Camera Critters #297

A couple of weeks ago, I presented photos of a young buck Mule Deer I got on Thanksgiving Day.  One thing I failed to tell you about that day.

As I finished shooting the buck, I turned to head down the hillside and no more than 20 feet from me lay a doe Mule Deer.

She didn't pay me a bit of attention...never looked my way...never twitched an ear.  It was almost as if I was invisible to her.

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Camera Critters #295

Every year for the last 15 or so years, I have spent Thanksgiving day with a friend of mine.  Several years ago, he moved into the mountains north of where he lives.

Before dinner was ready, I decided to explore the 166 acres of land he owns.

It didn't take long to locate a resting Mule Deer buck.  It was a small forked horn, but he was in the sun and looked totally relaxed.  Using a tree for cover and being as quiet as possible, I got as close as I could and snapped off this shot.

He didn't move a muscle or twitch an ear.  So I decided I would see if I could get closer.  I stepped out from the cover of the tree and took two steps when the buck's head turned slightly and the left eyelid slightly opened.

I froze at that moment.  I was 30, maybe 35 feet away from the buck and I knew he was sizing me up through that slightly opened eyelid.  He then slowly stood up, looked at with both eyes wide opened and started walking away toward a group of a dozen or so does off to my left.

He didn't run...just slowly walked away...but the entire time, he kept his eyes on me.

Misty Dawn's Camera Critter Meme is a great way to see critters the world over.  Go to the home page here to see more.  Then add your own photo and join the fun.

Camera Critters #256

Feb. 24, 2013 was a good day.  It was the first race of the season in the NASCAR racing circuit, and it was the birthday of a friend of mine.

I’ve been to his place in the mountains north of Prineville, Oregon, and each time I go there, I take my camera.  You never know what will show up wanting their photo taken.











And Mule Deer sure enjoyed the photo session.

Misty Dawn’s Camera Critter Meme is a great way see critters the world over. Go to the homepage here to see more. Then join the fun and add your own.

Camera Critters #235

It's deer season in Oregon.

And from what I am hearing from hunters, I am probably the only person seeing bucks.





Misty Dawn’s Camera Critter Meme is a great way see critters the world over. Go to the homepage here to see more. Then join the fun and add your own.

Camera Critters #190

A little more than 10 years, I moved from Prineville to Redmond, Oregon.  The house we moved into was a nice place.  Close to my sister, which made my mom happy, and best of all, it was buried deep into the Juniper forest area just west of town.

Because of our location, we had a lot of critters hanging around.  After a couple of months, my mom and I had named at least a dozen deer who frequent visitors to our house area.  It didn’t take me long to start putting out feed for them.  The deer became so accustomed to us, that when we walked the 500 feet or so to the mailbox, they’d wouldn’t even move even though we walked within five feet of them.

I realize the images above aren’t up to my quality standard, but in my defense, I had just gotten one of those Sony cameras which saved the images to a floppy disk.  I was state-of-the-art at the time.  8v)

Misty Dawn’s Camera Critter Meme is a great way see critters the world over. Go to the homepage here to see more. Then join the fun and add your own.

Camera Critters #97

Eight years ago, I lived outside of town in a comfortable home nestled back off the road in the Juniper trees. There were many things about the spot I liked and one of them was the wildlife.

Because we fed the birds (including a Peacock which arrived from who-knows-where) and put out Purina Deer Chow for the Mule Deer in the area, we had a lot of both. The fawn below was a regular visitor and had no fear of me or my mother...unless we got too close. Too close was generally six feet away.

But having the critter hang out with the big boys was always cool.

Misty Dawn's Camera Critter Meme is a great way to see critters of all types. Go to the Meme homepage here and check out more entries. Then join the fun and let the world see your critter!

Camera Critter #70

Before I was forced to move back into town, I lived in a wooded area west of here, near my sister's place. One of the things I enjoyed about that area was the wildlife. Mule Deer were constant visitors to property and were so accustomed to us, we could go about our normal routine and not spook them. At times, there would be upwards of a dozen or more deer laying under trees, or feeding around our house.

After moving into town a little more than six years ago, I have missed seeing the deer. Although we have had a few deer wander into town, and a couple spend an hour or so in the area of my new home, it hasn't been the same.

Thursday evening, I was at my sisters visiting with her and my brother who came in from Texas. Shortly after the sun began to set, a small herd of feeding bucks began making their way across the pasture on my sister's property.

I figured I might have enough light if I pushed the ISO, so I grabbed my camera and headed outside. After slowly and carefully walking to the fenceline, I was able to spend quite a while photographing the deer as they made their way closer and closer to me until they disappeared into the wooded area where I used to live.

One of the larger bucks from the herd

Another large buck

Not as large, but still a nice buck

A pair of alert Mule Deer bucks

The entire herd of ten

Misty Dawn's Camera Critter Meme is a great way to see critters of all types. Go to the Meme homepage here and check out more entries. Then join the fun and let the world see your critters!

Camera Critter Sunday No. 8

When I lived in a nice place west of town and set back about 400 feet from the road in Juniper badlands, we had deer constantly hanging around the house. Of course, we fed them Purina Deer Chow and we could go about our normal business and the deer wouldn't bolt...they'd just lay there chewing their cud watching what we did.

After moving out of that place, I thought I would never get close enough to a Mule Deer to get a good shot again. That is until June 19, 2007 and this week's Camera Critter Meme.

It was near 100 degrees that day and myself and a friend went to a nearby state park called Smith Rock. As we walked along the roadway heading towards some Golden Eagle nests, we came across this Mule Deer resting in the shade. She let me get as close as my lens would allow (I had a 70-300mm zoom on the camera) and didn't bat an eye. She stared at me almost the entire time...but I didn't want a staring contest photo. So I asked my friend to cough and when he did, she turned to look towards him and I got this shot.



Both my friend and I spent a few more minutes imaging this cooperative doe and then headed off for the nesting cliffs. When we returned, she was gone. But we did enjoy our short time together with her.

Oh...and the eagle nests were empty when we arrived.