A field study was carried out from April 1987 to May 1989 to investigate the ecology of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus L.) living in low-lying farmland in north-east Scotland. The study was conducted on unmarked and marked (mostly radio-collared) animals. The use of available habitats was investigated. The use of crop fields changes with seasons in the same year and in different years according to availability. Fields adjacent to woodlands were heavily used and preferred to fields farther from the woods. Most radio-collared deer used thicket woods during daytime and their use of other habitats varies according to availability in each home range. Aspects of movements and home range were studied. The daily home range size of each radio-collared deer varies from day to day. Seasonal and total home range sizes were generally larger than those found in other studies of roe deer in Britain. The largest seasonal range was observed in winter and the smallest in summer. Nine marked young deer dispersed from their established range from mid to the end of May. Group composition and group size changes seasonally. Members of adjacent groups associate and share common ground but members of distant groups do not. Twenty-nine of 37 woodlands surveyed in the extensive study area were occupied by roe deer. Analysis suggests that deer occupied large woodlands of mixed structural stages with clearings.