The most common view that I have had of White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) the last few months has been of their bobbing tails as they ran away from me. Last week, however, I managed to capture some shots of a young buck as it ran laterally across a trail at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.
When I first spotted the deer, its head was just sticking out of the vegetation at the edge of the trail. As you can see in the first image, the deer looked straight at me and seemed to hesitate a moment before deciding what to do. Without much warning, the deer sprung into action and I was able to capture these shots as the young deer bounded across the trail. Note how the deer had only a single hoof in contact with the ground in many of the photos.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Good reaction time, Mike!
Young and skinny! ❤️
I used to be like that too. 🙂
No comment : ))
Deer are such graceful animals, even when they are skedaddling.
Indeed they are. They always strike me as gentle creatures too.
I’ll bet that got your heart pumping!
Indeed it did. Adrenaline kicks in when I am compelled to react quickly like that.
I know the feeling!
Gorgeous! What a great series of shots, Mike!
Thanks, Chris. It was nice to have a chance to photograph a mammal for a change rather than the insects and birds that I mostly photograph.
Ha, I know the disappearing tail version! Nice captures of the one-footed action. I really like your first image, too, with the deer’s head through the vegetation.
Neat!