demileighfreeman

Oh, Deer

As I was walking through the woods trying to find deer to take pictures of, quietly. I broke a stick that had fallen from the tree. The almighty crack made this...
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As I was walking through the woods trying to find deer to take pictures of, quietly. I broke a stick that had fallen from the tree. The almighty crack made this Stag run out and look at me. With it being rutting season, I froze. I did not realise how close I was to one, and he was within 20m. It is not advised to be closer than 100m during rutting season and poses a significant risk. If I ran, I could've been chased. If I moved suddenly, I could've been chased. If I showed a threat, it's game over. I looked around and realised there wasn't a tree easy enough to climb. So still I had no choice but to remain. For 3 minutes I was stared out, before he turned around, and walked off... with another male, which was quite bizarre! But the adrenaline! They are so pumped of testosterone it is simply too dangerous to be this close to them. The best thing to do sometimes is be still. Move slowly, if you can, slowly back away.
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