Biggest Bucks I've Seen

...At least, alive and in the wild. To quote a song, it felt like I was 'livin on a prayer' with these; I had to go to 1/30 of a second shutter speed, with an ISO of 3200, at 400mm with only the truck window opening to rest on. I'm kinda happy with what I got, considering the circumstances. Both are SOOC from the 5D II. They're hiding behind snowdrifts.
Enjoy!

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/dvance/85320227​53/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/dvance/85331338​52/

Darin,
They are incredible bucks for West Virginia! It's hard to believe you have free-ranging bucks like that anywhere in the state, what with all the hunting and poaching going on. I bet they each go at least 140".

Awesome images, especially considering the conditions you had in which to shoot.
By the way, what aperture were these taken at?

^^ Agree with Tom completely. Good to see you got the shots under those conditions, 2 bucks like these don't give away many chances.

Absolutely beautiful!

Great bucks! Photos are good for the conditions that you had to work with. TFS

Larry Q

very nice

1/30 at 400mm VERY impressive!

Love the first one!

Did you happen to get any different angles of the buck on the right? I'd love to see his rack from some different perspectives.

Tom Reichner wrote in post #15681954
Darin,
They are incredible bucks for West Virginia! It's hard to believe you have free-ranging bucks like that anywhere in the state, what with all the hunting and poaching going on. I bet they each go at least 140".

Awesome images, especially considering the conditions you had in which to shoot.
By the way, what aperture were these taken at?

Thanks, and Yes, they are! There are monster bucks here, I'm sure, but they are smart, and they live back in country so rough, that almost nobody in their right mind would try to hunt there. I am a hunter myself, but what really makes me mad is poachers. They don't even use the meat, just cut off the horns! That makes me furious, to waste all that meat.

This was specifically a photo trip; This guy feeds them (He doesn't hunt them, I don't think), and these guys started coming in. He is hoping to find the sheds. The place where they are is basically completely surrounded by wilderness, so I am kinda hoping they survive for a while; there are not many open areas nearby for poachers to get a shot at them.
There is a road nearby, but these bucks didn't grow this big by being stupid; I think they will watch for traffic.

These were shot at f5.6.

Grizz1 wrote in post #15681988
^^ Agree with Tom completely. Good to see you got the shots under those conditions, 2 bucks like these don't give away many chances.

Thanks; these were actually surprisingly tame, although they were slightly nervous at times, and they kept looking at us. We were in our truck, using it as a blind.

vschapman wrote in post #15682027
Absolutely beautiful!

Thanks, glad you enjoyed them!

Larry Q wrote in post #15682069
Great bucks! Photos are good for the conditions that you had to work with. TFS

Larry Q

ronmayhew wrote in post #15682081
very nice

maverick75 wrote in post #15682119
1/30 at 400mm VERY impressive!

Love the first one!

Thanks, everyone! Yes, I am kinda surprised by the results at 1/30 as well! I'm sure the IS on the 100-400 helped a bit as well.

Tom Reichner wrote in post #15682634
Did you happen to get any different angles of the buck on the right? I'd love to see his rack from some different perspectives.

Yes I do! These shots are from 2012; a few months ago, but I ran across them on one of my cards that I had birds on. Here's a couple looks:

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/dvance/85343571​66/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/dvance/85332487​07/

Beautiful bucks and awesome shots!! Are these photos recent? I would guess that about 75% of the bucks in my area have shed already. The first thing I thought when I saw these two was “Wow! Would love to find their sheds!”

CRobH wrote in post #15683009
Beautiful bucks and awesome shots!! Are these photos recent? I would guess that about 75% of the bucks in my area have shed already. The first thing I thought when I saw these two was “Wow! Would love to find their sheds!”

Thanks!
I just looked at the properties, and though they are more recent than I thought, They were shot on January 6, 2013. I just ran across them again on a card.

Darin,

Thanks for the extra angles of that buck. He has a cool looking rack, with the G-2s much shorter than the G-3s . . . reminds me of a buck I photographed from 2008 - 2010.

Darin,the first shot in your second post sure shows how symmetrical that buck is, his rack is aligned perfectly. They both are symmetrical for that matter and since they are traveling together I would sure be thinking about looking for them again next September while they are still buddies, you might get some super photos. These guys look young to me which would make me look forward to seeing them again in a year or two.

Two incredible racks right there! I have hunted deer for years and never seen anything like that. Now my hunting is all done with a camera Lots of snow there,and I think you just got hit again.That last storm missed us. Nice pics,so much better than dead deer pics!

Nice series. What is it about a nice buck that makes us stand up and take notice.......and two bucks, well.