Mule Deer Buck

I got coffee on Sunday morning at a Wall convenience store while about a dozen hunters were also tanking up on coffee. The excitement and anticipation was palpable especially from a 10 year old that was going out with dad. Even though I was hunting with a camera I shared their excitement on my last morning to shoot a big muley buck. Thanks to technology it was a success.

Technical: ISO 10,000 at f4.0, shutter speed 1/80. image uncropped. noise reduction in LR. shot from car with bean bag rest

True Beauty of Nature

 

I usually try to record beauty and perfection in nature ignoring its imperfections. A perfect specimen always gets my attention, whether it is a trophy deer or wildflower at peak bloom. This otherwise healthy buck is an example of survival in an imperfect world. The beauty here is its ability to adapt, survive, and thrive. Isn't that the beauty of our lives as well?

Busted

This is the last thing a wildlife videographer wants to record when filming deer behavior.  The buck's body language is fun to watch but hard to put into a story about the deer rut. The lens is white, manual focus is required, and tracking him through the woods are all movements that he may have keyed in on. I am covered in a bag blind so the only movement is the camera and my gloved left hand. In my experience deer with little hunting pressure are very curious. Archery hunting from fixed tree stands is allowed in the park with a 3 deer per hunter limit so there is some hunting pressure but also lots of deer. This area of the park doesn't have hunting so I am free to hunt with the camera.