Red Deer Rut Photo Tour / Tour Report October 2019

For this third and last tour dedicated to the Red Deer Rut in 2019, the group was again complete and the weather forecast was this time excellent. Guiding our participants during these red deer rut tours is always an amazing experience. It is with great enthusiasm that Corentin and I meet our 6 participants on Saturday morning.

We are early October. Fall colors are beautiful.

In some areas, the rut is slowly coming to an end, which makes us adapt our itinerary. We decide to dedicate our first day to an incredible place where we can listen and observe wild deer in exceptional conditions without disturbing them.

Sightings are numerous. The atmosphere is superb.

In the late afternoon, we head to our bed and breakfast. We have an aperitif by the fireplace and then enjoy a delicious dinner. The place is comfortable and well located in a nice little village. We are at almost 2000 meters above sea level.

The following morning, we have breakfast very early and leave for another area. The goal is to arrive before sunrise so that our participants can make the most of this incredible experience that is the red deer rut.

Quite quickly, we see a herd very far away on a ridge in an absolutely beautiful pink sky. A few minutes later, a young deer walks on a ridge much closer to our left.

Then another herd shows up on another ridge. We are like surrounded by deer!

It is still early in the morning and we have already seen more than a dozen red deer. We continue our walk, and going up, little by little, the landscape becomes more and more beautiful. The visibility is excellent, the view sublime.

In our progression, we cross the path of other deer. A male deer, a doe and a fawn walk a few dozen meters from us, on a ridge, with a beautiful sky in the background. It is without doubt the most beautiful encounter of the tour.

We also meet a small group of Chamois. Very shy, they start to move while we are on the trail below, more than 100 meters away. Obviously, we do not try to approach and respect their distance of comfort.

In this area, autumn colors are really magical. Yellow, orange, and red marry beautifully with the gray of the rocks. It's of absolutely stunning.

We take this opportunity to enjoy a well deserved break before starting our descent.

To finish the weekend, we picnic with deer, where we started the tour. There are probably more than twenty deer in front of us. In this dense vegetation, they show themselves for a moment, disappear, then reappear elsewhere. It's a pretty incredible show. We could spend the whole month of the rut there without getting bored! : D

We leave our participants in the middle of the afternoon after 2 days immersing in the world of wild high mountain deer. Happy to have shown to our participants the magic of the red deer rut.

Can not wait for next year!

Jonathan

Guide Salva Fauna