Mule Deer Does Crossing A Gravel Road In The West Desert

Mule Deer does crossing a gravel road – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/3200, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

I don’t see or photograph Mule Deer as often as I used to but lately I have been seeing more of them, especially out in the West Desert.

Part of the reason I have seen fewer of Mule Deer is that due to my severe reactions to some insect bites I have limited my trips to Antelope Island to almost nothing when the biting gnats or deer flies are out. I do see deer up in the Wasatch Mountains but they are usually right next to the winding roads where stopping is dangerous.

Last week I found a small herd of does and fawns on a gravel road that leads to the foothills and mountain canyons of the Stansbury Mountains that hung around long enough to be photographed. The does and fawns crossed the dusty gravel road from the south and headed north to an area covered with grasses, rabbitbrush and sage which allowed me to take images of the deer with the foothills of the mountains behind them.

At first I didn’t think I’d like the images because the gravel road was in almost all of the Mule Deer photos but after taking the time to review my files I decided that the road didn’t bother me at all plus I like being able to see the juniper dotted foothills in the background.

Finding and pointing out these does was nice.

Life is good.

Mia

Click here to see more of my Mule Deer photos plus facts and information about this species.