The Monarch

He is standing still, which is the part that matters. The head is turned toward something off to the side, the nose is lifted, and his breath hangs in the cold light.

There were very few like him a century ago. Market hunting and unregulated hunting had cut white-tailed deer down so far that by about 1930 the whole country was thought to hold only 300,000. Hunters and conservationists pushed for change, states closed seasons and set limits, and the herd recovered. Estimates put the United States population at around 30 million by 2005.

His antlers are new this year. Bucks grow a fresh set every spring, covered in velvet, and shed them in winter, after the fall rut, which usually peaks in late October or early November as the days shorten.

The picture sets him against a forest of loose, thick strokes in amber, rust and brown, with leaves caught in the air around him. A low sun glows at upper left, his antlers branch wide and gold, and a pale rim of light follows the edge of his neck and shoulder.