{"id":32527,"date":"2015-11-14T05:44:44","date_gmt":"2015-11-14T12:44:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=32527"},"modified":"2025-04-16T07:43:10","modified_gmt":"2025-04-16T12:43:10","slug":"a-mule-deer-buck-in-rut-at-bear-river-national-wildlife-refuge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/11\/14\/a-mule-deer-buck-in-rut-at-bear-river-national-wildlife-refuge\/","title":{"rendered":"Mule Deer Buck In Rut At Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MuleMule Deer buck in morning light – Nikon D810, f6.3, 1\/1000, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday I found a Mule Deer buck in rut following a doe in the marsh next to the Bear River at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a>. He is a big buck and has an unusual set of antlers with several non-typical tines on the left antler and one oddly shaped tine on the right side. That tine seemed wider than normal but also had a vertical crack on it.<\/p>\n

\"HandsomeHandsome Mule Deer on a frosty November morning – Nikon D810, f6.3, 1\/1600, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The Mule Deer buck followed the doe through the lightly frosted marsh as she walked east on the north side of the Bear River. He didn’t pay much attention to anything but her and didn’t turn to look in my direction often. I like the profile of the buck in this frame.<\/p>\n

\"MarshMarsh and a Mule Deer buck – Nikon D810, f6.3, 1\/1250, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

And in this frame I like how this shows more of the deer’s habitat than in the previous images and more of the buck’s body. He is one healthy looking Mule Deer.<\/p>\n

\"BoxBox Elder County Mule Deer – Nikon D810, f6.3, 1\/1000, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This image shows even more of the habitat with the mountains in the distant background plus the buck was looking in my direction. I like how the warm tones of the buck and vegetation contrast nicely from the cool tones of the water and the mountains in the distance.<\/p>\n

\"MuleMule Deer doe being followed by a buck – Nikon D810, f6.3, 1\/1250, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I felt I also had to share an image of the doe the buck had been following. She paid little attention to the buck as he trailed after her and I am not sure she even glanced in his direction.<\/p>\n

I went looking for birds at the refuge but I felt I had to get images of this pair of Mule Deer who seemed to glow in the early light.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

There are more images of this buck from yesterday here<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday I found a Mule Deer buck in rut following a doe in the marsh next to the Bear River at Bear River National Wildlife Refuge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":142924,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[124,1148,317,26],"tags":[4004,970,4184,3801,4097,4620,4070,683,4062,4094,4022,4180,4249,4095,102],"class_list":["post-32527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-mule-deer","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-autumn","tag-buck","tag-deer","tag-doe","tag-fall","tag-female","tag-habitat-2","tag-male","tag-marsh","tag-mule-deer","tag-odocoileus-hemionus","tag-rut","tag-wetlands","tag-wildlife"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/mule-deer-buck-mia-mcpherson-9474.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-8sD","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":42589,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/10\/12\/mule-deer-buck-at-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":32527,"position":0},"title":"Mule Deer Buck At Bear River MBR \u2013 Celebrating National Wildlife Refuge Week","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 12, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Last fall I photographed this beautiful Mule Deer buck at Bear River MBR in rut as he followed a doe around the frost-covered marsh.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Mule Deer buck in a marsh at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/mule-deer-buck-mia-mcpherson-9511.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/mule-deer-buck-mia-mcpherson-9511.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/mule-deer-buck-mia-mcpherson-9511.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/mule-deer-buck-mia-mcpherson-9511.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6628,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/11\/22\/resting-mule-deer-buck-at-bear-river-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":32527,"position":1},"title":"Resting Mule Deer Buck At Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 22, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"So, my best shots of the day were of this resting Mule Deer buck that I almost missed spotting because he blended in so well with the habitat.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Resting Mule Deer buck at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/mule-deer-buck-mia-mcpherson-1363.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/mule-deer-buck-mia-mcpherson-1363.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/mule-deer-buck-mia-mcpherson-1363.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/mule-deer-buck-mia-mcpherson-1363.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":95760,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/09\/30\/two-mule-deer-bucks-in-the-marsh-at-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":32527,"position":2},"title":"Two Mule Deer Bucks In The Marsh At Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 30, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Monday morning I saw a group of three Mule Deer bucks slowly moving through tall vegetation in the marsh at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Two young Mule Deer bucks in the marsh at Bear River MBR, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/mule-deer-bucks-in-marsh-mia-mcpherson-6142.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/mule-deer-bucks-in-marsh-mia-mcpherson-6142.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/mule-deer-bucks-in-marsh-mia-mcpherson-6142.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/mule-deer-bucks-in-marsh-mia-mcpherson-6142.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":34104,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/12\/12\/mule-deer-buck-in-fog\/","url_meta":{"origin":32527,"position":3},"title":"Mule Deer Buck In Fog On Antelope Island State Park","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 12, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday I was able to photograph this Mule Deer buck in fog on Antelope Island State Park as he and another buck trailed after some does.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Foggy Mule Deer buck trailing after a doe on Antelope Island State Park, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/mule-deer-buck-mia-mcpherson-6270.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/mule-deer-buck-mia-mcpherson-6270.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/mule-deer-buck-mia-mcpherson-6270.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Mule Deer were photographed in different settings, different lighting situations but about the same time of the morning and I find them both appealing.","rel":"","context":"In "Box Elder County"","block_context":{"text":"Box Elder County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/box-elder-county-utah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Back lit Mule Deer buck, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/mule-deer-back-lit-mia-mcpherson-2812.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/mule-deer-back-lit-mia-mcpherson-2812.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/mule-deer-back-lit-mia-mcpherson-2812.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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