Any tips photographing Roe deer, Foxes and Badger?

[jcurtis]

Hi,
I am new to the forum and wanted to say hello!

I have just been given permission to access private land to photograph the wildlife. Any tips from those of you that have successfully photographed Roe deer, Foxes and Badger I would love to hear about them.

I have been photographing UK wildlife for about 11 years, but there is always something new to learn.
I typically use a portal hide, Sony a700 DSLR, f2.8 300, f5.6 170-500, f5.6 70-300 or f2.8 105mm macro.

Hope to hear from you all soon.

Jase

[liam71]

Hi and welcome

I haven't got enough experience to give you any help stalking wildlife, although i do visit badger sets often, but only with my brother who is experienced in both watching and organising badger watches for small groups of people.

I would be very interested in hearing and most importantly, seeing the resulting images of your potential shoot.

I am curious about you 170-500, is it a sigma?

[jcurtis]

Thanks for the reply, yes its a sigma 170-500 (sony fit). If your brother has any tips he wouls like to past on all the better.
Jase

[gez]

Hi jase
It seems its just feildcraft you need to know abit more about.
These three are mainly nocturnal. But with feeding young about they are out & about more. with the fox & badger try to find where the setts are( note there are rules / laws for badger)
always have the wind in ur face. make sure of ur footing so as not to make extra noise! take ur time & enjoy.
there are the golden hrs for these 3 which are really approx two hrs before sunsett & either side of sunrise.
It also depends on so many other things IE are there woods / ponds /lakes/ or are they used to people in any way. are they being fed?
I like to get myself to a v quite place between two woods & better if there is water nearby also as they do need a drink in this hotter weather. i just settle down with all my camo gear on & wait as long as i can. just remember they have acute smell / hearing but i think more so they can spot MOVEMENT a mile off.
show us ur pics when yo uget some
gez

[jcurtis]

Thanks Gez

[richnfamous]

A tip for Roe deer: young deer can be quite curious if they haven't got your scent and you're camouflaged: disguise the shape of your head and shoulders, maybe by pulling your hood up.

One trick I learned from a hunter is to sit down and sway a bit from side to side as if the wind is blowing you. I've had them approach me a few times in this way. I had my camera with me once and the results are here:

Picasa Web Albums - Richard - Close encount...

Sorry about the out-of-focus ones. Unfortunately I hadn't figured out the manual focus options on it back then!

[richnfamous]

Roe deer again: get to know 'your patch' and keep an eye out for deer corridors, through hedges and such. Corners of fields with thick hedgerows are a good place to start. You can usually find their tracks if it's deer: wait until it's rained and check the muddy bits.

Bucks will usually patrol their territory regularly. If you've found a corridor, sit yourself down one evening, a good distance from, and downwind of, the place you're watching - and wait. If you see a deer, be careful not to spook it. Their eyesight isn't very good (but their low-light vision is better than ours) but their hearing and sense of smell is very acute.

One you've got to know the animal's 'beat' it becomes much easier to work out where you can put yourself to get a good picture. You can even cheat by leaving apples or carrots in one spot on the animals beat to attract them to one particular place.

hth

[acherontia]

With the a700 and 300 f2.8 I'm sure you'll be fine!! Not that I'm biased towards Minolta/Sony or anything.... LOL

I find one (if the only) problem with the Alpha is that in low light situations the image can tend to be a bit noisy - so watch your settings.

Acher

[Words]

Not sure about the roe deer, but if you can I would scatter a handful or so of peanuts on the ground at a safeish distance from the hide, but in range of a good shot. Badgers love them, and foxes will certainly snaffle what they can.