Dexter: New Blood – Filming Locations
the world's most comprehensive guide to locations where Dexter was shot



Dexter's forest encounter with the White Buck Deer




Q. What is it supposed to be on the show?

    A. A  forest.


Q. Where is it supposed to be on the show?

    A.  Near the small town of Iron Lake, New York.


Q. When did we see it on the show?

    A. In Episode 1, of Season 9, "Cold Snap".

    At the very start of the new show, we first see Dexter running through the snowy woods, rifle in hand.

    Then he spots something, and raises his rifle, peering through the scope.

    It's a rare white buck deer.

    Dexter starts to pull the trigger, but then hesitates and eventually drops to his knees.

    This running/stalking scenario plays out more than once in that first episode, with Dexter seemingly fascinated by the animal.

    The white deer appears to be a metaphor for the purity of his Dexter's own quest for abstinence.

    It culminates when Dexter approaches the white deer, and is almost able to touch it, before a shot rings out, the buck falls dead, and the obnoxious Matt Caldwell appears to claim his prize.

    Not surprisingly, Dexter impulsively kills him.

    This spot in the woods is seen again in the very last episode (10), in the controversial scene where Harrison shoots Dexter,


Q. What is it actually in real life?

    A. This scene was shot in two different locations, a forest by a lake, and a separate bit of woods miles away.


Q. Where can I find it in real life?















    A. In the real world, the scenes of Dexter running through the woods were filmed in the same forest that surrounds both Dexter's cabin and the Roaring Forks summer camp.  Both spots are on the western banks of Lake Wampanoag, in Garner, Massachusetts.

    You can read about both locations in detail by clicking the two links (above) to those pages.

    I naturally assumed that the scenes of him encountering the white buck were shot in the same place. But I was surprised to find that those deer scenes were actually filmed 25 miles away, to the southeast, in the city of Lancaster, Mass.


    Here is a photo Ron shot from that Harvard Road address:

    The location seems unlikely, behind some homes in of a residential area bordering on a forest.

    But I got this bit of information from a local Worcester,Massachusetts newspaper, The Telegram & Gazette  (founded in 1866), and they were very specific about the location, right down to the street address, which they gave as 535 Harvard Road, Lancaster, MA.  So I have to assume that they know what they're talking about.

    And Dexter was indeed filming extensively in Lancaster. It's where they filmed the early scene of Dexter being pulled over by a police car driven by Angela, as well as  the Iron Lake High School scenes, and Edward Olsen's home.

    I thought at first that the change in location might have been because they needed to bring an animal handler onto the set because of the deer. But it turns out the deer wasn't real, and was mostly a CGI creation. (The showrunner was quoted as saying that they never saw a live dear on the set.)  So I'm not sure why they didn't just shoot the scene while they were near Camp Collier.

    Perhaps  it was just at a matter of timing, and they happened to be in Lancaster when they needed to film that particular scene, and opted for the nearest bit of woods.

    but as you can see in the video below, the deer scene was mostly CGI:



    For the final scene where Harrison shoots Dexter, Dexter tells Harrison to meet him in the woods where they saw the white deer. So that should be this spot. However, I can't be sure that it actually filmed at the same location.

    The problem with scenes shot out in the woods Is that they all look alike. Over the course of the season, they filmed frequently in the woods, Including at Camp Collier, around Dexter's cabin, out In Lancaster where he dropped the glove, at the Tantiusques caves, and at this Harvard Road address for the deer sightings scene. But they all look basically the same on camera, and they could have shot this confrontation scene at any one of those places, particularly since they shot the season out of sequence.

    The Harvard Ave. location appears to contain a residential home, even though the scene  did not show it, so filming must have been limited to the woods behind the property..

    [ Remember that this is a private home, so don't trespass on their property,
     knock on their door, or do anything to disturb the residents.
    ]

     

      Here are two Google maps showing the locations of both
      Camp Collier and the white deer woods at:







Q. How the heck did you figure out where it was?
    A. I assumed correctly that the scenes of Dexter running through the woods had been shot in the same woods surrounding Dexter's cabin and the Running Forks summer camp locations. The 11/5/2021 edition of The Telegram confirmed that, but also let me know that the shots with the deer were filmed at the other location in Lancaster.




     The World's Most Comprehensive Guide To Locations Where Dexter Was Shot.

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