The Fall of 2014 followed a very dry summer in southeastern Oregon. We traveled to Malheur National Wildlife Refuge at the base of Steens Mountain to photograph mule deer in the rut. We also hope to photograph any birds that remained  there through the first blast of arctic temperatures, snow and wind. We were expecting the mountain would be deep in snow-pack by mid November. This year we were able to walk near the summit on hard crusted snow and photograph spectacular vistas (more Kay’s interest) while my focus was on photographing wildlife – my never ending pursuit.

Several photographers, some old acquaintances, were working the Refuge to photograph the deer. Our conversations went to past years and different conditions of the deer populations. This interested me and I decided to put together a short slideshow about my personal experience about mule deer at Malheur NWR in the past.

The extreme cold (minus zero degrees F.) spawned a ring of clouds around the summit of Steens Mountain (elev. approx. 10,000 ft.)