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In polygynous mammals, signalling may play a decisive role in mating behaviour, mediating the intensity of male fights and female mate choice. During the rutting season, red deer males may show a visible dark patch in their ventral fur. Recently, this patch has been suggested to act as a flexible sexual signal, due to its relationships with other variables such as age, body size, antler development, volatile compounds or the competitive environment. However, there are not evidences of how this dark ventral patch may be related to male mating behaviour. In this study, we aimed to fill this gap and examine the potential differences in mating behaviour among sexually mature males with different degree of dark ventral patch trait expression. We found that males with large dark patches were more sexually active during the rut than males with small patches. Males with large patches invested more time in intrasexual competition behaviours and in interactions with females and attained larger harem sizes. However, although males with small dark patches invested less in mating behaviour, they also tried to access females for mating. We suggest that the dark ventral patch has a potentially important signalling function in the mating strategy of red deer.