Red Deer Stag Bellowing

Red deer stag bellowing recorded at Bedfords Park, Essex, UK. The stag was with a group of hinds during the rutting season. These were not wild animals but kept in a large pen within the park. This was a medieval hunting forest and red deer have been kept here in modern times since the 1930s.

In addition to the stag, a number of other sounds can be heard, including the stag breathing out heavily, the deer feeding on the grass and a number of birds, particularly jackdaws. There is some background noise and unwanted sounds, but no attempt has been made to reduce that as this would have had an impact on the sound of the stag (see additional comment below).

Recorded with a Sennheiser K6/ME66 microphone with Radius windshield attached to a Zoom F6. As a point of interest, I also tried making some recordings with a parabolic mic (not included here) in order to get a greater focus on the stag but the quality of the sound was awful as it took away much of the deep quality of the stag's call.