2008.09.19
A pretty little eight-pointer in Bedford County
I've spent the past couple of evenings at a place I hunt in Bedford County. The first night I was checking on stands and also trying to get deer pictures. Last night I went out for a dove hunt.
On the way out from my dove hunting area I spotted four deer feeding in a field. This was one of them. I thought he was a six-pointer but in going through the pictures I could see he actually has little G3s on both sides. I'd like to think he's a great yearling, but he could also be a small 2.5 year old.
I wish I could have gotten a better picture but the light was marginal so I had to shoot with a pretty slow shutter speed, even at ISO 400.
WOW!!! No velvet on it's antlers all the bucks I have seen while driving still have Velvet, would also tend to reason nature has it's own calling to mate would you think so Mark meaning the rut..?
Comment by Backlash — September 19, 2008 @ 10:28 am
Mark, great shot, what kind of camera/lens did you use??
Comment by Ryan — September 19, 2008 @ 12:34 pm
Backlash,
Most bucks have lost their velvet in the past couple of weeks, although there still are some velvet stragglers out there.
Ryan,
Thanks. It was shot with a Nikon D2H with an old Nikkor F 3.5/400 mm manual-focus lens.
The lens is pretty good. The camera, not so good. Like other Nikon pro gear, it's tough as heck. But the technology is pretty obsolete. For example, the sensor is just 4.1 megapixels. By comparison, the Canon cameras used by our photo staff (I got the Nikon when the "real" photographers switched to Canon) have sensors that are two to three times larger. (The new Nikon pro gear is also much better, obviously.)
Because the D2H doesn't have a great sensor, low-light shooting is tough. The max ISO is 800 and at that setting images are pretty grainy. So I usually use 400 and do a lot of praying that I and the animals are still enough for a relatively sharp image.
Sorry if that's more information than you were bargaining for. This is a subject of great interest to me.
If you are shopping for a digital SLR for wildlife photography, the new Nikon and Canon prosumer cameras (such as the Nikon D80 and Canon 20D or Rebel series) are great, affordable options.
mt
Comment by Mark Taylor — September 19, 2008 @ 1:20 pm
mark great shot i would say if this makes it in a couple of years he will be nice good guess the on the age i would agree 2 2.5 i enjoy your blog it gets me ready for the long season ahead keep taking those great shots oh by the way those other have lost thier velvet now that you had on the last blog they look as good now as they did before . good hunting two more weeks hope to send some pictures.wag
Comment by wag — September 22, 2008 @ 7:41 pm