Wild Deer in the Midlands

kassie

Anyone know where theres a good spot to go to try to spot/photograph wild deer in the Midlands? I'm based in Mullingar and am willing to travel within reason.

aaakev

Its deer hunting season so just be carful if your going looking for deer this time of the year. Coilte forestry will only be hunted in the mornings and there will be signs up at entrances if shooting is going on there at that time but up on the mountains people could be hunting anytime so make yourself visable to other people who may be there too. High vis vest or the likes will work

The slieve blooms have a good deer population, morning and evening is the best time to spot them as they will leave the wooded areas to graze in fields and clearings

kassie

thanks aaakev

rmnrgn

Its deer hunting season so just be carful if your going looking for deer this time of the year.

+1
There is no shortage of fallow deer in and around the Mullingar region. The rut is on at the present so if you can locate an area with good cover and farmland spend some time listening for the belching of the bucks. As its hunting season, just be very careful as there are plenty of stalkers with the same idea as you with the intention of reducing the population. A HiVis jacket would help as deer are colourblind but they are wary of movement and have excellent noses so be aware of the wind and its direction.

time lord

Knockdrin estate used be a cert on Castlepollard rd.

kassie

thank everyone, my hubby's uncle lives out in Knockdrin area, i'll get him to ask around to see if there are still deer there!

kassie

rmnrgn wrote: »

+1
There is no shortage of fallow deer in and around the Mullingar region.

i do know of someone who got to get pics of wild deer in Wooddown Bog but that was about 4 years ago, do deer move around or do they tend to stick to an area? Boggy Forest areas seem to be the place to try and spot them?

deandean

I was driving on the N4 (if that's the right number) west of Longford a few weeks back and I saw two young deer calmly eating from the hedge on the side of the main road!

_Lady_

Newcastle Forest near Ballymahon in Co Longford is only about 20mins drive from Mgar and it's inundated with deer. And it's a fab place for a walk on a sunny afternoon too. The new road way there has solved a lot of problems but there's been heaps of incidents where people have had their cars written off late at night where deer jumped out across road in front of them. Thousands there, beautiful creatures. Well worth a visit to Newcastle forest if you're interested in them - I love it there, couldn't recommend it enough.

kassie

Thanks lady Newcastle is only about 10 mins from my house!!!!

beeftotheheels

kassie wrote: »

Thanks lady Newcastle is only about 10 mins from my house!!!!

I heard, but didn't see, the stags this morning near the Inny bank - I had entered from the Abbeyshrule road.

Had my dog not been so terrified of the noise I'd have gone looking for them.