{"id":5150,"date":"2012-06-08T03:55:47","date_gmt":"2012-06-08T09:55:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=5150"},"modified":"2026-02-25T15:05:59","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T21:05:59","slug":"mule-deer-portraits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/06\/08\/mule-deer-portraits\/","title":{"rendered":"Mule Deer Portraits"},"content":{"rendered":"

While out on Antelope Island State Park<\/span><\/a> the other day I spotted a Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus<\/em>) that was almost hidden by tall grasses and stopped to get some images.<\/p>\n

When the deer moved away from the grasses I realized it was too close to get full body shots of the buck with my Nikkor 200-400mm VR attached to my camera so I decided to take Mule Deer portraits.<\/p>\n

\"MuleMule Deer buck in velvet head on – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Mule Deer bucks are in velvet right now and will be until their antlers fully develop. I wonder how big these antlers will get.<\/p>\n

\"SideSide view of a Mule Deer buck in velvet – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/2500, ISO 500, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I like that this buck also gave me a few opportunities for\u00a0profile shots. I love being able to see into those huge, dark eyes.<\/p>\n

\"AtypicalAtypical Mule Deer buck in velvet – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/1600, ISO 500, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 300mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The surprise was that the first Mule Deer buck wasn’t alone, shortly after I started photographing this buck stood up, it had been completely hidden from my sight.\u00a0 This buck’s antlers are atypical, I think he looks jaunty.<\/p>\n

I enjoyed taking these Mule Deer portraits, it isn’t often that I am this close to wild deer.<\/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":"

While out on Antelope Island State Park the other day I spotted a Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus) that was almost hidden by tall grasses and stopped to get some images.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":170483,"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":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[511,1022,317,26],"tags":[5471,532,4184,5470,4142,3801,11978,4062,4022,4035,4180,4746,165,4417,4032],"class_list":["post-5150","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-antlers","tag-atypical","tag-buck","tag-bucks","tag-close-up","tag-deer","tag-desert-island","tag-male","tag-mule-deer","tag-nature-photography","tag-odocoileus-hemionus","tag-portraits","tag-spring","tag-velvet","tag-wildlife-photography"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/mule-deer-buck-portrait-mia-mcpherson-7345.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-1l4","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6332,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/10\/12\/mule-deer-buck-on-antelope-island\/","url_meta":{"origin":5150,"position":0},"title":"Mule Deer Buck On Antelope Island","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 12, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Two days ago while looking for birds to photograph on Antelope Island State Park this Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus) buck came into view.","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 on a 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, 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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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