The rut was on at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge on the morning of November 9. Fog hung over the fields along the auto tour road. White-tailed bucks chasing does were the story of the morning, and I ended up photographing three different bucks.
I have photographed does in that tall grass before, including a healthy white-tailed doe at Sequoyah. That morning, the bucks had taken over.
White-tailed Bucks Chasing Does Beside the Road
Around 8:40 a.m. I was driving the auto tour road when a doe ran across in front of my truck. I stopped. A buck crossed right behind her, running hard.
I parked and walked out to the edge of the field. The grass and weeds stood high, and I could barely see the deer moving in it. The buck was chasing the does back and forth in that field.
Then the does ran back toward the road. I walked back and waited. The buck stepped out of the brush and spotted me. He stopped long enough for one good look at the camera, then turned and ran back into the field.
The Second Buck Took His Time
The second buck crossed the road in front of my truck, too. This one was in no hurry. He crossed at a walk and kept going through the woods on the other side.
I took this photo at 9:30 a.m. I never saw a doe near this buck. They could have been in the woods around him, and I would not have known.
The Young Buck That Walked Up to My Truck
The last buck was a young one, and he gave me the best show of the morning. I first spotted him at the edge of a field, moving toward the road. I stopped and parked a short distance from him.
To my surprise, he walked toward me. He carries the oddest set of antlers I have seen on a young buck. One side has a long, curved spike. The other side is a short stub.
Another truck passed by, and the buck turned and walked away. When the truck was gone, he turned around and walked back toward my truck a second time. This time he got close enough that I could have reached out and touched him. I stayed still and let him pick the distance.
He eased around to the back of the truck and walked down the road away from me.
I had seen this same buck several days before, on another visit to the refuge. That day he was eating acorns off the ground near the road. The light was terrible, and I got no photos worth keeping. I think he was on his way back to those acorns. I left the area without checking. If that is where he was headed, I did not want to bother him. I was happy with the photos I had.
Later I caught a fourth buck on video. It was running in front of a coyote that was walking the auto tour road. I am leaving that video out of this post. Between the white-tailed bucks chasing does, the slow crossing in the woods, and the young buck at my truck, that foggy morning gave me plenty.