September SNP Morning

Willard moving in on a SNP buck

As summer draws to a close my thoughts return to the amazing whitetails of Shenandoah National Park.

The protection afforded by the park allows the whitetails to grow to maturity and their acclimation to human presence allows photographers a glimpse into their natural world as the deer go about their daily routines.

Willard and I arrived at Big Meadows minutes before the sun crested the horizon. With a hot day in the offing the deer were already beginning to leave the meadow moving toward the cooler shade of the trees.

The first buck we sighted paused along the wood line

In a display of exuberance perhaps brought on by the hormonal changes with the change of the seasons the buck treated us to an unusual photo opportunity.

This fellow even brought his front feet into play thrashing the overhanging evergreen boughs

A little later we again encountered the same buck as he fed on acorns still atached to the overhanging oak branches.

This was the first buck encounter of the morning but not the last.......

More to come in future post.

As light levels were still low all images in this post were shot at ISO 1000 with a Canon 30D.