Mule Deer at the Arsenal

[terrib]

A few shots of Mule Deer at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge. The light was really nice. All shot from the car on a beanbag support.

C&C always appreciated!

#1 I set up and waited for this Mule Deer buck to come up on this ridge. I misjudged how big he was and cut it closer than I'd like at the bottom. Subsequent shots where I corrected, he wasn't looking at me so I still like this one best. 1/4000, f5.6, ISO800, 220mm Canon 100-400, Canon 7D. (yes I should have lowered ISO)



#2 I love how the snow reminds me of flowers. 1/3200, f5.6, ISO800, 365mm



#3 1/2500, f5.6, ISO800, 160mm



#4 Hey, I'm playing hard to get here. Pay attention!! 1/2000, f5.6, ISO800, 100mm

[Shadowman]

Nicely captured.

[Nicks Pics]

These are excellent shots! Yes, beautiful lighting, and poses, and surroundings for the dear too. My favorite is that beautiful doe, #2. Yeah, at first the snow looks like flowers on the weeds. Like the way the light is shining on the buck's un-velveted antlers in #1. A miserly 1000 pixel image you uploaded for us- wish I could see the original

[Mike Buckley]

The first and second photos are especially nice. The snow in the second one reminds me of cotton.

I'm sure there is a way to tell the difference between a mule deer, a regular deer (whatever that means) and an elk. Unfortunately, I've never been able to do it.

[bnnrcn]

Great images, the light is really nice

[Brownbear]

Absolutely gorgeous, #2 being my favourite followed by #1. The light is beautiful!

[terrib]

Thank you everyone for your kind comments.

Mike, the snow does kinda look like defoliated cotton. As far as the differences, I'm sure if they were the subjects of your photographs, you'd be able to identify them easily. Elk are quite different in coloring, much larger and have heads reminiscent of cattle. Mule deer have much larger ears than White-tailed deer, with dark foreheads but a lighter face and their antlers tend to be more vertical. On the White-tailed deer, the darker color of the head extends almost to the nose where there's generally a lighter ring around the snout. Their antlers tend to go out first and then curve back in. And of course, they have the signature white flag (tail) that you see when they are running away. (Basing this on American terms)

ELK



WHITE-TAILED DEER



(poor quality pic but I don't have many good examples of the antlers of the white-tailed buck)




But then sometimes, I have to look twice. This buck's antlers are shaped more like a White-tail but his coloring is clearly a Mule Deer. Given that both varieties inhabit this area, could be a hybrid. Supposedly, you can tell by some sort of gland on the leg but at this point, I quit worrying about it!

[Texas Dave]

You're in a special place! WOW!

Great job on the captures!

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks for the explanation, Terri.

[Mike Buckley]

Terri,

I like the second one so much that I wanted to see if more detail could be brought out in the snow. I selected the bright areas of it and applied a really aggressive reverse S-curve. The results shown below are for your consideration.

[Nicks Pics]

That was a great explanation of how to identify the different species Terri. And great photos to go with it.

[terrib]

Mike, here is a revised version with the highlights brought down on the snow.

[Stagecoach]

Gorgeous set Terri and for me it No 2 as the winner.

[Donald]

I'm amazed that no UK member asked what mule deer were doing at a soccer club. Arsenal is the name of one of the big soccer clubs in England. They are based in London. One of the chants of their fans is 'C'mon the Arsenal'.

As has already been said, the light in these images is beautiful and each is a strong composition.

[IzzieK]

I am late to this party but it is the lighting that caught my attention too. I particularly like #1 and #2...and the butt shot of course. Beautiful tail...

[FlyingSquirrel]

Terri, these are phenomenal. Absolutely stunning light, nice and sharp..just fantastic. Well done! If the first photo were mine, I'd clone out the dark plant stem "connected" to the subject's chin.

[Mike Buckley]

Very nice revision, Terri!

[terrib]

I'm amazed that no UK member asked what mule deer were doing at a soccer club. Arsenal is the name of one of the big soccer clubs in England. They are based in London. One of the chants of their fans is 'C'mon the Arsenal'.

I'm surprised the name hasn't caused questions all around, Donald. An Arsenal doesn't seem a likely place for deer to want to hang out, especially in hunting season. I guess I've posted enough shots from there that most know by now what it is.

[terrib]

Thanks everyone for your comments.

Mike and Matt - appreciate the suggestions for improvement!