Saturday, May 15, 2010

Camera Critters: Antler Growth Continues

I hope to follow the growth of two whitetail bucks during this spring and summer, but it seemed for a time that the project may have come to a screeching halt as I last saw the bucks on Monday evening.  Up until that time they were seen almost every morning and evening.  While few deer are killed by poachers at this time of year, it is possible for the animals to move several miles from their home range and not return.  Since one of the bucks is a three year old, the likelihood that he will leave is declining as most disperse in their first autumn as a rack buck or the following spring.

Over the years I have seen two 2year olds, vanish suddenly from mid-May to early June, so I was not ruling out the possibility that this had happened, and I was starting to feel a sense of loss, but then last evening they returned to the food plot and I was able to photograph the same buck that was featured last week.

2 year old-exactly one week later

Notice how the points are now clearly defined. For those who are technically minded, I used the 70-200mmf2.8L IS and the Canon 7D for today's deer photos.

One Week Later- The Points Are Plainly Visible

I had to post a photograph of another species to prove that I do photograph something besides deer, turkeys, and elk, so here is a chipmunk from this morning's photo shoot.

Chipmunk

In this case I used the Canon 7D with the 500mmF4 IS.  As light conditions were very low, this was taken at ISO 800-1/100 sec. f4.5.

For more Camera Critters photographs, Click Here!