# First wildlife outing | Epic Fail | Story time



## sscarmack (Jun 20, 2014)

After seeing all this Wildlife photography I decided to give it a try.

Sine I live out in the "country" now I decided to just head out in my back yard, roughly 20 acres wooded.


I walked down the street about a mile to start at the rear of the property and work my way forward, flanking maneuver.

After about 15 minutes in the woods, walking at snails pace. I had my first spotting. A squirrel. I got super excited and went to get the shot but he scurried off and out of sight. Dang.

I walked another 5 minutes and saw a little shed, so I started walking towards it. And just then a Deer popped his head up and took off like a bat outa hell. DANG!

So I started tracking this deer, broken limps, prints in the ground. Watching every step making sure I don't step on anything crunchy.

After about another 20 minutes I was starting to lose hope so I decided to stand still and just look around. After looking around for a few minutes I heard a 'sneeze' like sound. Roughly 50 yards away through some branches there was the deer looking right at me. Two sneezes, I heard a second sneeze coming from the distance. There are now two deer!

My camera was at my hip, this deer has a razor sharp stare right at me. I never moved so slow in my life, barely moving I reach for my camera and slowly raise it to my face. My camera never felt so heavy. The deer started raising its hoofs and slamming them into the ground.

I was able to grab one shot before the snap of my shutter roared throughout the calmness of the wild like a tree snapping after a lightning strike.




My heart is literally now racing. Three deer darting into the greenness of the 'forest' now. Like any adrenaline junkie, I started after them again, this time at a faster pace but watching every single baby step making sure to not make any noise or give any sign of my presence.

After 10 minutes of moving 20 yards, I felt each heart beat and every breath I took. Sweat began slowly dripping from my neck. I reach the next clearing and slowly make the turn, and to my surprise both deer are standing there feeding about 50 yards away.

I waited until their heads were done to make another step. Each step felt like it'd be the last as they would dart off. I was able to get about 25-30 yards away before the one spotted me. Ears up, eyes pin needled, sharp as a whip.

Here is where I made my ultimate mistake, that reminds me I am not a Wildlife Photographer, and honestly a complete newb when it comes to nature photography.

I was ecstatic that I was able to compose this beauty of a shot. Two deer, looking dead at me. Within 30 yards, one slightly in front of the other. Beautify scenery.

And wham, wham, the shutter snaps close, and snaps close again. The deer, without hesitation dart off jumping 4 feet in the air as if a bullet just grazed through their lungs.



I never reset my exposure going from the woods to the clearing. Didn't once think about checking to see where my exposure was. My heart was racing, I was watching each and every step. I failed to check the single most important thing. Exposure. 

I usually I do not share my fails, but I decided to share because the only way you can learn is from mistakes.

Now, I did shoot in Raw, so I was able to pull back some details, but this photo is completely blown out and I'm disappointed in myself for making such a stupid mistake.




What did I learn from this experience? 

Deer are extreme skittish animals and it takes extreme patience and sneakiness to get even within 50 yards of them. 

DSLR's have a built in exposure meter for a reason, use it. Right before you snap that shutter, glance your eye to the right just to make sure your within a couple stops of what it thinks is right. Of course it will not always be right, but its often pretty close.

Thank you for reading my experience


The end!

Sean Scarmack


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## pjaye (Jun 20, 2014)

I think you did really really well recovering that picture. I never approach quietly, but then, maybe Ontario deer aren't so skittish? 

We've all blown some shots, I still blow shots. It happens. You did well!


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## sm4him (Jun 20, 2014)

That last shot is a perfect example of why I started using the auto-ISO function. I keep my camera in manual, so I can set both the aperture and the shutter speed myself, but when I KNOW I'm going to be in a place where one second I may be focusing on a bird perched in the trees where it's really shady and the next second, I may want to aim straight at the cloudless sky, I use auto-ISO so I at least have a CHANCE of getting a reasonable exposure. It's not a cure-all, and lately, I've sometimes found myself frustrated with it for other reasons, but it can help in certain settings.

However, you recovered the deer photo QUITE nicely, imo, plus you also got a very entertaining story to boot, so it was definitely NOT a complete fail!


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## Braineack (Jun 20, 2014)

I put my camera in quiet mode around deer.  Works well, having a "Real" shutter doesn't help.

I also use auto-iso when shooting most wildlife.


the worst is being this close and ending up with such a god-awful shot:





this is not a crop...


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## robbins.photo (Jun 20, 2014)

Deer suck. No doubt about it. Most of the good shots i've gotten of them have been pure dumb luck. The last one I got I really liked, I didn't sneak up on the deer, she snuck up on me. I was shooting some geese at the lake, turned around and there was this fawn right behind me.




20140401 1126 by robbins.photo, on Flickr

Oh, I also use Auto - ISO and shoot mostly in shutter priority, if I have the time I'll override the ISO to get the desired aperture/iso combo - but always nice to know I can get at least somewhat close to a proper exposure regardless.


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## Mandolin (Jun 20, 2014)

Oh, deer...nice recovery! I was at the park with the kids one day...had my camera set on full-auto b/c the kids were taking pictures. Then I saw this guy! Grabbed my camera and snapped a couple shots before he bounded back to momma.


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## JustJazzie (Jun 20, 2014)

robbins.photo said:


> Deer suck. No doubt about it.


Aww! Don't say that. Our neighborhood deer are sweet! They will eat from your hand.


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## PixelRabbit (Jun 20, 2014)

Great writeup! I bet every single wildlife shooter could share a similar story from when they first started chasing animal butts (believe me there is no lack of butt shots of animals hightailing it no matter how long you shoot lol) 

I had a scary deer experience early on.  I was on a trail between a pond and marshy area here, it has a blind corner at both ends and I was in the middle shooting flowers when a Momma and her baby came around the corner and surprised both of us.  She chased the baby off into the woods and turned her attention back to me....
She made her way quickly into the marshy area to attract my attention away from where the fawn went and started stomping and snorting at me while I planned my escape if she decided to charge me, she was MAD!!
I raised my camera and started shooting, I wasn't turning my back on her, she eventually decided she made her point, tossed her tail in the air and went back the way she came.  Talk about adrenaline rush!



IMG_1875 by Judi Smelko, on Flickr




IMG_1891 by Judi Smelko, on Flickr


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## pjaye (Jun 20, 2014)

Todd, Deer do NOT suck. Besides, they will eat peanuts from your hand. We all have *that* deer shot. I have several deer butt shots. Scott wants to frame them and put them up on the wall, then have framed pictures of their heads on the other side of the wall in the other room. 

I specialize in wildlife butt shots


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## robbins.photo (Jun 20, 2014)

JustJazzie said:


> robbins.photo said:
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Well my little town is a veritable Mecca for deer hunters. Every deer season they come in droves, truckload after truckload of gun bunnies in the huge camo 4x4's with the lift kits. They basically make a tremendous nusiance of themselves by shooting at just about anything that moves. Buddy of mine told me he wouldn't even step outside his house during deer season without a huge bright orange vest on, I told him screw that. I'm getting a deer costume. I've seen plenty of stories about these idiots shooting each other or some other hunter, I have yet to see one of them actually hit a deer. Lol.

So as a result the deer around here are more than a bit skiddish. Everytime I've actually gone out with the intention of photographing deer, I've never come back with a shot I consider a keeper. The only time I get deer pictures it's completely unintentional, I'm out shooting something else and I just happen to run across a deer.



symplybarb said:


> Todd, Deer do NOT suck. Besides, they will eat peanuts from your hand. We all have *that* deer shot. I have several deer butt shots. Scott wants to frame them and put them up on the wall, then have framed pictures of their heads on the other side of the wall in the other room.
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> I specialize in wildlife butt shots



There is apparently a real following for animal butt shots on Flickr, judging by an earlier posting on the subject. Lol

But I'll follow up with another chance encounter shot:




20140511 013 by robbins.photo, on Flickr


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## TheNevadanStig (Jun 20, 2014)

Deer aren't too bad. Cougars and bobcats are much worse. Even worse than those for me have been mink. All I ever get to see is a dark brown blur diving down in it's hidey hole. If you think you really want to get into it, a $50 blind goes a real long way in helping. Apples work great as a bait, bringing in bears, coyotes, and deer.


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## Braineack (Jun 20, 2014)

It would be bad for me to encounter a big cat, cause I'd walk up to it with the preconception that it wants to cuddle and take selfies with me.


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## TheNevadanStig (Jun 20, 2014)

Braineack said:


> It would be bad for me to encounter a big cat, cause I'd walk up to it with the preconception that it wants to cuddle and take selfies with me.



Thats actually better than running. Cats are cats, and they have strong instinct to chase fast moving things. If ever one gets aggressive, it's better to actually face it and challenge them. The bobcats are small and cuddly though, nothing scary about them. Bears with cubs are the real code-browns you need to worry about.


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## IzzieK (Jun 20, 2014)

What a great story Sean...I've personally seen one of our members in the MB car club feed deers in his hands. One came in his yard and he started feeding her, then more came and more came...He was ready for them...

But then when in a Kansas farm, the men shoot them for meat. The best shot always comes from an 11-old granddaughter. Shes very good with an AK 47. Always beat the men at their game. Me? I just came for the ride, watch them bumble up their targets...maybe this year I'll go for the photoshoot instead of target shoot...and help cook.


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## baturn (Jun 20, 2014)

Great story. I don't share them but I also have a good collection of critter butt shots. If you have the opportunity shoot from a vehicle . Most critters in North America are used to seeing automobiles and don't run until the door slams.


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## Civchic (Jun 20, 2014)

I usually have the opposite - forgotten I'd wandered into the woods from a sunny spot and get a lovely dark underexposure.  Great story!

Welcome to the joys of wildlife photography.  It's a thrill, for sure.  Today I went out for a lunch walk and saw nothing but flowers.  Birds were all away.  Silly birds.

I'm a member of a local photographers facebook group and there was just a HUGE kerfuffle because one of our (very respected, phenomenal wildlife guy) members posted an incredible shot of a fawn in the cemetary.  Beautifully crisp, excellent exposure.  Another member said "Well, that's definitely photoshopped in."  Because, he stated, there's no way the guy could get that close to a deer in the open like that.  Oy!  The rage!  Never accuse a wildlife guy of 'shopping in his critters.


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## pjaye (Jun 20, 2014)

Braineack said:


> It would be bad for me to encounter a big cat, cause I'd walk up to it with the preconception that it wants to cuddle and take selfies with me.



See! I'm not the only one who thinks like that. *mumbles, and everyone calls me crazy


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## bigpuddin43 (Jun 20, 2014)

robbins.photo said:


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Sounds like the typical picture the antis paint of hunters. Also very untrue. Most (not all) hunters are very respectable and know their target and what is beyond it before pulling the trigger. This is why there are fewer hunting related accidents than a typical weekend or two in Detroit or Chicago. Sadly I hate hearing these comments coming from those that have never experienced hunting before. 

Make sure you aren't just spreading rumors before posting what those hunters are doing in the woods. 

The reason I would guess you see so many deer hunters in your town would probably be because there is a good public hunting area there close by. Once again just a guess but most likely paid for by the sportsmen themselves. Fact is more sportsmen dollars go to conservation than any other groups money. In Kentucky where I live our state fish and game dept is funded solely on sportsmens dollars. Zero general tax dollars go to the dept. The land the dept owns and manages for all people to enjoy are bought, paid for, and managed with only the sportsmens money. Both game and non game animals are managed with hunter contributions. Sadly many groups such as PETA and HSUS like to paint us as a bad group of crazy rednecks that just run through the woods shooting everything that moves and they would be wrong. 

Without hunters deer and many other species would over populate and ruin their habitat they would then die long slow painful deaths due to starvation and disease. You would see large fluctuations in populations from extremely high to very low due to the habitat being destroyed and so many dieing like this. With hunters we can manage the population so that we can keep it below carrying capacity of the land so that you don't see large population swings and starving, diseased deer.  

Sadly many people believe that exactly what you said is what all hunters are like while only a very few actually are. Of course we have our bad apples but so does every other group of people.

Sorry for the long rant I just hate to see hunters being stereotyped like this as it is far from accurate.


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## MSnowy (Jun 20, 2014)

Getting a shot on your first day out is pretty good. Most of the deer around here are out early morning or right at sunset. I also use auto iso and usually aperture mode when walking through the woods. It took me 3 years before I finally got the shot I was after.


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## robbins.photo (Jun 20, 2014)

bigpuddin43 said:


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Well if your talking about our local hunters I would agree wholeheartedly.  The guys here in town who do actually hunt, and yes, I've been out with them on more than one occasion, are a really great group of guys.  The thing is I live in a small town that happens to be situated just perfectly in an area that is chock full of deer - and as a result when deer season hits we get a flood of guys from the nearby metropolitan area who quite frankly are your stereotypical gun bunny crowd.  Sad, but true.

I have no moral objection to hunting, it's a time honored tradition here - one that I grew up doing myself.  As you mentioned without it you'd be looking at the deer population exploding to such a point that it would be disastrous - particularly for them.  Starvation and disease being just the tip of the iceberg really.  So no, I don't mind people who hunt.  But you have the guys that hunt who know what they are doing, and you have the "weekend warrior" crowd who quite frankly don't have a clue.  Unfortunately there are more than a few locals who charge these guys a few bucks each for permission to hunt on their land - so you run into a situation where they generally end up wandering all over the place and basically being a huge nuisance.  Their is a row of houses on the edge of town where there are actually bullet holes in the fences from these guys who wandered off the land owned by one guy in particular and they were shooting at goodness knows what, and their strays wound up hitting the backs of one house in particular.  It got bad enough that the guy that owned the house finally put up a concrete wall - which has taken several hits since.

So yes, not all hunters are bad people - and you will note I never said they were.  That was a complete assumption on your part and something you inferred, not something I stated.  However there are more than a few people who aren't really hunters but want to believe that they are - and that's the folks that generally cause the problems at least around here.


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## bigpuddin43 (Jun 20, 2014)

robbins.photo said:


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I agree and I didn't mean to imply that you meant all hunters acted that way but from your post I believe you can see where that assumption could be made. Most hunters are good people and it sounds like you are in an area that gets a good portion of the bad ones. I deal with and speak with hunters on a daily basis and most are more concerned about the resource than they are killing, which is the picture they are painted in more often than not. 

I didn't mean anything towards you on this post and just wanted to make sure that the majority of hunters are not painted in the same light as these bad ones that you have to deal with. I am also sorry that this great thread has gone off tract and this will be my last post to keep it from going further off.  I really enjoyed this post and what the original poster goes thru is something hunters themselves deal with every time in the woods trying to get that angle for the perfect shot.


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## sscarmack (Jun 20, 2014)

MSnowy said:


> Getting a shot on your first day out is pretty good. Most of the deer around here are out early morning or right at sunset. I also use auto iso and usually aperture mode when walking through the woods. It took me 3 years before I finally got the shot I was after.
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> View attachment 77479



Wow! That is fantastic!!! Super impressive, more details please (If you don't mind).


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## robbins.photo (Jun 20, 2014)

bigpuddin43 said:


> I agree and I didn't mean to imply that you meant all hunters acted that way but from your post I believe you can see where that assumption could be made. Most hunters are good people and it sounds like you are in an area that gets a good portion of the bad ones. I deal with and speak with hunters on a daily basis and most are more concerned about the resource than they are killing, which is the picture they are painted in more often than not.



Everybody I know who I would classify as a hunter, particularly the serious ones, are also the ones who are the most concerned with conservation of wildlife and the lands on which they live.



> I didn't mean anything towards you on this post and just wanted to make sure that the majority of hunters are not painted in the same light as these bad ones that you have to deal with. I am also sorry that this great thread has gone off tract and this will be my last post to keep it from going further off.  I really enjoyed this post and what the original poster goes thru is something hunters themselves deal with every time in the woods trying to get that angle for the perfect shot.



Well if we were a little further off the beat and path we wouldn't have as much of a problem here as we do - thing is were only about 30 miles south of Omaha  Now don't get me wrong, there are some guys that live in Omaha who are actually serious hunters as well but every deer season we get overrun with dozens and dozens of bozos who have never hunted before, read a couple of magazines or a website or two and they come down here looking at it more as an exercise in drinking a lot of beer and shooting guns than they do as something people actually do to feed their family.

So yes, big difference between the two groups, sorry if the original post didn't make that clear.


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## bigpuddin43 (Jun 20, 2014)

Also back on topic for the original poster. You might try setting up in some brush next to that opening you saw the deer feeding. Stay still and quiet and pay attention to wind direction. Keep your scent blowing into the area you enter from and believe the deer will not come from. Also when they first enter the opening let them settle down. When they first enter they will most likely be very alert and on edge. Let them calm down and wait for the perfect time to snap the pic. They will hear the shutter. If they become alert just continue to wait until they calm down again. You may only get a couple photos but keep an eye on light and your settings as the light changes.  

I know it's a horrible photo (before I got my new cam the old one did not do well in lowlight)but it will let you know the extent I go thru taking wildlife shots.  I was setup over this duck hole an hour before daylight and 20-30 mallards landed 20 yards away right at daylight. It was an hour and a half before I had enough light to get settings I thought would turn out ok. I snapped the pic and three or 4 others before they all flew off. I really need a longer lens to be more discrete. But basically two hours of being tucked up in some brush waiting for the shot I wanted and I get 4 sub par shots in about 30 seconds and that's it.


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## robbins.photo (Jun 20, 2014)

MSnowy said:


> Getting a shot on your first day out is pretty good. Most of the deer around here are out early morning or right at sunset. I also use auto iso and usually aperture mode when walking through the woods. It took me 3 years before I finally got the shot I was after.



Looks like it was worth the wait though.  Awesome shot Msnowy.


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## MSnowy (Jun 20, 2014)

sscarmack said:


> MSnowy said:
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Thanks. When shooting wildlife one of the first things to do is research your subject. For deer, bow-hunting sites have lots info. The other things are patience and practice. Oh and equipment does help. This was taken after sunset with Nikon D3s nikon 500mm lens w/1.4 tc shot at 700mm , f5.6, 1/320 and iso 12800


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## robbins.photo (Jun 20, 2014)

MSnowy said:


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Well so far the dumb luck thing has been working pretty well - but a little additional research never hurts I guess.. lol.


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## MSnowy (Jun 20, 2014)

robbins.photo said:


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Ha Ha. Ya this is for wildlife in the wild. But then again if it's not in the wild it's not a wildlife picture it's a nature picture.


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## mrs.hankIII (Jun 20, 2014)

Just a tip that might actually work for you guys chasing deer. If one starts to spook, whistle at it. 9 times out of 10, the deer is going to be too curious to keep running. They will almost always stop, turn back towards you to see what that noise was, linger a few moments, then take off again. My grandpa taught me that. He was an avid outdoorsmen, learning that trick when he was hunting as a young boy. I didn't believe him, one day we were checking fields and startled a deer up out of the tall grass. Took off, he whistles, and sure as can be, that deer stopped and looked at us. Hung around for about 30 seconds sniffing the air, then trotted off. I've done it many, many, many times since then and it almost ALWAYS works.


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## robbins.photo (Jun 20, 2014)

MSnowy said:


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Umm.. ok, well not sure exactly where to go with that to be honest.  The deer I've shot have been wildlife and "in the wild", at least in so much as they are not constrained and roam free.  I know some folks though that might not consider a couple of the locations in which they've been spotted as "in the wild" since one popular spot where they often show up is a lake that's on private property and the other is a lake at a state park.

I guess the zoo shooting I do some folks call it wildlife and some don't.  Some folks take the term "wildlife" to mean any non-domesticated animal, whereas some seem to prefer a definition that restricts that only to non-captive animals, and I've even spoken to some folks who go so far as to say that animals that make their home at state parks shouldn't be considered "true wildlife".  Never really did get the last one but believe it or not some people really are that fussy about the definition.

Honestly I really don't see the need for such distinctions - I like taking pictures of animals so I go to where the animals are and take pictures.  But I find both enjoyable and honestly don't see much need in the labeling.  It just is what it is.


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