The annual rut may be over but boys will be boys and these two are still more than willing to mix it up.

Days when snowstorms are ending or right after are some of my favorites for photographing wildlife. Certainly the snow provides for cool surroundings but more so, the critters just seem to relish the colder, wetter weather. This past Saturday that was the case for sure.

Light snow was falling and lighting wasn’t the best but the deer were extraordinarily active. These two pushed and shoved each other for a half hour and while the action wasn’t as intense as during the height of mating season, it was certainly fun to watch.

I do always wonder how they manage to escape without poking an eye out though! 😉

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Big mulie strikes a pose. A handsome fellow in some nice, post-sunrise light. This mule deer buck was wearing some evidence of battles from the recent rut with a couple of broken tines but still looked good.

This guy was making sure no one violated the rules. 😉

Well, at least it looks like sand dunes but in reality it was just a pile of construction sand. 😉

Kind of a fun, surprise encounter with this handsome buck. I was heading home after my photo outing this past Sunday and out of the corner of my eye I see this White-tailed Deer buck standing atop the hill.

This was in suburbia so a very odd place to see him and as such, I actually thought it was a decoy or something at first. Stopping, it turned its head and then I knew of course it was real.

Taken near the South Platte River in Adams County, Colorado.

Well, this was a fun scene to come across. I see this nice looking buck and doe and stop to snap their pictures.

The doe used that as an opportunity to get away from the buck and he did not appreciate it one bit. He took off running at a full sprint, leaping a bush in a rather athletic maneuver to catch up to her. She tried to escape but he caught up, cutting her off and circling her back.

Both were running at full speed, back and forth, as she was trying to make him understand she wasn’t interested in his affections. With his hormones raging though, he was not to be deterred and she did finally give up and stop running.

I shot 20 images or so of the event and figure putting them in a video works best to show the action.

Temperatures below freezing and snow don’t make it very comfortable to be outside for humans. Creatures such as these are far more capable of withstanding those conditions though.

I spent yesterday morning driving around looking for photo-worthy subjects and found a few, including this handsome guy. The deer actually seemed to be reveling in the cold and were quite active. 

This guy was in no mood to stop and pose for pictures. I don’t know if he was hot on the trail of the ladies or what. 😉 Even if he didn’t want to sit still, he did give me a couple nice shots in the early morning light as he went running by. These guys can go up to 30 mph and are famous for their ability to leap.

Quite the handsome fellow here. He was happily grazing on the Colorado plains but did take time to enjoy a gorgeous start to the day.

White-tailed Deer are North America’s smallest deer but the bucks are still a very respectable size as you can tell. They are very fleet-footed 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.