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- Written by: The DIY Hunter
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There have been a few pretty nice bucks crawling out of their hiding spots and showing up to chase the does. Below are a few compilations of rutting mule deer bucks in Northern Utah. I have also been taking photos of mule deer this fall including most of the bucks I have captured on the trail cameras.
This buck has been named the Church Buck because of me getting a bunch of photos of him on a Sunday morning and apparently my friends thought I was skipping church. No, I wasn't sneaking out of church... well at least not when I took photos of this buck. Church Buck is also a fitting name with the fact that he has such a "perfectly" symmetrical four-point rack. "Be ye therefore perfect..." Hmm...
Other Articles of Interest:
- 2013-2014 Mule Deer Photos With My FujiFilm HS50exr Camera
- 2014-2015 Mule Deer Photos
- 2015-2016 Mule Deer Photos
This Recon Force trail camera caught the Church Buck catching up with a doe.
Here's a couple of nice bucks in hot pursuit of does.
This doe pees in front of the trail camera and two bucks curl their noses in pursuit.
This buck with a broken G2 is very elusive. I have not been able to find him in person.
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Here are some photos of mule deer and other critters I have recently taken with my new FujiFilm HS50exr digital camera. I'll add photos as I get them this winter. Most of the photos are taken at long distances with the zoom set at 42x (1000mm). All of the photos are with the camera handheld. Being a new camera for me I am learning that it behaves a little different than my old HS20exr. First, I have found that you need to make sure the focus mode switch on the left side of the camera is set to "S" for Single. Having it in Continuous "C" mode makes for getting pictures of deer that are in focus pretty darn hard. I learned the hard way with that mode... I have also found that I like the plain Auto mode over the EXR mode for getting better in-focus images. I have also stopped shooting raw photos and gone straight to just JPG. Yes, raw is better but I find it better to get a JPG than to get nothing. Shooting in raw slows down the speed with which the camera can recover before shooting another photo. I get a lot more photos of the action when shooting only JPG.
Other Articles of Interest:
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One of my Recon Force trail cameras on this tree for the last time this year.
This Browning Spec Ops trail camera has been watching a spring (to my back) for the past six months.
Aside from a cow elk tag that Dallen has for this year our big game hunting is over for the year. With winter approaching I took one last trip up the mountain to the high country to pull my trail cameras. I have spent so much time this year going up hunting and checking my trail cameras that I have become really fond of the area.
I found the trail camera on my favorite spring broken right off the mounting bracket and the camera was lying on the ground covered with mud. I have been able to use some super glue and a little time to let the moisture that entered the camera dry out and it appears to function fine now. Reviewing the footage from the camera and from past experience, I can only guess that it was a black bear. Those critters have it in for me I swear.... or at least they really don't like trail cameras.
I have thoroughly enjoyed communing with the mountain this year. With all the time and the video/images I have of the animals that frequent the area I can't help but feel connected with the mountain more so than at any other time in my life. People can say one thing or the other about the use of trail cameras but I'm here to say that I am very grateful for them in helping me feel so connected with such a beautiful place on God's earth. Not only did the cameras help provide elk meat for our family they are directly responsible for helping me loose weight and in getting my bad knees in better condition, something I could not force myself to do at any gym.
The mountain looks so different now. All the leaves fallen, much of the vegetation flattened from crazing and snow, the area feels deserted. It was a sad day for me to take this last trip.
Here's one of the best bucks I have seen on camera this year. I love the long cheater on the right. Where was this buck hiding during the hunting season? I really like this buck. He has a pretty set of antlers.
This young bull comes in with some cows and plops down right in front of the camera one evening. What's really neat is that this was the bull that I have the most on camera all through June and July then he disappeared from the area.
Here is the bull on July 3rd. The camera shows 2012 but I had the date set wrong in the camera.
Here he is on October 29th back in the area he spent the summer.
Here's a cow that comes up and licks the camera. This is actually a pretty common occurrence. The cows are really curious of the cameras. The self adjusting illumination on the camera is nice so it doesn't blow out the exposure as the elk gets closer.
This video is just of various elk that pass by the cameras over the past several weeks. Nothing big. I wonder if the two 5x6 bulls we were after made it through the hunting seasons.
Here's the camera that I believe Mr. Bear tried to destroy. Once the camera hits the ground a cow elk comes by and a magpie lands above it.