gerry 'theranger' obrien of conkers

Lately I have been having a bit of turmoil in my life so I decided it was time for some much needed wildlife adventure to help take my mind off things and to nourish my soul. It is afterall when I am having these adventures that I am at my happiest. Along with two adventurous friends we headed to the high moors of the Peak District, our mission was to find the Red Deers resident in this area and hopefully observe some of the rutting action undertaken by these magnificent creatures at this time of year.

Once up on the moors all else was forgotten, it was a stunning day and I was totally immersed in my surroundings, at peace with the wild and rugged landscape. As we explored we had some fantastic sightings of Red Grouse breaking from the heather and our excitement mounted as we heard the bellowing calls of the Red Deer Stags carrying over the moorland. We managed to locate a herd and got to within perhaps 500 metres, however due to the open terrain we could not move closer without driving them away. It was still enjoyable observing the stag with his harem of females. He bellowed constantly to claim ownership over them and to lay down his claim to some of his would be challangers that roamed nearby.
After quite a while observing this particular herd we backtracked slightly and managed to find another small herd, this time, another majestic stag with 7 hinds. Due to some covering mounds of heather we could get much closer and got to within about 200m after some belly crawling across the moor. The deer were perfectly aware of our presence but seemed to put up with it as long as we didn't encroach further.

It felt brilliant to get this close to truly wild deer and we marvelled at their beauty as the setting sun glistened off their hides. The stag was a magnificent specimen, in prime physical condition, perfectly attuned to his environment and he seemed secure in control of his harem. Perhaps he had already seen off any would be contenders and now was ready for the mating rights he had earned. Once we had got our fill of observation we slowly retreated and left them in peace to settle down for the night.

As we trekked back down through the moorland in the fading light, we all basked in the glow of another great wildlife adventure and I must admit I felt more at peace with the world than I have done for a long time!

*Thanks once again to my wildlife photographer friend Ian Kenny for the use of his stunning photographs. Top work Ian, got to be some awards coming your way soon :)