Autumnal Rut!

[Leighgregory]

Hello I’m a newbie here, this is my first post!

I’m a keen photographer, lately I’ve been trying to photograph wildlife. I’ve had a lot of advice from the photography forum I use and I would be very grateful for some more.

I’ve set myself the challenge of photographing Deer during their autumnal run , i believe it takes place in the month of October? Could someone please clarify this? Im planning to use one location, either the new forest or Richmond park, any other suggestions welcome! I realise it will take a lot of learning and patience. I live in Swindon so these locations are roughly the same distance from me. To date i have photographed Deer in Dryham Park and Roe Deer at a local nature reserve.

Any advice would be very welcome

Thanks

Leigh

[Hobjob]

If you check the meeting forum, you will find that there is to
be a WAB New Forest meet to look at the rut. There will be
lots of advice there (sadly I can't make it), and hopefully good
viewing

Originally Posted by Leighgregory

Hello I’m a newbie here, this is my first post!

I’m a keen photographer, lately I’ve been trying to photograph wildlife. I’ve had a lot of advice from the photography forum I use and I would be very grateful for some more.

I’ve set myself the challenge of photographing Deer during their autumnal run , i believe it takes place in the month of October? Could someone please clarify this? Im planning to use one location, either the new forest or Richmond park, any other suggestions welcome! I realise it will take a lot of learning and patience. I live in Swindon so these locations are roughly the same distance from me. To date i have photographed Deer in Dryham Park and Roe Deer at a local nature reserve.

Any advice would be very welcome

Thanks

Leigh

[Leighgregory]

Thank you very much for the reply!

Regards

Leigh

[deer boy]

Originally Posted by Leighgregory

I’ve set myself the challenge of photographing Deer during their autumnal run , i believe it takes place in the month of October? Could someone please clarify this?

Hi Leigh welcome to WAB the Red Deer Rut starts at the end of september & finishes at the start of November.
Sorry i can't help with locations around Swindon although if you google Red Deer near Swindon i'm sure something will come up.
All the best,let us know how you get on

[derelict]

New Forest if you want wild animals - the downside is that some areas are off-limits so there's a possibility of no deer...

There are plenty of old threads on here if you search for "Richmond, rut" etc

If you want guaranteed deer try Bushy Park - another Royal Park, just north of Kingston on Thames - smaller and more compact than Richmond Park with a slightly smaller and less dispersed red deer herd. Bushy Park actually slightly unnerves me because of how close you can find yourself to the red deer outside the rut - at RP you'll rarely get closer than 30 yards but if you have binoculars or an equivalent lens you shouldn't need to. And during the rut who wants to?

The enclosed nature of the park means that nearly all the incumbencies are foregone conclusions as rankings are sorted out by intensive nocturnal "fight clubs" that start in September. It is rare for an incumbent stag to be displaced though they are regularly challenged.

The downside of RP for me is the large number (30+) of unattached males wandering around the park 24/7 with nothing better to do than challenge anything that moves. These are the ones you see sparring. They are a far greater danger than the big incumbent stags; they can appear from anywhere at any time and individual animals can turn big tracts of the park into "no-go" areas.

Another hazard is the large numbers of harems moving around the park. The females know exactly where they want to go and the stag (who doesn't know the park particularly well) tries to herd them. The result can be unpredictable. People are warned to stay out of the woods and with good reason. Last year the rut coincided with the chestnut fall and the woods were full of red deer.

Smaller stags have a particularly bad time - any still attached to their maternal group are evicted by the new incumbent. Everything else bullies them and they spend the month hiding in the bracken stands.

[ceb83]

Hi Leigh and welcome,

I'm fairly new to WAB too, only a handful of posts to my name.

I'm SO glad I'm not the only one living(??) in Swindon with a penchant for wildlife and photography.

I've never been free around the rutting season, before this year, and I'm planning on trying the New Forest, for Red Deer, in a week or so.

Bradgate Park, in Leciestershire along with Richmond Park, are, probably, the easiest locations where you'd be almost 'guaranteed' some superb shots.

Good luck, and let us know how you get on.

Cheers,

Carol

[Leighgregory]

Cool another Swindonion!!! Are you mainly a wildlife photographer? Do you shoot much else?

Thank you so much for detailed reply Derelict. It’s very helpful.

So I had 2 days shooting this weekend I wanted to try both Richmond Park and the New Forest to see which I preferred. I found them VERY different.
I liked Richmond in the morning, I got there before it opened so was the first car in. I didn’t realise it was closed over night until I arrived. I would have preferred it if I could have got in earlier and been ready for sunrise! After a couple of hours it got very busy. I stayed until about 3pm so obviously not that put off by the crowds. I will defiantly go back.

I liked the New Forest too, I didn’t come back with any keepers though. I arrived well before sunrise, found somewhere to park up and walked off in to the mist... It took a while for me to see any deer. They saw me well before I saw them. I tried to carefully follow but they went away! I tried to take a long way round where I thought they were going but they still saw me and went another way. I tried hiding under a tree for a couple of hours hoping they would pass but they never. Still it was really cool to see them. I really want to try and photograph them in the forest again. I think it would be a super rewarding challenge to get a couple of photos of the Deer there.

I now need to do some research in stalking Deer...

Thanks again for all the encouraging replies!

Regards

Leigh

[muldonach]

Originally Posted by Leighgregory

....... It took a while for me to see any deer. They saw me well before I saw them. I tried to carefully follow but they went away! I tried to take a long way round where I thought they were going but they still saw me and went another way. ...........

I now need to do some research in stalking Deer...

Leigh

Without wishing to have a go at any one person I wonder if people realise just how disturbing to the deer this sort of behaviour is? You have moved a bunch of deer on three times in a morning - whilst they are moving away from you they are not resting, feeding or cudding and have been pushed out of an area they had selected into one that is obviously not thier first choice.

Taking photographs is not harmless if it results in a stressed population and we should perhaps bear in mind that wild animals do best in peace and quiet.

Regards
mac

[Leighgregory]

Hey good point muldonach, I've never thought of it like that before! Maybe I SHOULD stick to parks?

There must be a way of observing wild animals without disturbing them? Is this the case when wildlife programmes are filmed?

Regards

Leigh

[Deer Stalker]

Hi Leigh.

Regarding the New Forest.

You can stick to the tracks with out majorly disturbing them. If they've run on, don't follow them, they know where you are & you'll just push them on further, as you found out.

I mention a couple of places on the Forest in this thread, posts #6 & #12.

New Forest help please