This afternoon I spent a few pleasant hours visiting one of my favorite places, one I call “Mule Deer Heaven”.
A good Mule deer hunter would have seen this mulie doe right away upon arriving at this spot on the trail. She’s approximately in the center of this photo, which represents almost exactly what was seen by the naked eye . If you were unable to pick her up at a glance, you might be called a “vegetarian” in this part of the woods. (“Vegetarian” is an old Indian word that means “bad hunter”.)
This photo was taken from exactly the same location, but using 12X zoom.
And this one is a cropped version of the previous one to give a better look at the pretty little gal.
As she lays there in her little shady spot during the day, resting up so she can spend the evening hours with the buck of her choice, here is the scene she has before her.
Montana Outdoors 
It’s a good thing I like squash.
Excellent.
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Comment by Pinhole — September 21, 2007 @ 8:11 pm
Squash is good, but so is a good venison roast! Only a few decades of hunting and you’d pick her right out!
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Comment by montucky — September 21, 2007 @ 10:14 pm
I thought I saw her in the first pic, and then looked at the second one and realized I would have been shooting at a rock. Probably a good thing I don’t hunt, except with a camera.
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Comment by wolf — September 22, 2007 @ 11:27 am
At that range, it’s only important to recognize game. Had she been a big buck there could have been a stalk to get closer, although with my rifle scope, it would have been a good shot from there. I don’t even know what the limit is on rocks.
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Comment by montucky — September 22, 2007 @ 5:45 pm
Between you and I Terry – I used to have a terrible eye. Until I picked up the camera. Odd… huh? I’m telling you the first step in the process of preserving our natural resources would be making every hunter carry a camera. They would still get the venison however, if we were able to do that 150 years ago at least we would know what the forest looked like back then. And in 150 years they would know what the forest looks like today. The contrast I think would embarrass us into action.
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Comment by aullori — September 22, 2007 @ 11:41 pm
Getting used to having a camera along certainly makes the eyes better. As far as preserving the wild country though, I’m afraid that those who want to exploit it, no matter how often or well they look at it, never see it the way you and I do.
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Comment by montucky — September 23, 2007 @ 8:05 am
Guess I wouldn’t make a good hunter either – I couldn’t see it in the first photo. Mmmm, venison….
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Comment by Adam R. Paul — September 23, 2007 @ 8:34 am
She was easy to miss, and even the best hunter does… often. I know I would pass them by sometimes and then there’s just a flicker of an ear that draws my attention.
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Comment by montucky — September 23, 2007 @ 8:48 am
I am more vegetarian than I knew. I even went to your flickr page and looked at the large version and still couldn’t see her! definitely a city girl, I know! 🙂
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Comment by silken — September 23, 2007 @ 10:00 pm
Well, silken, a few decades of hunting and you’d pick her right out. What actually caught my eye was just the dim outline of her ears, a form otherwise found in nature, but not too frequently. Over the last 60 years I’ve seen that probably thousands of times. That made it worth a closer look. Usually I carry a pair of 10X binoculars for that purpose.
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Comment by montucky — September 23, 2007 @ 10:22 pm
I picked her out pretty quick Terry, I used to hunt all the time, until the other idiots in my neck of the woods made it too difficult to do anymore. A old hunter from the hills of Southeastern Kentucky taught me to look for horizontal lines in a vertical world, and always keep the breeze in your face.
That advice kept venison on the table for about ten years.
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Comment by Bernie Kasper — September 24, 2007 @ 5:40 pm
You were given good advice, Bernie! Too bad they messed up the hunting in your area though. It’s something I really enjoy.
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Comment by montucky — September 24, 2007 @ 5:57 pm
I love venison, but I’m sure glad that I don’t have to go out and get it myself. I couldn’t pick her out even with your instructions! I barely could see where she was even after seeing the close up. 🙂
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Comment by WordVixen — September 24, 2007 @ 7:31 pm
It’s certainly a learned skill, but once acquired it adds a lot to the outdoor experience whether you’re hunting or not. I know I still miss a lot.
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Comment by montucky — September 24, 2007 @ 8:30 pm