Deer Stalking

This morning I was up and out early. Yesterday while just out for a walk, I had discovered hoof prints in the fast melting snow. So I returned to see if I could spot the Deer there. I was there before sunrise, and I set the camera up and was ready should the Deer gambol by. However, as I had no clear picture of the direction they were travelling to get to the location, I chose a spot that would hide me and I hoped that my scent was not carried towards the Deer. I waited and I tried to use the Infrared light to see if I could spot any eye shine. While I could not see the IR light reflected back from the eyes, I could see some movement in the dried long grass just beyond the spot where I had seen the Deer prints. If it was the Deer then I was down wind to the sensitive noses of this mammal.

I waited and waited but the Deer, if they were there were not coming out to play. I had a choice either stay put, or try crawling closer. Now I have no problems with getting muddy, my real concern was that I would make a noise. So I collapsed the Tripod to its smallest usable size and keeping the camera on it I started moving in the undergrowth. It was slow progress, but I just keep thinking of the way that a Cheetah moves across the savannah. Moving forward a little, then stopping and checking what’s around. The closer I got the more I could see that the Deer were there hidden in the long grass. I could just make out the stubs of the tiny antlers of the Roe Deer, just bobbing up for a second out of the thick vegetation.

I was tantalising close but I had no clear view, nor could I get up, not without the Deer seeing me. So I moved off to my left so that I could use the Gorse as cover. Keeping a careful watch on where the Deer were, I made it without spooking the Deer. As the sun rose at about half past seven, and it was now nearly eleven, it had taken me about four hours to finally get to a good position. The Deer were still there, and if they moved I had about a sixty percent chance of getting them on film. As I waited a common Buzzard wheeled overhead, no way I could film it and stay undetected by the Deer.

I waited for about another hour, until finally the Deer were startled by something. I caught it on film, but it is nothing special. I don’t know what made the Deer bolt; it may be that an eddy of air took my sent to them, or they heard a Dog or another human.

It appears that I have discovered a regular but secluded spot where the Deer are bedding down, so I hope to return. Not total success but more than worth the effort.

While I had a flask of coffee with me, I had not dared to have a drink in case the smell of the coffee alerted the Deer, so I was grateful to finally have a drink. It is a strange life that I lead but to have spent five hours just fifty feet from four Roe Deer may not be normal but I would never have that experience chained to a desk in an office somewhere.