Mother Deer and Fawns

A White-tailed (Odocoileus virginianus) mother deer and her two fawns grazing in a field in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

This image of a mother deer and two her fawns in a farmer’s field brings back fond memories of a vacation in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. During my visit I would often glimpse deer on the road and in the fields, and it soon became apparent that White-tailed deer are shy. The deer would spook just at the sight of me!

Capturing this moment entailed formulating a plan which included arising before the crack of dawn, hiding in a tent on a field, and waiting for a deer to show up. I imagined that I was a photographer for National Geographic on assignment and much to my delight this beautiful doe showed up with her two fawns to graze on the greenery in the field.

Taking cover in the tent allowed me to be near without spooking the deer. Indeed, because I was sight unseen they hung around for a while. I captured a few images, but this was my favourite for the golden light and because they appear to be looking at me. Even though they could not see me it appeared to me that they had some sense of my presence.

White-tailed deer are also referred to as Virginia deer. Their coats are a beautiful reddish brown in the summer months and the underside of their tails are white. The fawns are born with white spots which provide camouflage.

I captured this image with a Nikon D80 at shutter speed of 1/60 second, F5 and an ISO of 400 at a focal length of 75mm, with a Nikkor DX 18-200mm lens at 5:15 a.m.. I used a tripod as the light was low.

Much to my delight this image was featured by Your Shot National Geographic as one of the daily dozen. So yes, it was worthwhile arising before the crack of dawn!

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