THIS HAPPENED TO ME.

[Barry Willis]

This is a long story as I am sure some you know I am not very good at making them short,  LOL. I hope I do not bore to death those who chose to read it. This is a mule deer I had been taking pics of off and on from September to November. The third Saturday of the following January I was to enter a wildlife photo contest that I had won several years in a row. I was not really happy with my pics so at first light, the very day of the contest I headed back out to see if I could get some better ones. I was walking to the area where I figured he would be and there he was and a bunch of does. The other times I had photographed him, I had to go very slow but he would let me get close to him (I did not have a zoom lens just a 2x adapter)  He would give me the most evil look, I could see it in his eyes and facial expression so I called him Malsum, the devil deer. Any way he was just about to have his breakfast of poplar leaves and twigs and then he spotted me. stopped browsing and stepped forward and just glared at me with that devilish look. After a few seconds he charged. I had no where to go as I was out in the open so I started taking pictures which was not easy with a 35mm manual focus camera in mere seconds. Every step he took he was purposefully throwing up dirt into the air with his hooves, head down and I am thinking this guy is serious and this is it. It still boggles my mind the things that went through it in such a short time. The main one being well when they find me and develop the film they will know what happened to me.  Even though I was in good shape there would be no way of holding him back, it would have taken a half dozen Hulk Hogans to do that. I did not move, I held my ground and just kept shooting, there was nothing else I could do. When he got just a few feet away he stopped, thank god, looked at me, and then to the east as much to say good morning, I am just lookin to see what is over there. We stood there like that for a few seconds and I slowly started backing away, tripped over a rock and fell flat on my back so I was expecting another charge as he would see me in a vulnerable position but he never moved. I turned around watching him over my shoulder. After about half a km I reached the bush and he was still standing there watching me. Went to the photo shop to develop my film. Any way I entered the complete series and won the contest LOL. I went back in the spring to look for his antlers and not a sign of him or the does, they had obviously moved on to a better food source which I never did find. Any way I walked away with a story that few will ever get to tell  and the pics to prove it, and the pics suck as I had to take a picture of the picture from the 35mm. Whew, this is a long one. A few more pics of him at the end.

[Beans]

A good read in my books !

[Barry Willis]

Thanks very much Beans. Long no hear from.

[lew]

Really good story Barry and some great pictures too. That guy looks huge and those antlers could sure make a mess of someone if he decided to use them.

[Barry Willis]

Thanks very much Lew, he sure could have made a mess of me and it would not have taken much with the size of them and his power. 

[akaShag]

There are times to shoot with a camera and times to shoot with a rifle.  I think you lucked out!  Did you go back to town and buy a lottery ticket?

Doug

[Barry Willis]

I agree, I know I lucked out! unfortunately mule deer are on a draw basis and I did not get drawn that year or he would have been in the freezer long before this happened. I could get so close to him the bow would have been a good choice as well. Lottery ticket never crossed my mind although it should have.

[Barry Willis]

 Seems kinda weird after all this time (maybe because I am older) that just last night it sunk in how lucky I am that he did not gore me to death. I always just looked at as being lucky to have something like that happen and get it on film. I always believed, and still do that he got tired of me coming into his living room and bothering him and wasnt going to put up with it any more. I know it had nothing to do with the rut as it ended weeks before this.