White-tailed Deer buck captured by Z 9 / 180-400VR2
In the last day or so the White-tails does here at The Ranch have been a little bit on edge. I’ve seen a couple of the bucks, their racks just starting to burst their velvet sheath milling about. While it’s not there yet, love is in the air, in the near future. It’s a great time to be out with your bins and watch what the ungulates are doing as they size up their opportunities. They look at the opposite sex, they look over the terrain, possible predators, everything as they get ready for the fall rut. Watching this can put you in the right place at the right time for that click you’re looking for. Take some notes on times of day they show up to “that spot” and how they enter and exit it. Watch the light and shadows, the comings and goings of any other folks. What the deer while they are there. Do they browse, bed down, chew cud, just how do they spend their time. With the slow change in light comes the change of weather telling us now’s the time to watch!