When I was told that more deer had come back to my backyard yesterday, I assumed it was only a couple of them. I walked out hoping to get a few good pictures, and was astonished at what I saw. There weren't only a couple deer, there were five. It was a whole herd!I went out there and used all of my 10 tips from yesterday, very successfully. If you haven't read them already, I recommend you do, if you want to have an experience like this one. You can find a link to them at the bottom of this post.
The first thing I did was walk over to the tree line, and use it as a cover to get closer before they could see I was there. The trees wrap around a corner back there, so it makes an ideal place to hide. It got me within thirty feet right off the bat. This may have been all the closer I really got to them, but the other things I did, kept them from running as soon as they saw me.
When I cautiously walked out into the open, they were of course, immediately on the alert. I kept my back to them and moved very slowly to the side, so they wouldn't think I was coming towards them. Even though they were still nervous about me, it kept them from deciding to leave.The thing I needed to do now was to get some pictures. This is the hard part, because I needed to get my arms up to look through the camera's view screen. I said in my tips that they see raised arms as an attack posture. I had to be very careful here. This was the moment where I could ruin it all.
I needed to put these deer at ease just a little bit more, so I stopped and examined the ground, while keeping watch out of the corner of my eye. When they began to ignore me, I slowly turned towards the deer. This put their guard up, but I had to get my pictures.
I slowly raised the camera to my face, as the deer got even more nervous. A few stopped what they were doing, and looked right at me. Others kept right on eating the grass around them. It was working! I started taking my pictures while examining the deer for their reactions. When they became too afraid, I stopped and went back to looking at the ground.
I repeated this several times. Going back and forth from taking pictures, to appearing to examine the ground. It worked great! Eventually I did wear out my welcome with the deer, and they wandered into the woods. They didn't run though, they just slowly walked away, little by little. Maybe they were repeating my actions.
The point is I didn't frighten them very much. They saw me as only a minor threat. I never said I could keep them there forever. No one can do that. I said I could get close to them, and I did that in an extremely successful way. You can do it too if you follow my tips.
Another great time for an Everyday Adventurer. Now go out and have your own exciting adventure. I believe in you!
Related Posts
I loved your article and pictures of the deer in your backyard. They are indeed beautiful animals with the sweetest faces God could give! I also liked your tips on how to view the deer and not scare them off. I will try to remember them next time we are walking in the woods.
ReplyDeleteThanks Karen. As you can see by the number of articles I have about them, I get really excited when the deer make an appearance back there.
ReplyDeleteIf you get a chance to use my tips, let me know how it went. I'd love to hear about it.