A total of 159 fallow deer leks were located within the 298.8 ha (738.3 acres) surveyed at Point Reyes National Seashore (table 2, appendix 1). In the Olema Valley, there were 116 lek sites compared with 43 leks in the Estero trailhead area. The mean dimensions of a lek site were 13 × 7 m with an area of 115 m² (SD = 132). The total area of the leks in the Olema Valley was 16,188 m², while the area at the Estero trailhead was 2,136 m² for a combined total of 18,324 m² (4.5 acres). This was 0.6 percent of the 298.8 ha surveyed. There was a notably higher proportion of the Olema Valley study site that was part of a lek, 1.1 percent compared to 0.1 percent at Estero trailhead. In the Olema Valley, there were 0.8 leks per ha, while the Estero trailhead area had 0.3 leks per ha (table 2).

A total of 705 rutting pits were found in the two study areas, with an average size of 1 × 2 m, and an area of 2.6 m (SD = 3.0) for each pit. The mean number of pits per lek was 5.1 in the Olema Valley and 2.5 for Estero trailhead. The total combined area of excavated ground in rutting pits was 1,821 m², or 0.6 percent of the total area surveyed. Eighty-five percent (598) of pits were found in the Olema Valley study area. Though fewer in number, the pits at the Estero trailhead study area were larger (3.3 m²) than the pits in Olema Valley (2.4 m²).

There was vegetation damage at 110 (69.2 percent) of the lek sites (appendix 2). Damaged foliage was present at 102 (64 percent) of the lek sites. During initial surveys for leks, sites were often located by broken live oak or California bay branches that were visible from considerable distances. Low branches and bark adjacent to rutting pits were often heavily damaged. On several occasions, bucks were observed thrashing vegetation with their antlers, digging in the rutting pits, and displaying at their lek. Bark damage was recorded at 72 (45 percent) of the leks. Exposed roots were documented for 30 (19 percent) of the lek sites. In addition to having nearly three times as many leks, the Olema Valley study area had a higher percentage of sites with damaged foliage and a higher percentage of sites with damaged bark, but the result was not statistically significant when using an α = 0.05 for evaluating level of significance (X² = 3.16, df = 2, p = 0.206).

Vegetation damage was greater in riparian areas (compared with non-riparian) for both the damaged foliage and damaged bark categories (table 3). In riparian areas, willows and alders were the trees most often observed with damage. Several alders were completely girdled. Less commonly, there were exposed roots, especially in the Estero trailhead area (table 3). Overall, there was more damage in riparian areas, but the result was not statistically significant (X² = 5.74, df = 2, p = 0.057). A larger sample size would quite likely result in a statistically significant difference.

In our quantitative evaluation of the vegetation and soil at 22 random sites, surface disturbance ranged from 0 (no disturbance) to 4 (ground surface highly disturbed with extensive areas of bare ground) with a mean score of 1.6 and a median of 2 (table 4). The mean score corresponds to a damage level between "Little disturbance to ground cover" and "Noticeable disturbance to litter or vegetation." Both vegetation cover and live tree damage had a mean and median score of 1 (50–100 percent cover, and a few small broken branches). There were no roots exposed in the sample plots.

Typically, leks were found at the edge of a woodland or at the edge of the low-hanging part of the canopy of isolated trees. Figure 4 shows a large area of bare ground at the edge of a coast live oak. Some rutting pits were more than 50 cm deep (fig. 5), often surrounded by an even larger area cleared of all vegetation. Other leks had only a modest depression and were identified by the lack of vegetation along with associated fecal material, hoof prints, and damage to woody vegetation (fig. 6). Rutting pits in close association with bushes and trees were often associated with significant damage to the woody vegetation, including broken branches, stripped bark, and sometimes, girdled trees (fig. 7). Fallow deer were observed using their antlers to clear vegetation, rub the trunk of trees, break limbs, and dig pits. Vegetation was sometimes caught in their antlers (fig. 8).