New Kid on the Block

I got up early this morning and was at the local nature area at sunrise. I hadn't gone too far when I came upon this black-tailed buck bedded down. He gave me a nice look back over his shoulder but several large branches crossed his face, so I slowly picked up the tripod to move sidways a bit for a better angle. At that point he decided it was time to get up but at his own pace. He slowly rose and stretched forward then backwards. He took a step and completed a couple of body functions. A few more steps and he shook like a dog shaking off water, then did the same with his head. He openned his mouth like he was going to bugle but of course didn't (a belch?) Then he cleaned his private parts and slowly moved off. Not too concerned about my presence. When I'm behind the viewfinder, I don't always take everything in and such was the case with this guy. When I openned the files and looked at his images and another big buck, I was surprised that neither were the one with the split left ear. So this was a new one. I wonder where he came from. When I looked closely looked at this specimen, I was very surprised to see how big he was. Deep chest, heavy mid-section, and a very large hind quarter. The rack isn't too shabby either. This was indeed a big deer and I suspect he will be the dominant male in this area. Interesting, too, is the color patterns on their faces. The dark eyebrows on this buck give him a pretty sinister look. Photography is making me pay closer attention to the details and I'm learning every time I go out. Critiques and comments welcome.

Techs:

Canon 60D with EF 70-200mm f/4 @ 135mm
1/25th @ f4
ISO 800
full frame
tripod