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This morning I got up at 6 to go and shoot the deer again. I know it’s still a little bit too early for rutting, but I wanted to go in the morning to see where they were and what the light was like etc. They were miles away! Grrrr.
As I was arriving there was another photographer just about to set off so we spoke to each other a bit then split up and rejoined when we got closer to the herd. Never met him before but he was jolly nice and even though I’d gone on my own thinking I’d prefer some alone time it was actually nice to have someone to talk to as we just talked about the deers. He was quite funny too, which helped 🙂

When we went last time we (could have but didn’t) followed the path, so this time that is where I started off; only they weren’t there. Deers could most defiantly be heard but not seen. So I carried on walking forwards and ended up over the hill and down in the valley. There were a million deer all over the place. I could see two large herds and four stage just from where I was stood at the top of the hill. I chose the herd which was closer to the road and branched that way (better lighting and also logistically more sensible).

They are so loud and run so quickly that at times I was a bit concerned; but on the whole they were more interested in each other than us.
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The walk back was an epic disaster as I decided it would be quicker to march through the marsh land and heather than walk back on myself to get to the path. This wasn’t a great move, and I fell over, lol. I say lol now but at the time I was in pain (knees and hips), I was soaking wet from the dew and I was tired… so I actually just wanted to lie on the floor 😛

I am indeed looking forward to going back in a week or so for the rut; though now I think about it it will be pretty epicly scary to witness. I’ve read online that the rutting is better towards the end of the season as the bigger stags are tired, and this rather nicely coincides with half term ^_^