This young white-tailed deer buck showed yesterday that Santa’s reindeer have nothing on it. 😉

A fun but very fast encounter yesterday morning. I saw this guy and a friend bolting across the Colorado plains on an intercept course to my path. By the time I stopped and got my camera up, the first guy had passed but I managed a few of the second as he flew by.

They were absolutely moving, probably 30mph or so, as they ran and bounded and I only had time to grab these three frames. Absolutely impressive athleticism.

Five full moons! Yeah, anyone can get pics of a full moon but how about five at once? 😉

I don’t normally get too excited about taking pics of deer but, check out this massive mulie.

From the number of points, the drop tine, the brow tines and a massive 32 inch or so spread, he is impressive. He is quite a celebrity at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge and you can see why. The day after Christmas I got my best look yet of him.

The rut has ended so he is now roaming around a lot more, not having to worry about hanging out with the ladies. I have no doubt they would swoon when they saw him coming. 😉

The rut is pretty much over but boys will be boys and these two gents were still testing their skills. The pair faced off head to head and then engaged in some pushing, shoving and twisting as they locked their antlers together. It is a wonder I don’t see more bucks with scars or damaged eyes from these kinds of battles.

Joe never understood why he was the first one found when the herd played hide and seek. 😀 Mondays are never easy so hopefully this one puts a smile on your face and makes today a bit easier to deal with.

This big boy has become quite popular of late at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge.

His massive rack with a cool drop tine make him stand out among the other big boys. Photographers have taken notice with many clamoring for a good look at him.

He has gotten wary of all the attention and is now keeping his distance more than in the past. I captured this shot of him last weekend as he demonstrated the flehmen response, undoubtedly trying to get a better whiff of the nearby does.

Not ideal weather conditions yesterday here on the Colorado Front Range. Fog settled in overnight and persisted for the entire morning preventing pics of anything that was farther than 20 yards away.

Thankfully, the deer were plentiful and as always, willing to pose for pictures. This massive mule deer buck was keeping watch over a doe while in some frost-covered grass. He was impressive and the wintry conditions made for a nice scene.

With the deer rut still going on, testosterone is high and the competition between bucks for mating rights is very visible. Sometimes you will see a pair of males sparring head-to-head, other times, one decides it just isn’t worth the fight.

Yesterday these two bucks were closely following a doe, vying for her affection. One of the bucks did not care for the competition and started toward the other but the interloper wanted no part of a battle. He instead opted to run with the first buck chasing after him.

Eventually, the winner decided all was in the clear and returned to his pursuit of the doe. This actually turned out to be successful as they proceeded to mate – an image for another day.

This guy is one of the bigger white-tails at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge near Denver, Colorado. He is very handsome and yesterday gave me some nice captures. This one I liked the best with the framing of the trees as he kept watch on the folks passing by.

White tailed deer are found across much of North America, through Central America and the northern parts of South America. They are the smallest deer in North America and capable of speeds up to 30mph and able to leap as high as 10 feet and as far as 30 feet in a single bound.