Fighting Whitetail Deer Bucks

These two whitetail deer bucks were photographed last week as they were fighting each other. This is a fall ritual as the male deer try to establish strength and dominance. Neither of these bucks is very large but they were semi-serious about the fight. Most of the action took place in deep shade and the light was not particularly pleasing. They briefly moved into this sunny spot in a meadow and we only got two shots there. This our favorite image of the day because the background woods are so dark that the deer are very prominent. The antlers show very well. Also, the deer are broadside to the camera with their heads pressed tightly together. Good action. Often the heads of the deer would be lowered so far into the weeds that their eyes were not visible but on this shot we can see everything.

This image was taken about 8:45 AM. The 100-400 lens was set at 235mm, 1/1250 second at f/5, ISO 640, aperture-priority. These settings were for the more shaded area of the meadow and we didn't have time to change when the deer moved into the sun. Two shots and they were back in the shade. We didn't need the fast shutter speed and would have preferred a lower ISO.