Deadwood: a photo essay (DIAL-UP WARNING)

[DemoTex]

Bleached bones of Lodgepole and Ponderosa pines litter the forest floor as I work my way up a Snow Creek trail in search of a better fishing spot. The farther upstream I get, the more impossible it becomes to access Snow Creek.


The trail, in the Snow Creek flood plain, nears the water - but the debris gets thicker.


A doe, which I had spotted with a fawn a few minutes earlier, stashes the calf and - literally - stalks me along this trail.


The trail through the deadwood, timber litter, and dead-fall.


She would run parallel to my progress on the trail, then cut in to stare me down. I was worried I might be getting near where she had stashed her fawn. All I had for protection was a 9-ft 4-wt Sage fly rod and two cameras. But I had my police whistle ready, too!


It was a bizarre scene. I could not get to the creek, and my stalker was getting closer.


Then the trail ended, in a pile of timber litter and dead-fall; deadwood. I turned and headed back to the Snow Creek guard station. Quickly.


Spooked by my stalker (she was right there, 30 yards away), I came across this strange sawyers' totem in the forest.


I make my way to the other side of the totem, thankful it is way too cold for rattlers, and find a splash of color. The deer watches all of this.


I finally emerged from the forest trail at the guard station compound, and there she was by the old abandoned outhouse. Staring at me. She watched me go to the bunkhouse, then deer-leaped off to her bambino.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. My dear DemoTex!

Wow, I've never heard of aggression in does with babies. I thought they always tried to keep their distance.

Those are awesome pics! Of course, we have come to expect nothing less from you!

Better luck with the fishing some other time...

And thanks for sharing your great adventures with us!

Recommended.

:hi:

[DemoTex]

5. Hi Peg (and others)! Here are some camera details ..

I carried an old Nikon D-50 with a small zoom telephoto (camera in AUTO) for the deer shots. In fact, I carry the Nikon in my truck now (auto-focus "OFF") for any quick wildlife shots through the windshield I might have an opportunity to make.

Most of the rest of the photos were made with a Canon 5D-MK-II with a 16-35mm f2.8 lens (shooting in aperture mode, camera raw). All photos were post-processed in Adobe Photoshop CS-5. That's pretty much how I'll shoot all summer, unless I can get a second Canon 5D-Mk-II body.

Enjoy!

Mac

[elleng]

2. Great pics and great story, Demo.

Good to see you.

[Old and In the Way]

3. Looks like a fire hazard....

was that natural blowdowns or trees that were cut but never logged out? Seems like a real waste if it's the latter...and I can't think it would have made the logging operation easier by leaving them strewn around as obstacles.

[DemoTex]

7. Both, but all end up as "deadwood."

Natural blow-down (etc), which I call "dead-fall," and trail clearing and other human cutting, which I call "timber litter." Actually, I tend to use the terms interchangeably.

And I always like the allusion to Deadwood, SD, and Wild Bill Hickok's "dead man's hand": Aces over Eights.

[A HERETIC I AM]

4. Artful.

Nice.

Lots of fuel there, eh? How far away is this from your post?

[blogslut]

6. Lovely!

And such a lucky fawn to have such a watchful mother. :)

[stevedeshazer]

8. Great stuff

Sweet mule deer doe.

That stuff on the ground is gonna end up in one hot fire some day, or better yet, worm food.

[sabrina 1]

9. Those are beautiful photos.

What a great shot of the deer in the last photo. I've never been able to get a good picture of a deer as they always run away too quickly. I guess she wanted to make sure her baby was safe, poor thing.

[A Simple Game]

10. Can you tell us anything about the sawyers' totem?

I did a Google search for sawyers' totem and the only information of interest was that the fourth link, out of 1,510,000, was to this DU thread.