We went on a safari tour of Exmoor with Johnny Kingdom – the man is tremendous – a genuine lovely man with the character to match. He took a group of us out in his 4×4 and showed us all the hot spots in and around the Exmoor area.

Within the group we met some nice people who all shared the same embarrassing hobby of being a deer photographer – sharing some tips with Dave has inspired me to get a larger lense/glass for my camera – I think it might be arriving tomorrow morning –

I usually take pictures of Roe Deer but I had the pleasure of coming face to face with over 20 wild Red Deer out in the windy, wet grasslands of Exmoor (well done Shelley for spotting them from the car) – it was exhilarating! Exmoor is beautiful…

Here are a couple of the photos that were taken – if i get some more time i will add some more shortly.

It’s been a while – work has been particularly busy and I haven’t had the time to get out as much as I would like

I’ve been to some nice places in the past month; Guernsey, Spain and Ireland (working) but saw no deers, although, there were meant to be Sika Deer near Listowell where I was staying in Ireland.

I’ve been up the woods and spotted some new deer, but haven’t seen Harry for a while. All the grass in the fields was cut several weeks ago. I hope there weren’t any casualties with young deer that were still using the grass to hide out…

Here is a recent photo I took up in the woods, a new stag that I haven’t seen before:

I’ve brought myself a young Oak Tree today! I am going to find a place up on the downs to plant it so I can point it out in future years when I take my children out for country walks. The Oak Tree had to have a name – it has be christened Arthur I’ll show you the picture when I have chosen the right place to plant it…

Can anyone comment on this photo if they find it a little unusual or let me know if this is a common thing…

It is Harry the Roe Deer Stag again – it took me over half an hour to get anywhere close enough to get a picture of him

Here are two pictures, Harry with a Pheasant looking at him and the other showing the stag before he jumped back into the woods:

AND – there is a squirrel that has worked out how to use the bird feeder:

I didn’t get any birds but i got this shot of a lovely Roe Deer.

I have setup a bird feeder in a remote part of the woods to give me something else to focus on whilst i am waiting for the deer

Here are some pictures of the day:

Below is a photo of the best shot I got:

Then, on the way out of the woods, and late in the evening (9.30pm) I had another close encounter with another Roe Stag. He looked like Harry; a yearling with similar antlers. He was a distance from where I usually see him but not too far away for it to be possible. What do you think?

Above: Is this Harry?

Above: Harry the Roe Deer

One of my early encounters with a young deer happened on a Sunday afternoon about 5 or 6 months back. I was on my own creeping down a path i had found that cut through the main woodland that i regularly visit. Three quarters of the way down this path i suddenly found myself in front of a young roe deer – only 8 feet away from me. I couldn’t believe it and the deer was equally as shocked. I gradually lowered myself to my knees so as not to look threatening. I spent 5 mins 8 foot away from this wild animal – she was frozen with fear but gradually got used to me whilst i was gently telling her that it was ok. This encounter was before i purchased my camera and i deeply regretted that i didn’t capture any pictures of this extremely unusual meeting. I didn’t think i would get another opportunity to get this close to a wild Roe Deer again… 

Then, along came Harry! I cut up through the new woods and came across an open field with a path running along the side. I immediately got distracted by some noisy woodpeckers – young woodpeckers that still hadn’t left their nest. I stood there for a while listening to their noisy requests for food and got a fleeting look at Mum and Dad as they flew close to the nest but wouldn’t feed the young whilst i was about – so i moved on.

As soon as i turned around i spotted a deer feeding to the side of this large field. I am still new to stalking but i thought i would give it a go. I managed to creep along to an opening in the fence that gave me access to the same field as this one deer. There was enough long grass to allow me to get close enough to a group of trees that i could then use as cover. After several minutes i managed to get close enough to the tree that gave me barrier between the deer and me. This gave me enough time to work out the best route to get close enough to shoot some good shots of the mystery deer – at this time i got my first shots and saw on the camera display that it was a young buck. There were some stinging nettles in front of me that i had to crawl through to get to another tree that would give me the best position to start taking photos – so i got on with it.

After a few stings from the nettles i had managed to position myself behind the tree without getting spotted. The young Roe Stag was eating the grass with his back to me – once i started taking a few shots he quickly realised that he wasn’t alone. He looked over but i was hidden enough to hide my human shape – it left him feeling comfortable enough to try and work out what i was…

I was as close as i could ever hope to be (Roe are the fairies of the forest, you are lucky to see them)  and was excited about what pictures i might get – i had to be quick and react to this rare opportunity before he did a runner! It is really common for me to get a deer in sight and loose it before I can even get the camera to my face.

I wanted to react quickly without scaring him away to get as many pictures as possible. To my amazement this Roe Buck (Harry) started to walk towards me, licking his nose to work out what i smelt of. I hid in the grass next to the tree and poked my head up to capture a shot here and there – i was surprised and fascinated to see Harry doing the same thing, popping his head up and down to catch a glimpse of me. Once he got too close he ran away – this happened after about a minute. I was gutted… But then, he returned getting even closer, determined to see who i was. 

This same procedure of coming up to me – getting too close – and jumping away continued for about 20 mins. It felt great and i managed to send out a couple of text messages telling Mum and girlfriend what i was doing, “a young Roe Stag was playing with me in a field!”.

It was one of those moments that you savour as they don’t happen all the time and i am pleased to say that i got some good pictures, take a look:

Harry taken from the stinging nettles (far away to begin with):
 

Young Roe Stag (Harry) trying to work out what I am:
 

Licking his lips to get my scent:
 

Harry coming back trying to find where I am:

Action shot of Roe running away:

My favourite picture from the evening (8.15pm – 28/05/08):

From a young age I have been interested in animals and birds, from being a member of the YOC (originally launched in 1965) to hiding in the back garden with my best mate trying to trap an imaginary mouse with a slice of cheese and an empty shoe box.

As with most things you like when you are younger I grew out of this immediate fascination when I started school but always maintained a love for animals; from rescuing hedgehogs and handing them into the vets to waking up in the morning with a screaming hangover accompanied by a massive seagull flying around my bedroom that I had picked up, walking home from a particularly heavy night out!

Over the past year I have been reintroduced to the pleasures given from seeing creatures that only appear when you look hard and long enough. Finding animals that you don’t expect to see in this urban jungle. There were so many sensations that I experienced when I saw my first deer in the local woods; shock, excitement, gratitude, surprised to find such a beautiful animal that normally remains a secret of the countryside. Once I knew it was possible to find deer 10 mins drive from my house I got the bug – it is like fishing; you have to wait before you’re rewarded, you know the fish are in that pond but there is no guarantee that you will catch one, sometimes you won’t catch anything all day, which makes it all the better when you eventually do!

This ‘hobby’ allows me to finish a busy days work on a positive note. I am a Director of several companies including Fresh Egg (the main company for the past 8 years) and I need a way in which to unwind on an evening. There is nothing more satisfying, peaceful and relaxing than going out to the woods after work and completely forgetting about everything… Some people have a glass of wine – I have Harry the Roe Deer Stag!

I got myself a camera a few months back after being inspired by watching Johnny Kingdom on BBC2. Johnny is an amazing character who lives in Exmoor who spends his life filming Red Deer in the surrounding countryside. I wanted to record my experiences as he has and I have managed to surprise myself with some of the results I have got.

I hope you enjoy sharing the experiences I have collected over recent months and continue to follow this blog for updates of my adventures in my urban jungle.

Above: Me!