Full Velvet

A midsummer buck in full velvet is probably as elegant as he can get. His antlers are fully grown yet still covered in soft velvet, more beautiful than dangerous at this point. His neck is still long and slender before the rut begins and it swells to twice this size in preparation for the battles to come. Shine some warm early dawn light on all that elegance and you have a little of Mother Natures perfection.

White-tailed Buck, Waterton National Park, Alberta