Nature pointless struggle - sad story

On my last day off, I decided to go to Richmond park to give my FA*300 some deserved spin. I was hoping for some action shots but I think I got more than I bargained for.
I stared on small slope with some casual deer shots. After while I got tipped by other wildlife enthusiast photog that just across the road was quite some fight going on. So I quickly hurried over there and I found tow fully grown stags fighting it out! At first I got very excited and started fifing away. After while, I concentrated more on the pics and started to get some keepers. Still not up to standard I wanted but I was happy. Then I noticed that the males seemed to be locked in the struggle. Their antlers interlocked and one ripping other's mouth.




They were fighting hard, but at times it seemed they were trying to set each other free. Nothing stood in their way, grass, logs, ditch....





some steady breaks, and some pretty fierce pushes...





but the injuries began to take the toll..



after while I had park ranger next to me asking me if one is injured so I quickly showed him couple of shots. He alerted another rangers who after assessing the situation tried to separate the two using long log and jeep. Since these attempts failed miserably they decided to shoot the injured stag and subsequently tried to free the other one. But since the annual cull is around the corner they were not trying all that hard (looking at it from where I stood) so the end was really sad:



it left me bit shaken and feeling really sad. Prior to this battle, these two would have been some of the finest males in the herd. It was just really sad they ended up this way.

BR
Peter

PS:
As far as the lens performance goes, I'm quite satisfied, it delivered some fine results, but I need to improve my skills and technique in order to obtain more good keepers.

[imtheguy]

Powerful stuff. Something you are not likely to forget even if you are a hunter.

[rparmar]

Dramatic. And sad.

[flippedgazelle]

I agree with the previous 2 posters.

Great series.

[sebberry]

Originally Posted by flippedgazelle

I agree with the previous 2 posters.

Great series.

Count me in

[Sailor]

Striking and unsettling, Peter - but really good photography.

Jer

[xs400]

Originally Posted by Sailor

Striking and unsettling, Peter - but really good photography.

Jer

I agree. Excellent work.

[K20DPent]

Hard to add much more. Very good photography and a sad ending indeed. But from the look of the earlier shots, neither one was going to survive this battle.

[dexmus]

good shots there.

So why do the rangers have to shoot these injured stags?

[kevinschoenmakers]

Impressive series.

[axl]

thanks guys,
I appreciate your comments. I'd like to get some better shots though next time.

As far as the shooting goes. Apparently there is an annual cull in the park, for it can't hold more than 800~ deer. So each year they go and shoot the weak and injured. So I think these two just made the selection easier. I did think though that the second one did have chance to survive.... shame

BR
Peter

[Ash]

I think you've done just fine Peter.
Quite graphic images - sad for me to see also.
Your FA* came in handy though.

Culling to suit the park size... interesting concept.

[LeDave]

WOW! Good pictures and good story. My favorite one in Post Your Photos section so far. Very very sad it is, how badly injured was the mouth of the other deer?

[OPTMEKX&]

amazing shots, seems like a National Geographic in the making. Thanks for sharing.

[Jimbo]

That must have been diffcult to watch Peter. I know it would be for me. Thank you for taking the time to go through the whole event. Looks like the injured one would have not made it on his own. Its rutting season and its all nature at work. JIM