Whitetail Rut On The Cusp!

I have been eagerly watching the local Whitetail Deer for activity that would signal the beginning of the the rut.  So far there is not much to report.  I did see a very nice buck making a scrape this evening and some smaller bucks running around, but not chasing does. The following photos have been taken over the past week or two. 
The largest bucks were in a soy bean field at about 400 yards.  I was using my 300mm f4 lens with a 1.4 teleconverter, multiply this by the 1.8x crop factor of the Nikon D7100 for an effective magnification of 756mm.  For the most part I was shooting handheld which is my excuse for the quality of some of the photos...

 

The does in the next photo are trying to look in all directions at the same time, perhaps a buck is lurking nearby...

 

The buck in the next two photos was photographed while it was raining.  He is shaking his head as if to get water our of his ears...

 

This buck has allowed me to photograph him extensively while in velvet.  I am glad he is still cooperative...

The next sequence was taken yesterday, when a small group of does crossed an alfalfa field followed by this small buck...

All seemed to be well until the buck passed the does and made this rude gesture...

The dominant doe quickly took offense and put the young buck back in his place, at the rear of the herd...

Watching wildlife is always interesting and entertaining.