I hadn't even really paid that much attention to them. I was more interested in that annual ritual of bucks courting does. In this case, two small bucks following after a doe who clearly was not impressed. I didn't look at the rest of the small band, other than to classify them for the record.

Eventually the lead doe meandered over the ridge between the pines, and everyone else followed. Including the doe who was apparently in estrus, and her two suitors.

As I sat there in the truck, writing down my classifications and the UTM coordinates off the GPS, I got that funny feeling.

You know, like you're being watched...

So I looked back at the ridge. And there, watching me mind my own business, was one of the fawns from the group. Standing boldly in the open, staring at me.

Soon joined by a second fawn, a little more timid.

Over the course of the next fifteen minutes or so, these two curious youngsters stepped and stopped, stepped and stopped, more than half the distance to the truck. Always the same bold one in front, the friend/twin following behind.

No adult deer ever poked their head over the rise to check on the wayward youngsters.

Even when the little maskless heeler noticed, and hung out the window to watch and sniff, the fawns kept approaching.

Finally, caution overwhelmed curiosity, and they came no closer.

But not before I shot dozens of pictures.

Like this one: