A lot of the photography you see of deer in the UK is often of deer in managed deer parks. It can be fairly difficult to track and photograph deer outside of these deer parks, particularly if you aren’t in the scottish highlands. However it is not impossible with a bit of dedication and I find it offers a deeper degree of satisfaction when you do achieve that allusive shot.
A good compromise if you are in the South East of England and a nice place to visit is the National Trust’s Ashridge estate near Tring. The estate is home to free roaming muntjac, roe and fallow deer. Although historically the fallow herds have their origins in the deer from the historical deer park of the royal hunting ground established in the 13th century by Richard of Cornwall (the son of King John). These herds now roam freely across the entire 5000 acre estate and out into the wider countryside.
In the Autumn the fallow bucks gather at their leks to rut, asserting their dominance and hopefully securing the attentions of some of the does. This is a particularly beautiful time of year for photography with the beech and oak trees ablaze in their autumnal finery. The extra activity and noise associated with the rut, also increases the odds for locating the fallow deer too.
If you’ve never been to the Ashridge estate before, it is a huge area and can be daunting to know where to start. I can recommend the annual deer rut walk that is organised by the National Trust. It’s a very good way to get your bearings and to find out where the active leks are. It is a short 2 hour walk, meeting just as the sun rises and the guide provides some interesting information about the history of the estate and the deer park, whilst pointing out a few of the landmarks and guiding you to the active lek site. A word of warning, the walks are incredibly popular so you do need to book well in advance. They also take about 30 people, so don’t necessarily expect to get your best shots. But for £15 per person (price correct 2017), including a hearty breakfast at the cafe to round off the morning, we saw it as a good way to learn the lay of the land and get some useful information from those responsible for managing the estate. We then planned a trip to come back on our own in the following weeks, once we knew where to head for the best chance to see the deer.
Details of the deer rut walks or for more information on the Ashridge estate can be found here. https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/ashridge-estate/whats-on
If you’d like to explore the estate at your leisure some useful information about planning walks can be found here. https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/ashridge-estate/features/walking-at-ashridge-estate
