What better way to announce the launch of my new photographic website BGoldenPhotos.com than with news of making the front cover of November’s edition of Wildlife Photographic, the online iTunes wildlife photography magazine. The shot in question was taken from a series of shots from this year’s deer rut in the Wicklow mountains of Ireland. It was still September and I wasn’t sure if the rut had actually started in the valley yet. I had spent a couple of hours from dawn cautiously and patiently stalking a small group of about 15 deer that included 4 males – two very young and two mature. As I was just about to give up on the hope of catching any rutting behaviour, one of the mature stags clearly started becoming aggressive .. moving in parallel to his mature companion with hair raised and throwing these threatening glances. Although most deer in Wicklow are hybrid native red and imported sika, a good description of the type of behaviour I witnessed can be found in Red Deer: Behaviour and Ecology of Two Sexes By T. H. Clutton-Brock, F. E. Guinnes
