Red Deer rut-East Anglia

Up at 5.15 am. A short drive got me to the woods well before first light.  It is more or less the middle of the Red Deer rut here in this part of East Anglia and that’s what I’m here for.  I always like to be at my destination in plenty of time especially where deer are concerned.

Poured a cup of coffee out of the flask and stood by the car to listen to the stags roaring and pinpoint their locations.  It was relatively quiet at first, I could hear just three or four.  This is always the case until the sun comes up.

Anyone who is up and about before first light and out in the country will realise that this is the coldest part of the morning just as the sun starts to rise.  And with the deer this seems to spur them into action during the rut. This morning was no exception.

Made my way down the path into the woods as the first rays started to light the morning sky.  The further I walked and the lighter it got, so the roaring intensified, until it seemed the surrounding woodland was full of roaring stags all pumped up on testosterone.

Stood listening until there was enough light to see where I was actually walking, then made my way slowly and quietly into the woodland following a visible and well-used deer path.  Got to a good position with what little breeze there was in my face and started to make my way towards a promising sounding spot.

The first thing to happen was when I was standing still on the edge of some trees with an open area of heather in front of me.  I was just figuring out my best route, when a movement caught my eye.  Could see it was a fox making its way towards me.  Got the camera set up ready.  Light was still very low so I had to click the ISO up to 1600 to stand any chance of a picture.

Lost sight of it for a couple of minutes in the heather but then spotted two ears very still just above the top of the heather.  Raised the binoculars very slowly to see which direction they were pointing.  Guess what?  They were pointing in my direction!  Wasn’t convinced it knew I was there but knew it was cautious of something.  But after a couple of minutes more, it started to make its way towards me.  It got closer and closer until it was only about ten metres away!  All the way, I was looking at it through the viewfinder on the camera and trying to keep it in focus.  Now I could see it knew something was wrong but, instead of running away, it actually seemed to be stalking me!  But now it was behind two trees about fifteen feet away!  Argh!

A couple more steps brought it into the clear and I took my first couple of pictures.  With it now being so close, it now knew something wasn’t quite right but seeing as I was well camouflaged and the breeze was still in my favour, it never went off in a hurry and I was able to take a few more quick shots before it slipped away into the bracken.

Now back to the deer. I eventually made my way to a bit of a bowl in the woodland with a gully running away up one side.  I wanted to get onto the edge of this gully, as the rising sun would light the slope up on the far side first. But this was easier said than done as there was a lot of activity going on and deer were moving backwards and forwards.

After about half an hour of very slow moving I made it and for about the next two hours I watched as deer moved back and forth.  Saw three very good stags and a few lesser ones as well.  Took some really nice shots, at least in my opinion, and enjoyed a very rewarding morning to make up for a few frustrating mornings that I had had before.  At one point I had one stag come past me so close I couldn’t fit it in the frame!  It wasn’t just about the stags though, I got some really nice pictures of hinds and calves as well.

It started to quieten down about 9.00 am when a few walkers started to get about.  The deer moved off into some of the deeper woodland and I left as I had come.  Slowly and quietly.