Camera Critters: An Old Friend Is Gone

The first morning of Pennsylvania's rifle deer season and every deer in this photography is a legal target--if a hunter has the proper tags and they are in an area where hunting is permitted. Fortunately these animals are safe, unless they stray from the posted sanctuary or a wildlife criminal drives by and shoots them from his vehicle.

It is unclear just what happened, but on the third morning of season, I realized that the large doe which is standing to the left side of the picture and looking to the left, was missing and most likely dead.

The First Day Of Season

This animal was born in 2000 along with a twin sister. At that time I was mostly shooting video and I recorded many beautiful clips of them. She had her first fawn in 2003 and has had one or two fawns each year since then. She was especially trusting of me, and often gave me opportunities to photograph her young. She was featured in a post a short time ago with one of her fawns from this year, which is a small doe.

With doe fawn from this year: November 15th

She was a stunning photographic subject when she was standing in a good position, but many readers were concerned about her health when they noted how thin and bony she appeared in many shots. This thin look was most likely a combination of genetics and a result of the strain of raising a large number of fawns.

With newborn fawn: June 2008

In Her Prime: August 2005

It is most likely that I will never know what happened to her. It is very possible that she strayed from the posted sanctuary and was legally killed, but I am leaning toward the view that she was taken by a road hunter, since I have seen some well known practitioners of this crime driving past since season opened.

As it stands, a favorite deer that has provided countless hours of viewing pleasure is gone. There is a remote possibility that she will yet return, but she never missed a day of putting in an appearance in the past, so it seems likely that she is gone forever.

Road hunting was one of the most common violations, which I encountered in my years as a Deputy Wildlife Conservation Officer.

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Camera Critters: The Rut Winds Down

The whitetail mating season, or rut, usually peaks around the middle of November, but in recent years has often continued through Thanksgiving week and into Pennsylvania's rifle deer season, which brings it to a screeching halt.

This November was colder than those in the recent past and in fact temperatures were probably more in line with what they should be for this area. This resulted in the rut seeming to come to an abrupt end at the beginning of the week. Mature bucks were still looking for does on Sunday-at least the one in the photo below was- until he heard the frantic clicking of the 30-Ds' shutter.

Canon 30-D: 500mmF4

On Monday morning I photographed a 7-point which was still pursuing does, but since then I have seen only small bucks in Pennsylvania. The yearlings that I see on a regular basis, that have not yet dispersed from the herd, are less aggressive, and are more interested in feeding than chasing does. While it is certainly still possible to see a mature buck chasing does, with each passing day it becomes less and less likely.

Canon 30-D: 500mmF4

The same held true for Virginia when we traveled to Shenandoah National Park on Wednesday morning. We did see some large bucks by the roadside before day as we were driving to Big Meadows and saw a large buck with a broken right main beam after daylight.

Canon 40-D: 70-200mm f2.8

These animals were not chasing does, but were concentrating on feeding and regaining weight so they might better face the winter months to come.

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Camaera Critters: Sklyine Whitetails

Being an obsessive-compulsive whitetail deer photographer, and with the whitetail rutting season in full swing, my main photographic subject is of course the whitetail deer. Last week Billie Cromwell and I were in Shenandoah National Park from dawn Monday morning until mid-day on Wednesday. It was a successful trip.

After sunrise on Tuesday morning we found a beautiful ten-point buck in the strip of grass between Skyline Drive and The Byrd Visitor Center.

Canon 40-D: 100-400mmL

"Salty" and his wife were there for a morning photographic shoot and arrived at a point in time when the buck crossed into the meadow after a doe and then followed her back to his original spot. Salty arrived on the scene at this point and I captured the buck crossing the road between us.

Canon 40-D: 100-400mmL

The buck remained in the area for some time before following the doe into the nearby woodlands.

Canon 40-D: 100-400mmL

Here in Pennsylvania, whitetail buck photography will come to a screeching halt on the Monday after Thanksgiving week, which is the first day of a two-week rifle deer season. In our area both antlered and antlerless deer may be hunted with the appropriate tags, but in some parts of the state the season will be for bucks only until the first Saturday in December, at which time antlerless deer will be legal too.

There is no hunting in Shenandoah National Park so these bucks are safe unless they stray from the park, but private property is very close in many areas and it seems likely that many bucks are taken each year when they leave park land. In addition, poaching is a problem within the park, but a dedicated Ranger force keeps close watch.

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Whitetail Buck and Turkey Gobbler

The whitetail rut continues here in Pennsylvania. I expected activity to be very intense this week as a good shot of cold weather usually sends the rut into overdrive, but such has not been the case. I did manage to capture this small four-point on Sunday morning when he challenged a small spike quite near to my photographic outpost. I would have liked to have the entire rack in the photograph, but that was all I could get in with the 500mm F4 so it is obvious that the deer was very close. Notice the intimidating look in his eye and how his hair is fluffed.

Canon 30-D: 500mmF4- 1 1/2 year old whitetail buck

We had our first light snowfall of the season on Wednesday night, a minuscule amount actually, but that combined with a heavy frost made a stunning backdrop for this mature Eastern Wild Turkey Gobbler to pose against at sunrise on Tuesday morning.

Canon 30-D: 500mmF4- Mature Eastern Wild Turkey Gobbler

It has been in the low 20s in the mornings, but the wind chill factor makes it feel much worse. It seems that one is more likely to see wildlife once the sun hits the meadows in this type of weather.