{"id":32915,"date":"2015-11-18T05:27:23","date_gmt":"2015-11-18T12:27:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=32915"},"modified":"2026-02-25T16:08:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T22:08:14","slug":"a-battle-scarred-mule-deer-buck-on-antelope-island","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/11\/18\/a-battle-scarred-mule-deer-buck-on-antelope-island\/","title":{"rendered":"Battle Scarred Mule Deer Buck On Antelope Island"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MuleA Mule Deer buck and his battle scars – Nikon D810, f6.3, 1\/2500, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I found a handsome but battle scarred Mule Deer buck yesterday walking briskly through a field with his head held high near the Bridger Bay campground on Antelope Island State Park<\/span><\/a>. Pointing this large buck out was easy.<\/p>\n

I never did see his right flank but his left flank had four major gashes that were healing along with one smaller wound.<\/p>\n

The Mule Deer are in rut on the island right now and the bucks are on the move looking for does to breed with.<\/p>\n

\"BattleA battle scarred Mule Deer buck – Nikon D810, f6.3, 1\/1600, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The drive to mate is so strong in Mule Deer that the bucks will battle to the death and although I am happy to see this buck survived I wonder how his opponent is doing. These bucks are hormone-driven fighting machines during the rut.<\/p>\n

This battle scarred Mule Deer buck walked across the road and headed towards Buffalo Point after I took a nice series of images of him. It looks like he will live to fight another day.<\/p>\n

I went to the island looking for birds and found a buck.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Mule Deer photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I found a handsome but battle scarred Mule Deer buck yesterday walking briskly through a field with his head held high near the Bridger Bay campground on Antelope Island State Park.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":170520,"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":[511,1022,317,26],"tags":[4742,4184,4743,4062,4022,4180,4249,4745,4744],"class_list":["post-32915","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-davis-county-utah","category-mule-deer","category-utah","tag-battle-scars","tag-buck","tag-fight","tag-male","tag-mule-deer","tag-odocoileus-hemionus","tag-rut","tag-scars","tag-wounds"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/mule-deer-buck-battle-scars-mia-mcpherson-0641.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-8yT","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":34104,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/12\/12\/mule-deer-buck-in-fog\/","url_meta":{"origin":32915,"position":0},"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, 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rocky hillside, Antelope Island State Park, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/mule-deer-buck-mia-mcpherson-0015.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-0015.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-0015.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-0015.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11621,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/12\/07\/atypical-mule-deer-buck-on-antelope-island-state-park\/","url_meta":{"origin":32915,"position":2},"title":"Atypical Mule Deer Buck On Antelope Island State Park","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 7, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I like this atypical Mule Deer because he isn't typical instead he is different, he stands out.","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":"Atypical Mule Deer buck, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/mule-deer-buck-atypical-mia-mcpherson-7382.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-atypical-mia-mcpherson-7382.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/mule-deer-buck-atypical-mia-mcpherson-7382.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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this frosty Mule Deer buck in snow on Antelope Island State Park in December of 2013 while he was following a few does through a field of snow-covered mullein.","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":"Mule Deer buck in snow on Antelope Island State Park, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/mule-deer-buck-snow-mia-mcpherson-0824.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/mule-deer-buck-snow-mia-mcpherson-0824.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/mule-deer-buck-snow-mia-mcpherson-0824.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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