Tuesday, November 17, 2009

More Bang for my Buck!

The title means just that...I need more...bucks, that is...The rut as I know it has not yet peaked, and the sightings are few and far between, which is frustrating, because when you pay your dues and spend lots of time in the field, let alone the high prices for gas, you expect a certain amount of payback. I do have a few here, but not what I expect at this time of the year. The area I frequent which has the biggest percentage of up close sightings has yet to produce any great portraits. In years past, I could find random bucks roadside on any given day during these weeks. Not true thus far...I'm only hoping the next few days will meet my expectations and divulge a bonanza of bucks! Stay tuned...

So here are some random offerings I have saved over the weeks:



This guy got up from his mid-day nap, not ready to get his picture taken. He laid with a doe close by, but was quite disturbed with me.






This guy was sensing some love in the air, and found it, but she was not receptive...







This giant 10 pointer has such a symmetrical basket, don't you think?







This little guy has some growing to do, but as all bucks around this area thrive into big beefcakes, he definately has some potential...







This guy was pretty far out, but couldn't hide his massive rack, as the tall tines were a beacon.

13 comments:

Chris said...

Hi,
This is a very nice random offering! I love these fantastic shots in the environment. The first and the third ones are may favorite! You are quite lucky to see them so often, but I guess it is also because you know how to observe them and where

Anonymous said...

I seem to never tire when I am looking at deer pictures.These are very nice as your lat ones were. I look forward to seeing more.

Montanagirl said...

I envy you! Look at the swollen neck in that last photo. These are just gorgeous shots (all of them). I can never get even remotely close to a Whitetail in this country! But then, I don't get up before daybreak either, so it's my own fault. I'm sure enjoying the photos you're able to get however.

Ruth's Photo Blog said...

Those are some pretty amazing pictures,considering that out here we are lucky to see a buck maybe once in a while,but usually not photograph-able.Good luck for more.
Blessings,Ruth

Eve said...

I wish I had big bucks!!! Great photos Hannibal!

Tina said...

You certainly found some amazing head shots!! I feel lucky if I see one buck and usually it is running away from me! Good catches..can't wait to see what you catch next!

Coy Hill said...

You certainly are blessed to live in an area that has some huge bucks! These fellows are some real jaw-droppers. Bucks here in Pa seldom live long enough to reach these sizes even if they have the potential.

Shelley said...

YOu are queen of the buck shots! All wonderful!!!

Willard said...

The sightings may be less than you are used to, but the photos are super. As Coy said, few if any bucks here live long enough to reach their potential and these are a pleasure to look at.

David Drufke said...

Great shots. What state were these taken in. We have a lot of whitetails in Minnesota.
This buck looks very similar to one of the ones on your blog.

R. Gabe Davis said...

Found You through Rick's site whitetail woods. Love the Photos

Your Pal the Envirocapitalist

Brad Myers said...

Thanks for stopping by my site, Willard told me about your before and I am glad I stopped by. Your photographs are amazing. These bucks are huge, I may miss the shot with these guys because of being to busy just staring st racks.

You may not being seeing the amount you would like but you are luckey to have such quality deer to photograph. I went back through some of the older post and like what I see, I will be back often.

Willard said...

Here is what I posted in the comments section of my blog about your question on the 7D and video:

It is easy to switch the camera from till to video (flip a selector switch on the back from one to the other), but it is somewhat more difficult to set it up for best results.

Video should ideally be shot at no less than 1/30 sec. and in most cases not more than 1/100 with 1/60 being the ideal. This means that when shooting video, one should shift to manual mode if they are not already doing so. Then they need to select an appropriate ISO and f stop. The same exposure scale that you see in the normal finder is visible on the lcd and you adjust this until it is centered. You can use auto focus by depressing the focus button on the back, or partially depressing the normal shutter release, but it does not work well to follow focus, which is somewhat of a problem when dealing with wildlife. I will try to write in more detail about this soon.

One fires the camera in video mode, by pressing a small button to the right of the viewfinder. This button it actually in the center of the video-still selector lever assembly.