The idea: take my 7 yr old daughter to see deer. Not in a deer park, but real, deep in the woods deer.....
So an hour before dusk and after a good dinner, we both threw our packs in the car and headed for the forest. We parked up in a secluded spot and took a byway into the trees.
The light was hanging on as we bimbled along, pointing out trees and plants that we both know. Can you guess what this helpful plant is....?
Further down the byway we came across a huge beech tree and took a look at last autumn's mast fall, where we discussed how the nut gets out. My daughter remarked how the husk looks like crocodile skin!
Some plants really are vibrant ain't they?
Time to start looking for some likely deer spots...
I took my time to explain to her where the deer are likely to be and why we may find them in these places. There are obvious deer channels in the landscape if you look for them.
As we had some light left, I decided that actively tracking deer spoor would be much more fun for a 7 yr old than just sitting on the forest edge and waiting, so off we went to find a starting point. Within time, we came across a load of fresh spoor, most likely less than a few hours old, so we made plans to single out a deer and track it.
Can you see the spoor?
Fresh spoor is heading left to right up the slope, middle of the picture.... (taken on my phone, so not the best shot)
We quietly followed the spoor for an hour or so, stopping as we needed to so we could drink, or discuss what the track was telling us. I was confident that we were following some nice fresh spoor as we had come across some good scat.
The track went into a foliage tunnel, which was too close for us to move through without making considerable noise, so we moved off the spoor, hoping to dog leg back onto it once we were past the dense bit of undergrowth. After thirty or so meters, we headed back onto the likely route and came across fresh spoor which matched what we had been following. Excited to be back on the track, we both nealt to investigate where the deer had crossed a fire break and re-entered the trees. I looked up to see where the track may go and suddenly, there it was. Not 20ft away stood a male muntjac, broad side on, just in the trees! I slowly touched my little girl on the shoulder and whispered 'there it is, move slowly'. Bless her, her eyes lit up as she turned her head very slowly to the left and saw her first deer. Just as she excitedly whispered 'a deer, a deer!' It flicked it's ear and disappeared into the darkness of the forest. We both let out a breath lightly and gave each other a high five. Gutted I didn't get a pic, but I was stoked that me and my daughter were able to share something so special.
After the adrenaline wore off, she decided it was time for hot chocolate, so I found a spot and got the homemade firediscs out.
I made a nest of fine pine twigs and got a small blaze on.
Time for a hot chocolate.
After our hot drink and digestives, it was full dark, so with a now tired little girl on my shoulders, we headed home.
Thanks for reading about my epic experience with my little girl.
Sent from my SM-G903F using Tapatalk
So an hour before dusk and after a good dinner, we both threw our packs in the car and headed for the forest. We parked up in a secluded spot and took a byway into the trees.
The light was hanging on as we bimbled along, pointing out trees and plants that we both know. Can you guess what this helpful plant is....?
Further down the byway we came across a huge beech tree and took a look at last autumn's mast fall, where we discussed how the nut gets out. My daughter remarked how the husk looks like crocodile skin!
Some plants really are vibrant ain't they?
Time to start looking for some likely deer spots...
I took my time to explain to her where the deer are likely to be and why we may find them in these places. There are obvious deer channels in the landscape if you look for them.
As we had some light left, I decided that actively tracking deer spoor would be much more fun for a 7 yr old than just sitting on the forest edge and waiting, so off we went to find a starting point. Within time, we came across a load of fresh spoor, most likely less than a few hours old, so we made plans to single out a deer and track it.
Can you see the spoor?
Fresh spoor is heading left to right up the slope, middle of the picture.... (taken on my phone, so not the best shot)
We quietly followed the spoor for an hour or so, stopping as we needed to so we could drink, or discuss what the track was telling us. I was confident that we were following some nice fresh spoor as we had come across some good scat.
The track went into a foliage tunnel, which was too close for us to move through without making considerable noise, so we moved off the spoor, hoping to dog leg back onto it once we were past the dense bit of undergrowth. After thirty or so meters, we headed back onto the likely route and came across fresh spoor which matched what we had been following. Excited to be back on the track, we both nealt to investigate where the deer had crossed a fire break and re-entered the trees. I looked up to see where the track may go and suddenly, there it was. Not 20ft away stood a male muntjac, broad side on, just in the trees! I slowly touched my little girl on the shoulder and whispered 'there it is, move slowly'. Bless her, her eyes lit up as she turned her head very slowly to the left and saw her first deer. Just as she excitedly whispered 'a deer, a deer!' It flicked it's ear and disappeared into the darkness of the forest. We both let out a breath lightly and gave each other a high five. Gutted I didn't get a pic, but I was stoked that me and my daughter were able to share something so special.
After the adrenaline wore off, she decided it was time for hot chocolate, so I found a spot and got the homemade firediscs out.
I made a nest of fine pine twigs and got a small blaze on.
Time for a hot chocolate.
After our hot drink and digestives, it was full dark, so with a now tired little girl on my shoulders, we headed home.
Thanks for reading about my epic experience with my little girl.
Sent from my SM-G903F using Tapatalk
