Autumn 2020: The Deer Rut

I’d been promising myself a trip to Richmond Park to photograph the deer rut for years - literally years! But with all the photography I’ve been doing here in the UK in 2020, I just knew this was going to be THE year.

The first weekend of October had been in my diary for weeks and nothing was going to stop me - well, maybe a national lockdown but thankfully that didn’t happen until later in the month. Sunday looked the more promising of the two days for some early morning light and maybe a bit of mist, so despite not going to bed until the early hours (as per usual), my alarm was set for 5.45am to get across London in time. Well... unsurprisingly I left the house slightly later than planned, but was parking up in the park just after sunrise an hour and a half later. The sun was doing its best to break through the cloud but sadly there was no mist to be seen. So, I decided to put the wide angle lens on first and capture a few shots of the brook that runs through the park. Having found a composition and whilst waiting patiently, the sun eventually broke through and bathed the scene with some soft warm light.


Once I had a shot I was happy with, I changed to the telephoto lens and off I went in search of some deer. As most people will say that have been to the park for the rutting season, you can certainly hear them before you can see them and it wasn’t too long until some red deer stags were heard and then spotted. It also wasn’t too long until many other photographers appeared seemingly from nowhere! We were well and truly entertained by two stags in particular in close proximity that were guarding their harems and constantly bellowing at one another...



Then the real drama happened; another stag turned up on the scene and decided he was going to get in on the action and the now large crowd that had gathered was treated to this wonderful sight!


The clash of the antlers and the glare in their eyes was quite something as they tossed and turned - you wouldn’t want to get in the way! Things calmed down a little, but the bellowing continued and I’m not exaggerating when I say by this point I think I had been there for well over an hour enjoying the sights and the sounds and wondering what was going to happen next.



But after my early morning start, I was by this point starting to get a little weary and in need of some rest, just like this chap...


It was sadly time to go home and by now it must have been 11am and the park was getting very busy with Londoners out and about enjoying some fresh air and sunshine. I would highly recommend a trip to Richmond Park to see the deer as it was such an enjoyable morning, but a reminder that the park authorities ask the public to keep a good 50m away from the deer as they can be very unpredictable, especially at this time of year when there is a lot of testosterone around!

For anyone that is interested in photographing the deer and wishes to get in touch about how I captured these images, please do not hesitate! For further information about Richmond Park, including opening hours and parking, please visit their website, here:
https://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/richmond-park