We were coming home from the car show at Lincoln, when we decided to head for Bean Lake on the cut across road to Augusta, Montana. We noticed a mule deer buck in a coulee beside us, and we stopped to take a photo of him. As we looked onto the hillside, we were looking directly into the setting sun and it took us a moment to make out there were three more bucks on the hill.
We sat and waited. I took some photos of the bucks on the hill. But the shot I was hoping for, wasn't happening. The buck on top of the hill, began to walk out of sight. The buck at the bottom of the hill was slowly grazing his way up, but he was a long ways from the rest of the bucks, who had begun to gather near the top of the hill.
Once again, the largest buck at the top of the hill began to walk over the ridge. I held my breath and he stopped. I ran down the road a ways so I wouldn't be shooting at them, directly into the sun. The buck at the bottom of the hill finally came up to the others.
There was one split second, when the bucks stood like this together, then the big one walked over the ridge. The impossible shot had come into being! There are 25 tines in this one photo....
This photo of the bucks has won two featured spots on Red Bubble, one in the Deer Me! group, and one in the Even Toed Ungulates group. I hope you enjoyed seeing it, as much I enjoyed catching it!
Donna Ridgway
