There is a moment at the end of summer when the countryside around Dévillac changes its voice. The evenings stretch the shadows out, the air turns sharp the minute the sun goes down, and from deep in the woods comes a low, hoarse, almost unreal sound.
Guests who hear it for the first time from the terrace always ask us the same thing: is that an animal?
It is a red deer. And it is, to our mind, one of the best reasons to come here in September rather than August.
The rut, in two minutes
Every autumn, red deer enter their breeding season. The stags all but stop feeding, mark out their territory and begin to bellow — roaring to challenge rivals and gather the hinds. The sound carries for miles.
The season runs roughly from mid-September to mid-October, peaking in the last week of September. It starts at dusk, builds through nightfall, and picks up again before dawn.
Patience is required: some evenings the forest stays silent for an hour, then everything erupts at once. So is silence — yours.
The guided walk on 26 September, Vergt-de-Biron
Every year the village committee at Vergt-de-Biron runs a night walk through the local woods, led by its volunteers. Four to five kilometres on foot, in the dark, with people who know the woodland edges and where to stand and wait. Meeting point: outside the salle des fêtes.
And because this is the Périgord, the walk ends around a bowl of tourin, the garlic and onion broth served piping hot — followed, for the willing, by chabrol: a splash of red wine poured into the near-empty bowl and drunk straight from the rim. After ninety minutes in the cold night air, it is exactly what you want.
Vergt-de-Biron is a few minutes’ drive from the house, just the other side of the Château de Biron. It is probably the most transporting outing you can have here without leaving the immediate neighbourhood.
Going on your own
If the date falls outside your stay, the rut is still yours to hear — provided you go about it properly. Our advice: set out around 7.30pm, park at the edge of a track near a wood, cut the engine and wait without moving. The best listening post is often the car itself, window down.
Three rules we repeat every time: never walk into the undergrowth after dark, never shine a torch at the animals, and never approach. A stag in rut is a powerful animal in no mood to negotiate. You listen; you do not disturb.
That is what makes the experience so particular: you stop being a spectator of the landscape and become something the landscape tolerates. We will happily point you to the two or three lanes that work best around Dévillac — there is one less than ten minutes’ walk from the gate that has rarely let us down.
Good to know
- Guided walk to hear the rut — Vergt-de-Biron, Saturday 26 September 2026.
- Night walk of 4 to 5 km, led by volunteers from the village committee.
- Meeting point outside the salle des fêtes; tourin and chabrol served on return.
- Closed shoes and warm layers are essential: it gets colder than you expect.
- Price and start time to be confirmed with the village committee.
- Rutting season: mid-September to mid-October, peaking in late September.
Our tip: bring a head torch with a red light for the walk back, and leave the phones in your pockets. The silence is part of the show.
September here means the pool still warm, the bastides without the crowds, the first turning colours — and that low roar in the woods once evening falls.