Hi Jrista.
That must have been a fabulous experience, shame about being too so close they were inside your minimum zoom range, oh well sometimes it may not be just about he pictures. Great as they are!
My guess for these two pictures is, "Was that a twig or just that bloke with the Canon?"

Regal animals, thanks.
Cheers Graham.
Thanks!

It was pretty exciting. The young yearlings are always curious. Both the males and the females, when they are only a year old or less, don't fully know to fear humans. So, they will look at you with the most curious of faces, and sneek in closer and closer, until they are maybe 15-20 feet from you. Then they get a little scared, start stomping the ground, and will usually take off, prancing about for a while, before they feel safe enough to come back in for another close look at that odd camo-covered creature making clicking noises (i.e. "Was that a twig or just that bloke with the Canon?").

As for the lens, no zoom range. It was the EF 600mm f/4 L II prime, with a 1.4x TC attached. To maximize IQ, I've pretty much done away with zooms...too many compromises. The TC costs a little bit in IQ, but with a lens like the 600/4, it is still worlds better than the 100-400mm zoom, for example. I thought about removing the TC, but sometimes deer just move through really fast, and in the time it takes to change out or remove a TC, they can be gone. So, I just took the shots as they occurred.