Shot a Big Ten yesterday but not near as big as the big ten I shot last week

[Steve Oehlenschlager]

 

[Steve Oehlenschlager]

All 100% Wild. This is last weeks buck

 

[SD51555]

Doesn't look like it was a kill shot. :D

 

[Steve Oehlenschlager]

No it was a money shot!

 

[Steve Oehlenschlager]

you don't shoot until you see the whites of their eyes

 

[chummer]

That last one is a great pic. How close were you. I think my camera would be shaking as much as my gun.

 

[Steve Oehlenschlager]

I got within about 40 feet of him. Took 2 hours to go from 30 yds to 12 yds of comfort. Then when I was done, he started following me. I was not getting the "EYE" from him, but he did make me nervous. The big ten point will give you the "EYE" when he is with a doe. More than once I have had to take evasive maneuvers or risked getting charged. You KNOW it when they mean business. Last year the big ten charged another photographer and stopped mere feet from him and backed away.

 

[dipper]

They sound real wild. 90" and a 120" still baby bucks

 

[Steve Oehlenschlager]

These deer are not that young. The larger is 4 1/2 or 5 1/2 this year. The other is 3 1/2 or 4 1/2. The deer have a large following of people that watch them year round. I am not expert on them but the people who are can tell you when they were born and which doe is their mother. They don't exactly live on the best of habitat, it floods often. Here is a better picture of the larger one.

 

[bwoods11]

Nice!!

What state?

 

[foggy]

Nice pics Steve. Very well done.

 

[tooln]

Nice pics. Hard to believe the are wild.

 

[Steve Oehlenschlager]

All taken in Minnesota

 

[Natty Bumppo]

I feel like I missed something. You're saying these are wild? As in, you crawled to within 40 feet of these bucks and then they followed you when you were done? What am I missing?

 

[Steve Oehlenschlager]

They live in a large popular park in Minnesota. No fences 100% wild. They just have contact with people every day. Takes some time to get them comfortable for the day and then they pretty much forget about you.

 

[Steve Oehlenschlager]

No different than every big Bull Elk or big buck you see in a magazine. They are either captive or 99% taken at a park where they interact with people every day. The deer are not all tame at the park. Later when the snow gets deep, the park numbers double. Then they get pretty spooky because all the migrant deer do not like people.

 

[Natty Bumppo]

They live in a large popular park in Minnesota. No fences 100% wild. They just have contact with people every day. Takes some time to get them comfortable for the day and then they pretty much forget about you.

Got it. Wow. Great pics.

 

[jwill1776]

Great pictures, thanks for sharing

 

[McLovin]

They sound real wild. 90" and a 120" still baby bucks

More like 130 and 160 plus. Fort Snelling would be my guess,

 

[shawnv]

Great pics!