Monday’s and Wednesdays our drum group meets in Roxbury at Evelyn’s house. Almost every day I go there’s a large herd of deer grazing in one of the two fields that her driveway goes through. I’ve been trying to get a picture of this herd for about a year now and I’m having a rough time. Either I get there too late and other drummers driving by have scared them off, or I scare them off myself getting out of the truck or futzing with my camera and lenses. Lately I’ve been getting the long lens and teleconverter on the camera before I leave home and laying the whole rig on the right seat of the truck so I can be ready when I get there.

Yesterday there were no deer on the fields so my preparation was for naught but in driving by the pond I noticed two does grazing right next to it. I drove the truck up the driveway so as not to scare them, got out with camera and walked back down toward them. I could see through the trees that both of their ears were up and they were in “stupid photographer approaches mode.” I was hoping to clear the trees and get a clear shot of them but there were small breaks in the trees and I stopped and took a few shots along the way. By the time I got to where I was hoping to get the best shot they leapt away. I was bummed because I knew I could get a better shot than this but this is my best effort so far. To do better I may need a blind, a tripod, and a six pack as these deer are hip to what’s going on and shy.