# Monarch of the Glen......Etive!



## buckas (Jun 13, 2008)

The main aim of our trip to the Highlands & Islands of Scotland was to bag some shots of the largest land mammal in the UK, the majestic Red Deer. An animal, ubiquitous to the Highlands of Scotland comes alive in the Autumn months and October, mainly being rather wet and wild (which we experienced more than once in a day) is the time when nature's larder comes into abundance, thousand mile migrations happen and of course, the pinnacle of the Autumn season; the Deer Rut.

This is what the stags have been building up for all year, to show the rest who's boss and who gets to mate with the most doe's. Throughout the trip so far only produced glimpses on the highest of hills of these creatures. The roaring, echoing around the Glen's and Loch's, warning other's of their presence and stature.

Red Deer Stag ~ Cervus Elaphus









So after seeing them in the hills of Glen Coe a few days before hand, we'd thought we'd venture down Glen Etive to see if they could be found. The Glen Etive road meanders for some fourteen miles to the head of Loch Etive, where it ends in a turning circle & car park near a ruined pier, and that's it! The road down Glen Etive is the original "road to nowhere".

Stob Coir'an Albannaich, Glen Etive









The single track road first leads you down the south eastern flank of the ridge of Buachaille Etive Mor. As soon as you are out of sight and sound of the main A82 across Rannoch Moor the sense of retreating into another place and time begins to build. The first half of the Glen is a steady descent of an open heather-clad valley. The character changes at the southern end of the twin mountain ridges of Buachaille Etive Mor and Buachaille Etive Beag. The southern half of the glen is more enclosed and wooded, and all too soon you find yourself at the road's end.

This is where we caught our first glimpse of a stag and his harem, very close to the road feeding in some bracken. So we found a lay-by and sneakily exited the car and managed rattled off some shots.

Red Deer Stag ~ Cervus Elaphus









Red Deer Doe ~ Cervus Elaphus









As we watched these feed, the deer shuffled back down through the Glen into pasture land nearer the river. After a quick U turn we caught back up with them feeding in the fields below the road. On exiting the car, the noise was immense - at least six stags dotted around the Glen, all roaring and bellowing out their voice making the Glen into some kind of amphitheatre of testosterone. It was late afternoon by now and as the sun broke through, it had that lovely Autumnal golden light filtering through. I did some filming here as well and the heavens opened! The rain didn't last long thankfully...

Red Deer Stag & Harem ~ Cervus Elaphus









Red Deer Stag Roaring & Harem ~ Cervus Elaphus









As the he was herding them towards the river we managed to find a gate to jolly over down a gravel track, luckily this lead down alongside their field and lower as well which I wanted to get a more eye level shots. Well what can I say, the feeling of being so close to these very obliging powerful mammals at such close quarters in such beautiful light and surroundings made a sight to behold and confirms my love for the Scottish Highlands even more...

Red Deer Stag & Harem ~ Cervus Elaphus









Red Deer Stag ~ Cervus Elaphus









Red Deer Stag ~ Cervus Elaphus









Just after taking these shots the sun disappeared behind the clouds and light was poor but thankfully I'd manage to capture a lot of shots & film (footage soon) of this majestic creature in it's natural & beautiful surroundings.

Lochan Urr, Glen Etive









_Glen Etive, now officially my new favourite place on Earth, it's got it all! :thumb:
_
Video soon...

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_All photos on this page taken with Canon EOS 7D with 400mm f/5.6L and Canon EOS 5D Mark II & 24-105mm f/4L for the landscapes_


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## Maxtor (Feb 23, 2007)

Cracking post and read mate. Excellent tog skills as usual.:thumb:


Thanks for posting.

Maxtor.


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## Gruffs (Dec 10, 2007)

Awesome.

How do Red Deer Stags manage to fill you full of resolve and pride?

Top banana!

:thumb::thumb:


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## andyb (Jun 4, 2006)

Beautiful...thanks for posting.


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## robz (Apr 18, 2006)

As i always say, never fail to present breathtaking snaps.

Very good work, captures the moment perfectly. Any chance of exif on them ?


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## Guest (Oct 28, 2010)

stunning! love the one of the stag poking his head up


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## jontymo (Feb 17, 2007)

superb, we are off to oban staying in a log cabin in 2 weeks, the D90 is packed ready to go.


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## chisai (Jan 1, 2009)

Fantastic photographs, was going to call them pics but these are waaayy beyond pics.


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## buckas (Jun 13, 2008)

Maxtor said:


> Cracking post and read mate. Excellent tog skills as usual.:thumb:
> 
> Thanks for posting.
> 
> Maxtor.


Thanks matey :thumb:



Gruffs said:


> Awesome.
> 
> How do Red Deer Stags manage to fill you full of resolve and pride?
> 
> ...


Cheers Gruffs :thumb:



andyb said:


> Beautiful...thanks for posting.


Thanks :thumb:



robz said:


> As i always say, never fail to present breathtaking snaps.
> 
> Very good work, captures the moment perfectly. Any chance of exif on them ?


Thanks - yep, should be there http://regex.info/exif.cgi



capri kid said:


> stunning! love the one of the stag poking his head up


thanks :thumb:



jontymo said:


> superb, we are off to oban staying in a log cabin in 2 weeks, the D90 is packed ready to go.


thanks :thumb: nice! deffo do a day trip to Mull! catch the early one across and late one back, was about £70 car + 2 people. What cabins you staying in? we were at lagnakeil



chisai said:


> Fantastic photographs, was going to call them pics but these are waaayy beyond pics.


thanks :thumb:

drew


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## wookey (Jul 13, 2007)

Excellent thread Drew, and fantastic photos.


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## Franco50 (Feb 5, 2008)

Brilliant photos. To have even seen the deer in that situation would have been special but getting such great pics as well is tremendous. :thumb: I've driven along the A82 past the Glen Etive junction loads of times and keep telling myself that one day I'll venture down that road but havn't managed it yet.


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## CK888 (Apr 23, 2006)

1st pic 'Red Deer Stag' - great capture and framing:thumb:


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## RichN (Dec 17, 2010)

Brilliant images Drew :thumb:. What camera/lens set-up did you use for this shoot?

I've recently purchased a Sigma 50-500mm for shooting this kind of stuff but not had the chance to use it. I tried a Canon 70-200mm f2.8 with a 2x extender and I wasn't overly impressed - I took these with it:-








]










Both taken looking out over Loch Leven (an area I'm sure you know well). Also on my flickr page

Rich


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## jontymo (Feb 17, 2007)

Hi Drew

We stayed at Tralee bay in Connel just outside of Oban, great place with lodges and caravans and straight onto the beach with the dogs and even better they have broadband.

We did Glen Etive 2 days out of 7 as it was so good.

We have rebooked for a week in March so i'm now on the hunt for a 70-300VR

Jon


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