Black-tailed Deer Gallery

Blacktails (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus) are a subspecies of mule deer that we have here in the Northwest.

Hurricane Ridge

These pictures were taken at Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park in northwestern Washington.

One Minute

This doe was with her fawn on the Hurricane Hill Trail at Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park. The deer there are very tolerant of people and will often pass close by on the trail as it runs along the top of the ridge. I decided to take a couple of head shots of this doe, one with her shadowed by a hill and with a backdrop of trees, and the other where she stepped a little to the right and into the sunlight. These pictures were taken a minute apart, and even though she only moved a few feet, the difference in light gives each picture its own mood. I like her pose better in the shaded picture, and also that the green background really brings out her whiskers.

I nearly had a beautiful headshot of a fawn a few minutes later right as the sun was setting, I had seen a doe and her two fawns walking near the trail and waited to see if they would cross the trail. They did, and one of the fawns looked directly at me in the beautiful light, but it ended up being closer to me than expected and I had the wrong lens mounted on the camera. By the time I switched lenses the moment was gone.

Black-tailed doe on the Hurricane Hill Trail at Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park

Black-tailed doe in front of the Olympic Mountains in Olympic National Park

Backdrop

One of the great things about Hurricane Ridge is the ability to photograph the blacktails against the backdrop of the Olympic Range. This picture was taken in June, when the wildflowers had started appearing amidst the rapidly retreating snow.

Shoo Fly

This buck on Hurricane Ridge was lagging behind several other deer when a large biting fly began hassle it. At first the buck tried casually moving his head and neck, then biting the air trying to catch it as seen in the first picture. When that failed, it eventually decided it was time to leave and bolted off after the other deer. These pictures were taken in June, so his antlers are still growing.

A black-tailed buck is hassled by a biting fly at Olympic National Park

In the Shadows of Giants

These pictures were taken in a meadow in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park in March 2009.

A black-tailed fawn eats leaves from a blackberry vine in a meadow in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park

A black-tailed fawn at sunset in a meadow in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park

	Incisors Deer lack upper canine teeth but compensate by pinching vegetation against a calloused part of their mouth. This doe was eating the leaves of the blackberry bush by pressing the leaves to the roof of her mouth with her tongue and then pulling them off. She and her little ones were ignoring the other plants of the meadow at Elk Prairie and exclusively feeding on the blackberry leaves.
	Now That's My Happy Girl! Everywhere I go, animals are overjoyed to see me.

A black-tailed deer fawn in a meadow in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park

A black-tailed deer fawn eats leaves from a blackberry vine in a meadow in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park

A black-tailed deer doe in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park

Paradise

These pictures were taken in the Paradise area of Mount Rainier National Park in Washington.

My Oh My

A black-tailed fawn nibbles at the tops of huckleberry bushes. I like shots like this where the animal is partially hidden in its environment and was fortunate that not only is its eye visible but you can even see a bit of the white of its eye as it stretches to eat.

Watching this fawn and its sibling and mother started off one of my favorite hiking days where I spent the entire day on the Skyline Trail with stunning views of Rainier and the Cascades and deer and bears and marmots and pikas and ground squirrels and grouse and friendly people and my oh my but that was a fun trip.

A black-tailed fawn nibbles on huckleberry bushes on the Skyline Trail in the Paradise area of Mount Rainier National Park

Two black-tailed fawns nibble on huckleberry bushes on the Skyline Trail in the Paradise area of Mount Rainier National Park

Camera Shy

“Don't look now but Boolie’s taking our picture. I said don’t look!”

Roughage

This doe was browsing the tops of the huckleberry bushes with her two fawns, nibbling off the uppermost leaves and branches. As far as I could tell, they didn’t seem too interested in the berries themselves, leaving those for the bears.

A close-up view of a black-tailed deer nibbling on huckleberry bushes on the Skyline Trail in the Paradise area of Mount Rainier National Park

Ridgefield

The Soft Light

May is a wonderful time to be at Ridgefield, but it can be frustrating too, as the gates don't open until well after sunrise and close before sunset. On a sunny day, that means the best light of the day is gone before you can even get onto the refuge and find an interesting subject.

But on a cloudy day, which we've had a lot of lately, you can still get some beautiful soft light even an hour after sunrise, and useable light for much of the day. I came across this black-tailed doe early one morning as she dined on plants in the River S Unit. It's not exactly rare to see deer at the refuge, but not all that common either, and this is the first time I've been happy with one I've photographed there.

A close-up view of a black-tailed deer doe in the rain at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

The Soft Light

After posting above that I finally had gotten a picture of a deer at Ridgefield that I liked, the very next morning I arrived early in a heavy rain and found a doe and buck just past the entrance gate and before getting onto the refuge proper. I parked my car in a little pullout, rolled down the window, and draped a towel over the door to protect the insides from the rain. I watched the two of them for quite some time, I had the refuge to myself as apparently others don't like the rain as much as I do.

I got this close look at the damp doe as she grazed in a small meadow at the top of the refuge. There used to be a lot of other meadows in the area even just a couple of years ago but they've been plowed under as Ridgefield has exploded into a bedroom community for Portland and Vancouver.

Sunset at the Slough

Black-tailed deer grazing on bushes at Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge

This doe was part of a group that came out at sunset on the Baskett Butte Trail at Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge.

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