Shooting deer in the New Forest

"Hunter" Melissa Bachman made the headlines recently with a photo of her posing over a lion she'd just "hunted" and killed in South Africa.  I found this photo so disturbing that I posted it on Facebook / Twitter.

Apparently she makes a living out of hunting magnificent wild animals for fun. 

Urgh.

For fun?

Really?

Now before anyone calls me a hypocrite because I eat meat and use leather products...  For me there is a huge different between hunting for fun and hunting for survival (ie food).

I struggle with my words at times, partly why I used the tagline "I talk in pictures, not in words" and others will be able to make the "against hunting for fun" argument much better than I ever could.

What this blog post is about is how Melissa has inspired me to go out and shoot more wild animals myself.  I'd argue that shooting with a camera is just as much of a thrill than killing a defenceless animal with a powerful rifle.  It's probably also more of a challenge to get that perfect image.

Melissa, not that you'll ever read this, but how about you pick up a camera and shoot with that instead.  The beauty is the animals you shoot will still be alive for others to photograph the following day.

I had a spare couple of hours one sunny winters afternoon, so I went to the Bolderwood Deer Sanctuary in the New Forest.  The last time I visited there wasn't a deer to be seen, but this time there were lots basking in the late afternoon sunshine.

These are a few of my favourite photos from my visit to Bolderwood.  Feel free to leave comments below...

(I love how the final picture shows just how well the deer merge into their surroundings).