New Forest stags, starting to make their moves against their opponents.
Sexually mature red deer stags have been preparing for the most important contest they will endure for the months of October and November – access to a harem of females. These clashes start with vocal bellows from the stags to ward off competitors, in a few circumstances, the rivals will then parallel-walk before locking antlers and battle it out - this is the 2022 red deer rut!
It's important to note that this was filmed with professional long lenses mostly at 8k resolution which also gave me the ability to crop in. The deer rut is a dangerous time to be around the stags as they can charge quickly, weighing in at over 75kg they can cause serious damage and sometimes even worse blows with their antlers. It's important to keep at the very least, 50 meters from them during this time of year. This not only keeps you safe, it also allows the rut to happen naturally and doesn't effect this natural process.
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