It's uncommon to get to see larger groups of deer when they haven't seen you first. If you do manage it you may see them behaving differently. On a perfectly still morning before the sun penetrates to the wrong side of the hill and when your eyes are still adjusting it's worth standing very still and just watching. Is that some sort of children's party going on? Or a practice session for country dancing?
In amongst the more staid hinds, some of the younger stags, who hang on in the group, jump and dash and mock charge like 6 year olds in the playground aware that the matronly schoolteacher is supervising. Some playful head to head combat rarely lasts more than a second or so. It just needs an awareness of alien presence to set the whole group on guard and quell the purer animal spirits. Then as the sun gets through it's time to look for a well sprung heather bed to indulge in its warmth.
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