Doe crossing the bike trail

Now that the weather is taking a definite turn toward cooler temperatures, we’re seeing more signs of the annual deer rutting season. Yesterday I went back to the Rossmoor Bar area with the Big Guy, arriving before sunrise — let me tell you, it was surprisingly cold, even after the sun came up! We saw at least 30 deer as we hiked around, with a clear increase in the number of males compared to our previous outing. I was able to shoot only a fraction of the deer we saw; they’re still extremely spooky, but as the rut kicks in, we expect to see the bucks become more reckless and easier to spot.

The buck on the left shows some huge “nontypical” antlers; note how bulky his neck appears

Handsome forked horn