Waiting for the Rut

Even though the calendar still says summer, there are signs the season is getting ready to change. Some plants starting to die back, cooler early morning temps, and in the case of the black-tailed deer, they are starting to revert back to their old habits. Which means I'm seeing more of them on the nearby nature preserve . This buck was with another young buck and they just seemed to me to be sitting around waiting for their hormones to kick in and the the rut to start. The antlers look like they are pretty near their full growth but they haven't yet begun to shed the velvet on them. I've heard that deer in the high Sierra are starting to shed, so it probably won't be long until these bucks start rubbing off the drying velvet. Didn't do much to this image except warm it up a bit, sharpened, and cropped it to 50 - 60% of the original. I cut most off the top to remove a very bright area lit by the early morning sun. I did though like the backlit appearance to the antlers from reflected light from that BG. Comments and critiques welcomed.

Tech info

Canon 60D with 70-200mm f/4L at 200mm with 1.4 TC = 280mm
1/160th at f/5.6 and ISO 800
tripod