Whitetail Buck with the 100-400 zoom

I shoot most of my bucks with a big prime lens, but always keep the 100-400 with me for some closer opportunities that may pop up unexpectedly. This buck offered such an opportunity. There was only time to get a couple frames off, handheld - simply no time to set up the tripod and get the big lens in position. So I was glad to have the little zoom with me!

I like it best when I can put something relatively dark behind a buck's antlers, so that they show up better in the image. In this case, I had time to get down on the ground and shoot up at him, which put his antlers squarely in front of the green cedar trees in the background. If that straw-colored grass had been behind his antlers, they would've just "disappeared" in the image.

Canon 5D
Canon 100-400 zoom @ 400mm
f6.3
1/1000th of a second
800 ISO
very minimal processing in iPhoto

Magazine cover quality there Tom, very nice.

Spinner

Great Capture Tom , Awesome looking subject !!

Excellent shot Tom, really like the colors, background and grass he is standing in, makes for a very natural/in the wild shot which you take so well. Also appreciate including the camera settings and tips, hope to remember some of your advice when I get the chance at a nice buck such as this one.
If you don't mind, where was this photo taken, in your home state?

Excellent job! The rack stands out very well with the dark background.

Nice.

Very nice Tom! I really like dark antlered bucks. Great capture.

A very nice buck for sure Tom. Nice capture. Wouldn't mind seeing one like that in my neighborhood.

Thanks for sharing such an awesome photo, and the story behind it.

Beautiful shot, thanks for sharing!

Thats an amazing picture!