The story actually starts early in the morning when we glassed these bucks up and put the sneak on them, only to lose them in some thick trees without ever snapping a picture.  To say we were disappointed would be a great understatement.  I cant speak for my brother but I was physically sick!  We knew they were great bucks and we knew we had missed a golden opportunity that may never present itself again. 

Later this same day, after the morning deer looking was over, we could be found sulking around camp thinking about how close we were to getting some shots of some great looking bucks and how the odds of the opportunity presenting itself again were slim to none.  Eventually late morning gave way to late afternoon and late afternoon gave way to evening and we again hit the road to try and find some deer to photograph.  We drove all over the place and couldn’t find a thing to get excited about.  We even took the kids and went for several small hikes and glassed hard and still nothing.  With the last of the photographing light fading my brother and I decided to take the kids and run down to where we had lost the herd of big bucks earlier in the day and take a look on the off chance the deer didn’t run as far as we thought they did and they would still be hanging out in the same area.

Imagine our surprise and astonishment when we rounded a corner very near where we had lost the deer earlier in the day and there they were!  The same bucks form the morning and they were almost in the same exact spot.  We quickly set up the camera and readied everything to try some photos in the low light.  I turned back just before we started shooting and glanced at the kids.  What I saw was priceless, the usually rowdy, way to loud bunch of kids were frozen perfectly still and not making a peep.  They were just staring at us and the bucks.  They were in awe and remained motionless and silent the entire time we were shooting.  It was an awesome experience to photograph this caliber of buck with all my kiddos in tow.  I know they thought seeing these bucks was pretty special and I know my little son saw them because he spent a good part of the next day running around with sticks held up to his head asking me to take his picture.  I think he figured out how to get my attention. 

These aren’t the sharpest pictures we have ever taken because the light was incredibly low as we were shooting.  Actually, it is really quite incredible the pictures turned out as well as they did.  Hope you all enjoy them as much as we enjoyed taking them and stay tuned because next I plan to post the big buck that we were lucky enough to photograph.

As we zipped down the road,  in between spots we generally stop to glass, we looked up on the hill, looked at each other, and said something about that hill looks different.  We immediately stopped and pulled out the binoculars.  Sure enough there was something different about the hill, there was two bucks feeding on a tall buck brush.  The funny thing is that they were so far out that you couldn’t tell they were deer with the naked eye, just that there were some grey spots that usually weren’t there.  We later discussed how you know you are spending a lot of time in an area and have looked at a  hill way to many times when you can tell something about the hill looks different and not be able to pinpoint exactly what it is until you pull up the binos.  We immediately readied the gear and started a stalk on the two feeding bucks.  We eventually got in good camera range, set up the tripod and camera, snapped a few pictures of the four point, and waited for the second buck to come around the bush so we could see what it had for antlers.  It took nearly a half hour for the deer to finally show itself and in that half hour we had ourselves convinced that it was a monster!  The anticipation was fun and killing us.  We had that buck made out to be so big in our heads that it was a real disappointment when it finally stepped out.  We had to laugh at ourselves.  Though the bucks aren’t monsters the three point  has unique eye guards and I like how the other is looking over his back at us.  Also, it may be because I was there but, the lighting captures the quiet, still, filtered light, atmosphere that often precedes an impending storm in the desert.

From the apex of a small hill we could see that the biggest and the second biggest bucks had bedded under a burnt out log and we thought if we could get around behind the log and slowly sneak in on them that way we may have a chance.  The unknown was the smallest of the bucks, we had no idea where he was and we knew we could jump him at any time and that would be the end of the sneak and the day.  We hastily made our way to a point we could approach the log from the back and started a painstakingly slow stalk.  With the sun dropping and with it the light, we crested a small hill that allowed us to see the log the deer were bedded under.  As we as we krept closer the back side of the log we could see the antlers of the bigger buck sticking up over the log.  It was a thrill to put a sneak on, always knowing that the buck was still there.  As we got closer and closer our smiles grew and grew.  Once we were about 20 yards away I set up the tripod and camera and tested the lighting.  Once this was complete I signaled my brother to move closer and see if he could stand the deer up without startling them out of the area. 

It only took several minutes for my brother to be within 5 feet of touching the deers antlers.  Here he stopped and started trying to make any little noise he could to stand the deer up.  The plan worked perfectly, we watched as the bigger bucks antlers started turning from side to side trying to figure out what was up.  After a few seconds both bucks stood up and began to look around.  I started snapping photos as my brother lay hidden on the other side of the log, concealed from their searching gaze.  I remember wishing I had a smaller lens with me to get the deer looking right over my brother who was hiding mere feet from them.  We were super excited with the way the photos turned out.  The bucks aren’t necessarily wall hangers but the colors are nice and even small bucks are better than nothing on a long day of scouting around.

I’d been seeing a neat looking wide racked buck in a basin I liked to hunt. Unfortunately I had a hard time stalking him within photo range. I wanted some decent shots so I kept visiting the basin each morning of my hunt. This particular basin sits on the southeast flank of the mountain, so it’s a great morning light type of photo area.

My persistence was rewarded on a beautiful clear morning when I came around a ridge towards the basin and saw two sets of antlers, the wide buck and a nice four point.

I couldn’t have asked for a better photo setup, the bucks were slightly above me in great light. A short stalk, and enough curiosity and confusion on the part of these pretty bucks allowed me to take some of my favorite velvet buck shots.

One year later I encountered the same scenario while trying to find and photograph big velvet bucks; however locating and stalking a good buck close enough to photograph was more difficult. I kept glassing a big buck in the same basin I’d shot the wide buck in the previous year, and again my initial attempts to get close to the deer failed. This particular basin is a good place to find deer, but the oak brush makes staking them quite a challenge. While glassing, I located this great looking typical buck. The big buck was feeding with six or eight other bucks, as usual they were in an area that didn’t look very promising for a stalk, but I had to try anyway. Actually, I tried several stalks on the feeding bucks, bad attempts in the noisy brush, each time I had to tell myself there was no hurry. I decided the best thing to do would be to back off and watch them, maybe I could form a better plan. I watched the deer feeding for awhile and figured they might end up on the east rim of the basin. Without any other ideas I hurried to the place were I thought I’d be in the bucks path. I picked a spot for an ambush with a couple decent shooting lanes, got my camera set up and hoped for the best.

The first deer on the scene wore wide velvet covered antlers and he was feeding right towards me! Words cannot describe the immense feeling of excitement that comes from being in the right place at the right time, it just dosn’t happen to me often enough that I will ever get used to it. At this point I needed to stay steady until the shooting stopped, I did stay steady enough to capture these images of a great buck, but just barely.

This buck looked allot like the wide three by four from the previous year, but without any telling signature points it was hard to say. I wasn’t sure if it was the same buck or not until I looked closer at the photos of him from both years and saw what looks like a scar above his left eye.

I love seeing the same big wild bucks several years running, it is a real testament to these great animals.

So I walked back down to my truck, drove a short distance to the one spot I could begin the long climb up to try and get some photos.  Becasue of the bucks location and the lay of the land there really only was one way I could make stalk and not be seen immediately.  The problem was that there were suddenly deer everywhere and the draw I needed to sneak up was no exception.  I sat pondering what to do, and the thought that perhaps I needed to wait for a better opportunity another day even entered my head breifely before I laughed it out.  I finally decided on a plan which included trying to herd the deer blocking my approach over the hill opposite the big buck.  Once loaded with all the camera gear I started slowly moving in the direction of the does trying to keep myself between them and the direction of the big buck.  Should they run east my chances at photographing the big buck would be lost.  This process of herding does was painstakingly slow as I had to move slowly toward them until they became alert then wait until they were done staring at me, then they would move a little at  a time in the direction I needed them to go.  My fear was that if I jumped them they would scatter or bound in the direction of the buck, so for a good 45 min I had to be content to be a doe herder.  Turns out though, I am either good at herding does or was extremetly luck whichever the case the does fed up and over the hill in the direction I needed them to go.  This left a clean shot at a stalk, I’ll be it straight up hill in a foot of snow.  Long story short, after near cardiac arrest I was able to position myself under the tree that I had picked out earlier while glassing as the one that would put my right above the buck.  With final camera preparations complete I began to sneak over the ridge toward where I last saw the buck 1 hour ago.  Call it intuition, or just again really lucky, but I cut this initial stalk short and went back  to the tree I had left  from.  I decided that if the buck had kept feeding the direction he was headed when I last saw him he would be higher up the hill and I would need to top over higher if I was going to have a chance at seeing him.  Now, as I made my way further up the ridge I began to notice deer tracks in the snow with lines tracing the tracks wherever they would go.  The tracks were in the middle and the lines in the snow were about 1 foot or 1.5 feet on either side.  I thought to myself I would like to see the buck that had antlers big enough to make lines like this in the snow.   Well I picked a new spot to sneak over the hill and once again made ready the camera equipment and began what I hoped would be the final approach.  Sure enough my gamble payed off and as I peered over the edge I was looking right down on the buck.  Two things ran through my mind as I began to snap photos.  First was disappointment as I noticed that he was not in fact super heavy as I first thought but rather had very flattened antlers.  Second was the fact that he had snow accumulated on his front tines and that this was the buck that had made the tracks lined on either side that I had crossed several times during my stalk.

The bucks antlers are unique looking and he is a great buck.  I was thrilled at the way the photos turned out and had a party of one all the way back to town.  Just another great experience doing what I love.    

These great photos of the buck we call Tree Scraper were taken by Daren Brooks.  I didn’t realize this was Tree Scraper at first as he is smaller this year than he has been the 2 years prior.  He has also not had the one weak fork in the back prior to this year.  He is still a fantastic buck, it will be interesting to see how he looks next year, i am wondering if the antler growth is a result of nutrition or if he is just getting old.  Thanks to Daren for sharing the photos!
Photo by Darren Brooks

I snapped this last photo as old Tree Scraper tried to figure out just what I was and what I was doing.  It is always awesome to see some of these big bucks return year after year.  I cant help but wonder where he goes in the summer and how he consistently avoids the hunters; its as if hes a ghost and appears every year out of nowhere.
Photo by Seth Topham

Here are a couple of fantastic photos my friend Daren Brooks snapped.  Daren has sent in some great photos in the past and this year he is at it again.  He is getting some amazing stuff  and we will be posting more of his work soon.

Photo by Darren Brooks

What a great looking, heavy, 4 by 5.  Not only a great buck but a beautiful photo.   Thanks to Daren for sharing these photos.