Showing posts with label Hart Mountain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hart Mountain. Show all posts
Friday, April 2, 2010
Hart Mountain Mule Deer
Once on Hart Mountain NWR (in Oregon) and while looking for pronghorn, I came across this Mule Deer buck. He didn't have a huge rack of antlers, but something about the composition struck me. And, although I hadn't found any pronghorn yet, I felt confident that I would find and would be able to photograph them, so decided that this deer was worth pursuing. Good decision. Sometimes, when animals see you they run away; sometimes they walk away; and sometimes they decide to pose for a photo. This was obviously the latter. I have sold a great many of these as winter holiday greeting cards.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Hart Mountain


One more pronghorn story: This takes place on Hart Mountain in the extreme southeast corner of Oregon. I had read that pronghorn gather on Hart Mountain for the winter. On the way there I stopped at Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge in Nevada where I found this wild burro nursing her colt. Then into Oregon where I spotted a small group of mule deer on the right side of the road in open terrain. As I approached it seemed evident that they would cross the road and hop this fence to escape into the mountain. So, I was ready with camera in hand, pulled close enough for a photo -- and, there they went and here is the photo. I thought this is going to be an outstanding photo trip: wild burros, mule deer hoping fences, surely there will be pronghorn at Hart Mountain. The rest of the day and early mountain proved me wrong -- temporarily. Then, in a moment I drive over a small hill, and to my pounding heart's (Hart's) surprise maybe six or seven hundred pronghorn divided on each side of the road. I drive slowly at first, trying not to disturb so I can get photos. But, soon they are on the move, each side running parallel to the road. I speed up driving with one hand on the wheel and one hand with camera taking photos - such as the one above. I am going 55 miles an hour on a dirt road with pronghorn passing me on both sides when the pronghorn on the right decide they want to join those on the left. Now it is a game of chicken. I stop, quickly get out and get my last photos of them crossing the road in front of me. I'm thinking, why go to Africa?
Labels:
Hart Mountain,
mule deer,
Pronghorn,
wild burros
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