICIPANT NUMBER BEING LIFTED UP PARTICIPANT IMITATING DEER CALL ON STAGE FABIAN MENZEL, GERMAN STAG CALLING CHAMPION, STANDING UP AND RECEIVING HIS PRIZE FROM PRESENTER AUDIENCE STAG CALLING CONTEST PARTICIPANTS ON STAGE (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN STAG CALLING CHAMPION, FABIAN MENZEL, SAYING: "Well, you just call during the rut, around mid-September sometime, and then the stag calling actually stays quiet most of the time. And a week before the fair, you practice whether you can still do it. And there are certain melodies, I'll say it, that you have to learn and then you just do it, but indeed not too often." AUDIENCE MEMBERS TAKING PICTURES WITH PHONES (SOUNDBITE) (German) HILDEGARD ZERVOS (WON THE 5TH PLACE) SAYING "When they are in the rut. Well, I have to drive to the Eifel and call them. So far I've also called in a zoo once. And the stag answers. And when you hear deer answering from right and left in the woods, that makes your heart beat faster. I find that quite fascinating." STAG CALLING CONTEST PARTICIPANT ON STAGE AUDIENCE (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN STAG CALLING CHAMPION, FABIAN MENZEL, SAYING: "Practically two stags have fought, and the winner then drives the loser away. And that's with a rather aggressive cry to finish it off.", MENZEL IMITATING DESCRIBED CRY
- Embargoed: 12th February 2023 13:03
- Keywords: Deer stag stag calling
- Location: DORTMUND, GERMANY
- City: DORTMUND, GERMANY
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment,Europe
- Reuters ID: LVA001594229012023RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Red deer have a very particular rutting sound, one that the country’s hunters have been trying for centuries to imitate as a means of luring the animals out into the open.
In Dortmund in January though, the aim is not to land a stag but the coveted title of ‘stag calling champion.’
This year there are eight competitors – the Bavarians were missing as they have to feed their roaming cattle at this time of year – competing in three disciplines.
The hunters call, trumpet and tut, using horns, shells, glass and diverse sound amplifiers and are judged on the most realistic sounds of the deer ranging from fawns’ noises to those of the rutting calls of adult stags.
A centuries-old tradition, stag or deer-calling may look comical but for the hunters and jury it is taken very seriously and is specific to the red deer’s sounds.
In hunting, animal calls are imitated to better locate the target, success in luring out a return call from the animal is however also, for some, a magical moment:
“And when you hear deer answering from right and left in the woods, that makes your heart beat faster. I find that quite fascinating," said competitor Hildegard Zervos.
In Dortmund, Fabian Menzel, a 43 year-old from Lower Franconia was victorious, next stop for the new German champion will be the European Championships.
(Production: Erol Dogrudogan, Petra Wischgoll, Tanya Wood, Daria Shamonova) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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