Last Tuesday the Big Guy took me out to a new spot along the south bank of the American River. He’d been seeing black-tail bucks in the area as he passed through on his bike, and he was pretty certain I could get some good photos. Parking costs $5 in this portion of county-controlled greenbelt — but I think we definitely got our money’s worth.

Buck #1

We decided to split up and approach the dredger tailings from two different directions, hoping to flush out the deer. While I quickly spotted buck #1, the Big Guy had his eyes on a second buck; unfortunately, his camera batteries picked that moment to die, so he used his phone to capture these photos:

Buck #2 with a doe

Blacktail crossed with reindeer??

These deer have clearly adapted very well to the contours of the environment — piles of dredger tailings interspersed with oak tree-filled hollows, brush, star thistle, and blackberry patches.

These bushes make for excellent deer cover

With fresh batteries the Big Guy shot this photo of the terrain

Buck #3 resting under an oak tree

Buck #4 darted across the road in front of me — almost missed him!

After failing to spot where #4 had disappeared to, I turned around and found buck #5 right behind me!

Thanks to the Big Guy for a fun outing in an area I never would have discovered on my own. Five bucks for five bucks — I can’t complain about that deal!