White Tail Buck Bedded in Meadow, GSMNP

I was a bit early for the fall foliage during an October visit to the Smokies so I turned my attention to photographing whitetail bucks. I was photographing this buck in a meadow one morning as it made its way to the woods. The next morning the buck was back in the same area but instead of going into the meadow to photograph it I went to the edge of the woods where it had gone the previous morning. Sure enough it made its way right towards me. I was very surprised when it bedded down only 15 yards away. The deer are used to people in Cades Cove but this still surprised me. I waited around 30 minutes to allow the deer time to realize I was there and was not a threat. I then slowly stood up and moved into a good position to get this shot. I actually switched to a wide angle lens (28mm-105mm) and took this picture from about 10 yards away. The deer was obviously comfortable with my presence as he never gave any sign I was too close and continued to eat as I photographed.