The Lesser Dominant Buck

Made a visit to Brocton Coppice on Cannock Chase today to check on the progress of the rut.  It's well established that the main rut happens inside a conservation area with restricted access but there are a few vantage points outside the fenced off area where you can look in to see what is happening.

From chatting to one to two other onlookers, it seems that the rut hasn't started in earnest as yet.  That despite a report that an old buck was found gored to death away from the area last week.  From what I was told the rut will only start properly as the colder weather kicks in.  As we're expecting temperatures in the 20s (degrees Celsius) tomorrow, we'll probably be waiting a while longer.

I was able to watch from a high vantage point a group of some 30 or more fallow deer grazing in the area.  There were the two large bucks, this one and a mighty beast that was dominating most of the females.  This chap had a couple of female companions with him but whenever he moved towards the larger grouping the other male 'persuaded' him away!  I will certainly try to pop back over the next month if I can, to see what happens.