Tag Archives: Whitetail Deer

Destination, Nature, Photography, Wildlife

FORT SNELLING STATE PARK – St. Paul, MN #whitetaildeer

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Fort Snelling State Park is a great place to go to photograph Whitetail deer.  My wife Cyndie and I, along with our photog friend Linnae, made the chilly early November trip to in hopes of photographing deer.

Fort Snelling State Park Map

In previous years, it seemed that we started out seeing smaller bucks and worked our way up.  Not this year.  When we arrived around 8 a.m., we found the big guy with a single doe in a ditch along side the road.  We didn’t have much time with this guy.  A truck pulled up shortly after we did and was a bit close for his comfort.  The doe trotted off with him closely behind.

We never pass over the boat landing on Picnic Island.  There is usually something interesting there to see.

It didn’t take long into our walk on Pike Island and my wife spotted another big fella laying down in the thick stuff.  Another fine looking buck.  He had a couple of does next to him.

There was just as much photographer activity as deer.  Another photographer told us about a piebald spike buck he had seen earlier.  It wasn’t too long after that and we have the fortune of seeing him as well.

Pike Island is pretty large, but not so large that you cannot cover the area at a leisurely pace.  It seemed like we saw way more deer this trip compared to years past.

There is quite an abundance of other wildlife and nature to behold in the park.  Here are a few other things that caught my eye.

Another great visit to a wonder Minnesota State Park.  If you have never been, I highly recommend this experience.

Previous trips to Fort Snelling State Park

Destination, Nature, Photography, Travel, Wildlife

Theodore Roosevelt National Park – North Dakota, The Wildlife #TRNP

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Theodore Roosevelt National Park (TRNP) – The Wildlife

Wildlife – South Unit

Locating wildlife in TRNP – South Unit was challenging the first few days.  All the critters hunkered down in the cool and windy weather.   As the weather improved, so did the wildlife viewing.  We saw a Coyote hunting prairie dogs in the early a.m.; must to dark for a photograph.  We also met a porcupine in the early morning hours crossing the road.  Plenty of Cottontail Rabbits in the early a.m. too.

Bison

Bison roam around all over the place; there are plenty to see throughout the park.  Large herds congregated by the campground by the river on the West side of the park.

Prairie Dogs

Prairie Dogs were plentiful as well.  There are three really large towns right along side the road.  They are fun to watch.

Pronghorns

Pronghorns in park were sparse.  We happened upon two bucks that had just finished a battle.  They were noticeably fatigued and bloody.

Mule Deer

Mule Deer are plentiful.  They were everywhere and ran around like squirrels in the park.  We saw mostly does, but did manage to locate two nice bucks and one spike buck.

Whitetail Deer

The Whitetail Deer were very elusive.  Most of the sightings were along the river by the campground.  We did spot a nice buck by the Jones Creek Trail Head.  I was shooting out the passenger window and the temp different between the vehicle and the outside was significant which softens the image considerably.

ELK

We saw two different bull Elk just outside of Medora the first afternoon when we arrived, but did not stop to photograph.  I was surprised to see them so close to the road, but thought photographing them would be a snap – WRONG.  ELK in the park are very elusive.  We didn’t see a single Elk – cow or bull – until the last morning we were there.  Two full days of exploring the park and not even a glimpse.  When we did manage to find them, they were a good 1/2 mile off on top of a butte.  The light was low and the photos grainy.  I was just happy to see them and hear them.  There were three different bulls bugling at one point; it was pretty fantastic.

Destination, Nature, Photography, Travel, Wildlife

CUSTER STATE PARK – Custer #South Dakota

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CUSTER STATE PARK

Custer State Park is a South Dakota State Park and wildlife reserve in the Black Hills. The park is South Dakota’s largest and first state park, named after Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer.  The area originally started out as sixteen sections, but was later changed into one block of land because of the challenges of the terrain.  The park began to grow rapidly in the 1920s and gained new land. During the 1930s the Civilian Conservation Corps built miles of roads, laid out parks and campgrounds, and built three dams that set up a future of water recreation at the park. In 1964 an additional 22,900 acres were added to the park.  The park covers an area of over 71,000 acres of hilly terrain and is home to many wild animals.

Custer State Park MapThe park is home to a famous herd of 1500 free roaming bison.  Elk, coyotes, mule deer, white tailed deer, mountain goats, prairie dogs, bighorn sheep, river otters, pronghorn, cougars, and feral burros also inhabit the park. The park is famous for its scenery, its scenic drives (Needles Highway and the wildlife loop), with views of the bison herd and prairie dog towns. This park is easily accessible by road from Rapid City.

The popularity of the park grew in 1927, when U.S. President Calvin Coolidge made it his “summer White House” and announced from the Black Hills that he would not seek a second full term in office in the election of 1928.
~wikipedia

Wild Life Loop Road

Wild Life Loop Map

South Dakota is a ruggedly beautiful land to explore.  High on our list of favorites is Custer State Park.  The whole park is absolutely beautiful.  The Wildlife Loop road is so convenient.  It is very easy to drive and the wildlife sighting are frequently and plentiful most of the time.

Wildlife Loop Road travels through 18 miles of open grasslands and pine-speckled hills.  This beautiful land is what the park’s wildlife calls home. Depending on the day, you might see bison, pronghorn, whitetail and mule deer, elk, coyotes, burros, prairie dogs, eagles, hawks, and a variety of other birds.  A medley of colorful wildflowers and prairie grasses surround the road, making for a picturesque drive.

Our trip in late July 2017 was another memorable one filled with wildlife, scenery and of course, the burros.

The Bison

We had a bit of a rain shower when we found the bison.

Pronghorn Antelope

Burros

Prairie Dogs

Other wildlife and scenery

EXTRA

 

Nature, Photography, Wildlife

Return to Fort Snelling State Park…more

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Fort Snelling State Park

I neglected to post the sunrise shot from my visit to Fort Snelling State Park yesterday.  This particular landing on Snelling Lake doesn’t afford a direct line to sunrise at this time of year.  It does offer a view of the Hwy 55 Mendota Bridge along with reflections from its lights; with some clouds in the sky, it is a rather picturesque view.

2015-11-07 Fort Snelling State Park-Snelling Lake

I also skipped over posting photos from the previous day when I scouted out Pike Island.  I arrived at noon and the park was pretty quiet.  I met one photographer returning to the parking lot as I headed out.  He said he photographed a few bucks. That’s all I needed to hear.  I found one buck out on Pike Island along with a doe and a several turkeys.  All good signs that the trip tomorrow morning would no doubt be action-packed; it was.  Here are some photos from the 2 hours I spent on Pike Island on Friday afternoon.

 

2015 (365), Nature, Photography, Wildlife

Return to Fort Snelling State Park #exploremn

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Fort Snelling State Park

Today marked another successful trip to Fort Snelling State Park.  To be in the presence of and photograph magnificent Whitetail deer is exhilarating.  Last year was my first time at the state park hunting deer with a camera.  The experience this year was very similar to last.  The weather was much warmer and the timing a week later in November.  I could ramble on about the deer I saw and wild turkeys that where everywhere, but I’ll let the photos speak for the experience.

2015 (365), Nature, Photography, Wildlife

2015-04-09 Back To The Earth

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Back To The Earth

2015-04-09 Back To The Earth

2014 (365), Daily Shots, Photography

12.11.14 – Dos [e] Doe

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Dos [e] Doe.

2014-12-11 dos [e] doe

Destination, Nature, Photography, Wildlife

Fort Snelling State Park

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Fort Snelling State Park

It was a bone-chilling 19 degrees when we awoke Saturday morning.  It felt cold, but it wasn’t the cold that chills your core and burns your face, you know that type of cold that hits you around the end of January when you wish Winter were over.  Cyndie & I, along with our good friend Linnae, arrived at Fort Snelling State Park shortly after sunrise.  Traces of Autumn can still be seen, but for the most part the brilliant colors are gone – almost. We found some lovely color enhanced by the rising sun along the western shore of Snelling Lake.

Sunrise

Whitetail Deer

Our primary purpose of this trip was to photograph Whitetail deer – specifically [& hopefully] big bucks.  It is that time of the year when bucks break away from their traditional habits and venture out of the thick stuff in search of receptive does in the day light.

Fort Snelling State Park

Picnic Island

We found such activity quickly on Picnic Island.  We noticed several scrapes and rubs.  Pre-rut signs galore.  There were no shortages of photographers on-hand to witness this spectacle.  We spent a good amount of time watching a dandy 9-pointer pursue does all over Picnic Island.  There were other smaller bucks darting about and avoiding direct contact with the bigger buck.

Pike Island

We decided to delve further in and explore another area of the park.  Pike Island, a walk in only area,  was just down the road.  I am glad we opted to do this.  The temperature was rising as was our excitement; we had buck fever.

We walked around the perimeter of Pike Island (mostly; except the eastern third) without seeing so much as a yearling.  We decided to walk a game trail up the center.  There were brush piles everywhere – all kinds of places for deer to bed down for a mid-day rest.  It wasn’t long and we located a small buck.  As I began to photograph him I noticed there was another buck behind him – a much bigger one.  I continued to shoot and eventually saw the doe that was hunkered down in the grass next to them.  I think we spent the next hour hanging out with those three deer.  At one point a dozen or so turkeys came wandering down the trail and just walked on by like we were not even there.  That was fun.  What a great day.

*Just a side note on gear, you regularly see photographers hauling out the big lenses for wildlife.  Thousands of dollars of gear.  With the exception of the first few landscape shot, the balance of these images were shot with a Tamron 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 – a $449.00 lens; not a $2500 or $10k lens.  The 70-300 was attached to a Nikon D700 shooting at ISO 2000 between f/5.6 – f/7.1.  I am not going to lie, I would gladly shoot with a $10k lens if I had it.  This is a simply demonstration that you do not need all that if you want to get out there and have a great time – especially at this location.  The high-ISO performance of a full-frame sensor was beneficial given the low light.

 

 

 

 

Destination, Nature, Photography, Travel, Wildlife

South Dakota – Black Hills – Day 5

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SD – Black Hills / Custer State Park | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7

Day 5 – the day of mist, rain and dense fog before the expected 6″ of snow fall and subsequent 27 degree morning temp.  We wisely decided to move to a camper cabin before the unseasonably cold and snowy weather moved in.  It was a bit damp and breaking down the tent was not on my to do list at this point.  The cabin was a short distance from our tent site; relocating camp was easily accomplished.  We left the tent up in hopes that mist/rain would subside and breeze would dry things out and headed for Wind Cave National Monument.

Hidden beneath the rolling prairie of the southern Black Hills is one of the world’s longest caves.  Swaying prairie grasses, forested hillsides, and an array of wildlife such as bison, elk, and prairie dogs welcome visitors to one of our country’s oldest national parks and one of its few remaining intact prairies. Secreted beneath is one of the world’s longest caves, Wind Cave. Named for barometric winds at its entrance, this complex labyrinth of passages contains a unique formation – boxwork.

There are a few different cave tours to choose from, we went on the Natural Entrance tour.  It was a lot of stairs, but they are mostly all down.  The elevator that takes you back to the surface is lower in the shaft than the level you entered the cave on.  Here are some iPhone shots on the monument grounds and inside the cave.  Great tour.

one of the rare uphill stairs
flowstone
Ribbon formation – a.k.a. bacon

It was still very foggy and misting some when we left Wind Cave.  Once back at the campground it was time to take advantage of the break in the mist/rain.  Packing away a wet tent is never any good.  The rain fly was a bit damp, but that is all; it would dry quickly in the cabin.

The day was still young and there was much of the Custer State Park to explore.  We drove up to Mt. Coolidge Fire Tower in a blanket of fog.  There were breaks at times that offered somewhat of a view.  At 6023 ft. I am sure the view is dandy on a clear day.  From there we explored North Lame Johnny Road (CSP4) as we made our way toward the donkeys down by the Buffalo Corrals.  We were a bit disappointed to find no donkeys around especially since we were toting two large bags of carrots.  Perhaps they were driven away by yesterdays stampede.  We headed South on Red Valley Road (CSP6) into Wind Cave National Park where we spotted some Elk at a great distance.  We would have liked to get a bit closer, but that opportunity never arose.  We made a big loop South in Wind Cave Nation Park and came back around North and headed for Custer.  The light was getting low and our stomachs where empty.  [[Custer State Park Map for reference]]

Here are a few shots from Lame Johnny and Red Valley roads.  Beautiful country and a bit of wildlife as well.  Another great day in the hills.

view atop Mt. Coolidge
A stream along Lame Johnny
View of Red Valley
Destination, Nature, Photography, Travel, Wildlife

South Dakota – Black Hills – Day 3

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A continuation from the Badlands Series | Day 1 | Day 2 | Scenery | Wildlife

SD – Black Hills / Custer State Park | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7

Day 3 we opted to sleep in a bit, pick up camp and ready ourselves for the next leg of our vacation, The Black Hills & Custer State Park.  From Interior, SD we head West on 44 to Rapid City. We really didn’t need to go to Rapid City, but Caribou was calling our name.  After obtaining two vessels of turbo-charged caffeinated awesomeness we continued on South on 79 towards Hot Springs; heading West again at the Flying J truck stop.  We opted to stay at Custer KOA campground as we were unable to find a tent camping option within Custer State Park that allow pets.  The KOA is just West of Custer; it was plenty close to town.  This became our home base for the next few days.   The campground was sparsely populated with motor-homes.  There were no other tent campers in sight.  Clean bathrooms and showers just like our previous experience at the White River KOA.

After setting up camp we headed South to see what Hot Springs, SD was all about.  We didn’t really find much there in town other than the Dew Drop Inn.  I was in the mood for some ice cream, but no luck here as it was closed and for sale.  A few minutes East of Hot Springs we located a cold spring.  It was a nice little pit stop in the middle of the warm day; a refreshing place to dip your wiener in the cold water to cool her off.

We headed back to Custer State Park in search of wildlife .  It didn’t take long to find some.  We had a great day 3.  Here are a few shots from our first day in the Black Hills.

The Scenery

The Wildlife