Off the beaten track

We had a later than usual afternoon walk today, which was quite alright because it was warm and sunny today. Laney usually choses a different route for our second walk of the day, but she must not have read all the news on our morning route because she chose to repeat our trek through the woods. We quickly discovered that the frozen trail we take in the morning had melted to muddy mush, so we bushwhacked through the woods on firmer ground. And because of that, we caught sight of this handsome Mule deer buck pausing by a patch of unmelted snow.