Its that time of year again, when stags are pumped full of testosterone and on the pull.
I've been up to Bushy Park the last two Saturdays for the rut in the hopes of witnessing some battling Red Deer Stags.
In ten years of photography I've never been lucky enough to witness anything more than a friendly tussle between younger bucks. Yesterdays trip however turned out to be more fruitful, with one particular stag successfully defending his harem against 3 or 4 other challengers. Only one battle really took place as only one of the rivals was actually brave enough to start anything. Thankfully I managed to capture the entire fight over a number of shots.
If you visit my website here regularly, you probably will have noticed another massive influx of Deer photos. It seems to be my biggest category by far on as its the wildlife that is most accessible to me, living here in the New Forest and frequenting places that are also abundant in deer.
To save time, I have included a list of links to the actual battle images below. There are obviously numerous other shots, e.g. Stags Barking, morning breath in the cold mist, and deer rubbing up against trees. Just visit the gallery directly to see them.
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The Battle Begins
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Sign of Weakness
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Buckling Leg
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Retreat
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Victory
Needless to say that the rutting shots are up in the Deer Photography Gallery.
I'm actually considering splitting the Deer gallery into multiple categories for each species of Deer as the gallery has grown quite large now! Any input would be appreciated.