Amanda Moors: “doe at salt”

Photos by Amanda Moors

I took these photos around mid-day in mid-September. The deer were at a spot that looked like a place where they used to put out salt for cattle. There were no longer any salt blocks there, but the soil must have retained a lot of salt or other minerals because the deer were there eating the dirt.

Originally there were two really nice bucks in velvet there, but as I showed up they left so I didn’t get any photos of them. Then as the bucks were leaving two does came down the hill from nearby and moved in. Then a smaller deer, probably a yearling doe came in. All the deer were fighting to keep access to the salt lick. They would chase each other around if one got too close. The smaller deer was obviously the least dominant as it had to wait until the more aggressive deer left. I believe the bucks had been keeping the does away since the does ran in as soon as the bucks left, despite me being visible nearby.

In the second photo from the top you can see the deer digging at the dirt and the third photos shows one of the deer chewing the dirt. All the deer were pretty skinny, despite the recent rains greening things up.

This was a really interesting photo shoot because some of the deer let me walk right up to them within about 10 yards. They definitely saw me, but were very intent on getting their minerals.

Bret Mattausch 2003

Bret Mattausch photographed this doe when she came into a predator call in June 2003.

Josh Epperson

3 Coues bucks in velvet, Aug 1998, unit 6A, Arizona.

Two photos of the same 3×3 buck in velvet. Approximately 95 inches. Aug 1997.

Small buck in velvet, Aug. 1997.

Wade Sherbrooke

A nice Coues deer buck from the Chiricahua Mtns. Photo by Wade Sherbrooke, Southwestern Research Station, Portal, AZ.

Amanda Moors

Bedded spike Coues buck Feb. 2003.

Classic flagging Coues deer buck.

This Coues buck only has one horn. I think he actually grew that way because a friend of mine says he saw this buck in Dec. with only one horn. This photo was taken Feb. 19, 2003 during my javelina hunt in Unit 24A, AZ. He was with two other bucks.

Josh Epperson

Two Coues bucks sparring in Dec. 2001. Not huge bucks, but a fun photo.

A Coues buck in velvet in July. He grew into a nice 4×4. Josh Epperson got this photo when he went to set up a tree stand over a spring.

Josh Epperson doe and fawns

How cute are these little guys??? Josh Epperson took this photo while waiting at a water hole in Aug. 1999.

Josh Epperson

This buck has an extra main beam. It’s a photo of the buck Josh killed this year.

This buck is a 5×6 that Josh’s friend killed. It grossed 97 inches. Nice buck!

Mark Hanson

A doe in the Ponderosa Pines. Amazing how she blends in.

I thought this was an interesting photo of a young buck.

Bob Campbell

What a beautiful pair of Coues deer. Photo taken by Bob Campbell at Ft. Huachuca in Arizona.

Amanda Moors

A doe and a fawn alert on a hillside.

A doe and a fawn on a hillside. One deer is in the open, the other is hidden behind the agave slightly uphill.

This buck was with the buck I harvested in 2002. There were four bucks all together and after I shot one, the others just milled around waiting for their buddy to get up

Two decent bucks feeding on a cholla. This was taken in Dec. 2002. These two bucks were not rutting yet. They were traveling together, occasionally sparring and staying out of view most of the time.

Doe bedded under juniper.