Run! A Stag Defends His Harem

February 23, 2026

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Last October we spotted a herd of deer, both stags and hinds, in a field. It wasn’t long before another stag wandered in and decided to break up the party.

After running around for a bit, the stag ran through the group of hinds and then walked away, trailing 3 of them!

Aperture	ƒ/6.3
Camera	ILCE-7RM5
Focal length	600mm
ISO	3200
Shutter speed	1/1000s

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Comments

6 responses to “Run! A Stag Defends His Harem”

February 23, 2026

Mads

He didn’t stand a chance.

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February 23, 2026

Geoff 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

@donncha I worked for a game company for a while, picking up carcases to go into the food chain. I asked a gamekeeper how they chose the animals to be culled (and this is in Scotland where culling is required to avoid mass starvation of herds).The answer was animals like the younger male there, antlers that are just a few long prongs, and going up against mature males. Those antlers won’t lock for a fight, they’ll just stab, causing a slow death.

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1. February 23, 2026
  
  Geoff 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿
  
  @donncha Keep the mature males who have antlers that can fight without necessarily causing serious injury, keep the young few-pronged males who aren’t aggressive and competitive so they can grow into the multi-pronged mature males, but few prongs and aggressive? That’s bad for the herd, they just kill other deer, and not in a quick way.
  
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February 23, 2026

Donncha Ó Caoimh

@_thegeoff an unfortunate reality when they don't have a major predator? Every year I hear photographers say the numbers are down because of culling but you're right. It's necessary.

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1. February 23, 2026
  
  Geoff 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿
  
  @donncha Here the idea is to keep numbers fairly static. But (varying year to year) you can get little population booms. If the numbers get too high younger males explore further afield, which generally means crossing roads, with obvious consequences for deer and humans.Part of the job with carcasses was checking for a quick, humane shot, specifically in a spot about 5cm in diameter. Basically spot on every time, the gamekeepers know their stuff.
  
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  1. February 23, 2026
    
    Geoff 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿
    
    @donncha But yeah, ultimately our fault for encouraging a species while having eliminated their natural predator. Even worse are the grouse moors, near monoculture over vast areas purely for the “fun” of shooting birds. The meat is a very minor by-product in cash terms.Killing animals because it is necessary for easing suffering or the good of a herd etc: fair enough.Killing animals for fun: sign of a sociopath.
    
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