Introducing ‘Beasts of the Warren’
In less than 3 weeks time Beasts of the Warren will be installed at Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland as part of an arts trail with 5 other north east artists.
Beasts of the Warren is inspired by the famous Great Chases led by the Prince Bishops. It explores contemporary deer stalking in Weardale and the surrounding area, once the second largest hunting ground in England stocked with wild boar, wolves and deer.
Sooooo, here is a taster from my first time deer stalking. It is the season for bucks and Ian was looking for a specific buck who had a white mark on his side, thought to be injured. It was early evening and deer often venture out of the woodland to eat the fresh young shoots of grass so we headed to the area where Ian last saw him. Armed with the best pair of binoculars I have ever used we quietly hugged the field boundaries, stopping regularly to throw dry grass into the air to check wind direction. Within 40 minutes we found him……well, he heard us and ran off. Rather strangely he stopped at the field boundary and studied us studying him. For fifteen minutes we studied him through the binoculars. He was a stunner. Ian said he was the best he had seen in a long time, about 5yrs old, a silver medal buck in the trophy world with a beautiful symetrical head and antlers.
Although he was carrying an old injury indicated by the white fur on his back he was in perfect health and subsequently deemed too good to shoot.
If you are eagle eyed you can see him below…I think its fair to say I’m no wildlife photographer!