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A mature White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Tarrant County, Texas.
On a whim, early last week I decided to scout a promising new area for whitetail photography. I invited my partner in crime, James Childress, and together we set out to the cross timbers and prairies of north Texas. We had one night to camp, and hoped to make the most out of it.
We set out at just after 4 am, with hopes of arriving at our destination right around daybreak. Unsurprisingly, we underestimated the Dallas/Fort Worth Traffic, and ended up arriving over an hour after sunrise. With light already harshening and temperatures warming, we feared we missed our opportunity to observe any deer that morning, but within a few minutes of arriving we spotted a young 8-point buck in hot pursuit of a doe in a tangle of grass and blackberry vines. It was a good sign.
We set out exploring the area a bit, scouting for sign. It wouldn't be hard to find, and we found numerous rubs and scrapes that hinted at a robust deer population. We then met with a local that I had found through social media who pointed us in the direction of some prime deer viewing locations.
We then went about setting up camp and making our preparations for the evening. A couple of hours before sunset we started cruising past some of the areas our new friend had mentioned. We spotted a few deer, including the young buck from the morning and several does. They were welcomed encounters, but like anyone who has been fascinated with this most familiar of North America's megafauna, it was a mature buck that we were after.
The sun was getting low, and we still hadn't found the buck we were after when, in a distant drainage we spotted movement. Through glass we could see it was a nice buck, but it was hard to gauge just how nice. Soon he disappeared into a thicket, and we made the decision to pursue him on foot. We tried to anticipate where he was heading, and with the wind in our favor set out to intercept him.
It was by no means a stealthy pursuit, as we had to make our way through a thicket of dried cockleburs almost as tall as our heads. The barbed seeds clung to everything - our clothes, our cameras, our souls. But we pushed on, until we caught a glimpse of him in a distant patch of woods. We continued moving in his general direction, when, much to our surprise, he stepped out from the shadows into a narrow band of light. And he just stood there!
He stood as we repositioned, and we were fortunate enough to be able to capture him illuminated against the dark forest. He watched us intently, and it was then that we realized what an impressive animal he was. He had a massive frame, with a heavily muscled neck swollen from increased testosterone levels brought on by the rut. He had three points on his right antlers and four on his left - easily the biggest seven-point buck I had ever seen.
We spent the rest of the evening in his company. Though the area is a nature preserve where hunting is not allowed, it has been my experience that even in those scenarios mature bucks are far less tolerant. It seemed as if he was treating us more like rivals than predators, greeting us with grunts and snort-wheezes and responding aggressively to rattling.
The reason for his tolerance would soon become clear. With little light left in the day, a doe emerged from the brush nearby, and he promptly dipped his head and pranced after her. We speculate that she must have been approaching estrus, and he was aggressively tending her in preparation to mate.
As darkness blanketed the cross timbers, we went back to camp, reeling from this incredible encounter. We build a warm fire, cooked steaks and potatoes, and reminisced on an unforgettable evening. We then settled into our sleeping bags to stave off the cold, and reviewed our images from the day, full of anticipation of what the morning might hold.
The next day was relatively uneventful, though we saw many deer and explored some new areas, nothing could compare to the previous night's encounter. I have more images of this buck to share, but wanted to start out with this one, when he first revealed himself to us, standing powerful and proud at the timber's edge.