Young Buck

I haven't given much thought to the expression "young buck" before.

I knew what it meant: a little boy who was taunting or being feisty; a teenage boy who was being daring, or something...

But on this particular morning, I saw the expression's derivation in literal form.

I'd paddled out in into the morning's calm waters of Potagannissing Bay in Drummond Island, Michigan. I'd spent my time photographing Common Merganser ducklings chasing dragonflies. (You can read about it here.) But as the sun rose higher and I started to paddle back, I saw four deer grazing on the shore...

Or rather, three deer calmly grazing on the shore (one may have been the mama), and one who was the instigator trying to rile up the others.

He reminded me of a couple of our sons as toddlers. Yes, this was very familiar...

Apparently, he was just looking for a little excitement that he called "fun"...

...and realizing they couldn't ignore him, they all joined in.

Then finally, after much excitement and lots of water splashed, they all four settled back down...

...and I paddled back to shore.

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