{"id":48865,"date":"2017-10-09T05:18:52","date_gmt":"2017-10-09T11:18:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=48865"},"modified":"2026-02-26T06:41:29","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T12:41:29","slug":"northern-utah-mule-deer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/10\/09\/northern-utah-mule-deer\/","title":{"rendered":"Northern Utah Mule Deer"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MuleMule Deer doe close up – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x Tc, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I haven’t posted any Mule Deer since the doe I photographed whose face was covered in spider webs and actually had a spider on her muzzle<\/span><\/a> so I thought I’d post two deer I photographed last week.<\/p>\n

Last Friday while looking for birds in the West Desert of Tooele County I saw a doe cross the road in a canyon and she stopped to look around where she was so close I couldn’t even fit all of her ears in the viewfinder.<\/p>\n

I decided to take photos of her any way and hoped to show her beauty up close. Typically I wouldn’t like to not show her entire head but I thought this image worked well.<\/p>\n

\"BackBack lit Mule Deer buck – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/640, ISO 640, +1.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x Tc, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Then last Saturday I saw a buck out in grassy a field in Box Elder County with the sun behind him and while I normally don’t like to take back lit images I also don’t like getting into a photographic rut.<\/p>\n

I want to challenge my skills and try different things. I enjoy trying to work with different lighting situations and seeing the results. I’ve seen some gorgeous back lit images where the rim lighting is simply spectacular.<\/p>\n

Rim lighting is a light that typically comes from beside or behind a subject. I like the rim lighting in this Mule Deer photo but perhaps it would have been even better just a few minutes earlier when the sun was a little lower.<\/p>\n

These two Mule Deer<\/span><\/a> were photographed in different settings, different lighting situations but about the same time of the morning and I find them both appealing.<\/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":"

These two Mule Deer were photographed in different settings, different lighting situations but about the same time of the morning and I find them both appealing. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":170568,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1148,317,1316,358,26,1314],"tags":[970,2485,4184,3940,4142,3801,4097,4620,4070,1124,4062,4022,4180,11852],"class_list":["post-48865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-mule-deer","category-stansbury-mountains-utah","category-tooele-county","category-utah","category-west-desert-utah","tag-autumn","tag-back-lit","tag-buck","tag-canyon","tag-close-up","tag-deer","tag-doe","tag-fall","tag-female","tag-field","tag-male","tag-mule-deer","tag-odocoileus-hemionus","tag-ranchlands"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/mule-deer-back-lit-mia-mcpherson-2812.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-cI9","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8314,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/05\/07\/mule-deer-doe-in-the-stansbury-mountains\/","url_meta":{"origin":48865,"position":0},"title":"Mule Deer Doe in the Stansbury Mountains","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 7, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I photographed this Mule Deer doe while camping in North Willow Canyon in the Stansbury Mountain Range of Tooele County, Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "Mule Deer"","block_context":{"text":"Mule Deer","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/mule-deer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Mule Deer doe in the Stansbury Mountains of Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/mule-deer-doe-mia-mcpherson-9108.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/mule-deer-doe-mia-mcpherson-9108.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/mule-deer-doe-mia-mcpherson-9108.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/mule-deer-herd-in-smoky-haze-mia-mcpherson-0331.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-herd-in-smoky-haze-mia-mcpherson-0331.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/mule-deer-herd-in-smoky-haze-mia-mcpherson-0331.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/mule-deer-herd-in-smoky-haze-mia-mcpherson-0331.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":74369,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/10\/05\/mule-deer-does-crossing-a-gravel-road-in-the-west-desert\/","url_meta":{"origin":48865,"position":2},"title":"Mule Deer Does Crossing A Gravel Road In The West Desert","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 5, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week I found a small herd of does and fawns on a gravel road that leads to the foothills and mountain canyons of the Stansbury Mountains that hung around long enough to be photographed.","rel":"","context":"In "Mule Deer"","block_context":{"text":"Mule Deer","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/mule-deer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Mule Deer does crossing a gravel road, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mule-deer-does-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-0875.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mule-deer-does-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-0875.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Yes, that is snow on the junipers, on May 1st!\u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "Mule Deer"","block_context":{"text":"Mule Deer","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/mule-deer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Mule Deer doe in snowy junipers, Stansbury Mountains, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/mule-deer-doe-junipers-mia-mcpherson-7198.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-doe-junipers-mia-mcpherson-7198.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/mule-deer-doe-junipers-mia-mcpherson-7198.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/mule-deer-doe-junipers-mia-mcpherson-7198.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I can't resist photographing birds or wildlife up close so I swung my lens around and focused on the face of the Mule Deer and laughed out loud because she was covered in spiderwebs.","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 doe with spiderwebs and a spider on her face, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/mule-deer-spider-webs-mia-mcpherson-5904.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-spider-webs-mia-mcpherson-5904.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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