Odd Man Out

Just gotten off the phone for a delightful predawn call to look out and see this big boy with what we at first thought were three big does (they should be dropping fawns in 45 days or so). The buck being a big boy, it caught our attention, so we watched. Then two questions came to mind. First, why does he still have his antlers, and second, why is he with three does? We start seeing sheds at the end of January, and normally by the end of Feb, all the bucks just have buttons. And herding does is normally a fall activity. What gives then?

I ignored my thoughts, grabbed the camera, and walked out the front door slowly to see what they would do. Normally, the bucks tend to move off when I appear outside, especially when they are with does. In this case, he just stood there watching me. I slowly moved to get out from behind some limbs so I could shoot. The group of four didn’t move. So I kept moving, they just stood there. It was dark o-thirty, ISO 1600 +1/3 comp brought me to 1/30, but I didn’t care, I love just standing with them as they go about their life. Now, in full disclosure, I’ve been known to have an apple or six in my pockets when I go out with the deer, and over the years, well, they tend to watch me to see if they are going to get a treat.

After a little while, they figured, I think, that there were no apples coming so they ambled up the ravine to bed down for the morning. With that, I ran to the computer to look at the photos closely to understand the biology going on. I came to find that what we thought were three does were actually three bucks. That explains their size. When I looked closely, I could see their buttons where they had shed their antlers already. That left just one question unanswered: why did the big boy still have his antlers. I guess he was just the odd man out.