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Lance Krueger Photography

@lance_krueger

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Professional photographer specializing in Whitetail Deer, Wild Turkeys, Largemouth Bass, and the Sportsmen who pursue the largest of these species.

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The Three Musketeers.” Since today is my birthday, I’m going to post my favorite Rio Grande subspecies Wild Turkey photo that I've taken, and the story behind the photo. It is of three mature Longbeards strutting side-by-side through a meadow of beautiful Winecup wildflowers in Texas. The day before I shot this photo, I had found this incredible spot, whose flowers covered the foreground and swept up a high spot in an otherwise flat meadow. I had set my portable blind up at the edge of this sea of megenta-colored flowers, and set my decoys up in the middle of them. To be honest, this spot was chosen because of it's scenic quality and not because I knew if there were any turkeys within hearing distance. After getting my camera equipment set up inside the blind, I began to use my slate and box calls to sound like a seductive hen turkey to see if any turkeys would respond and come into this beautiful landscape. All of a sudden, I heard gobbles!! As I called, the gobbles got closer. But when the two black birds came walking into view, they turned out to be immature male turkeys, called Jakes. Unfortunately, they were all that came into this incredible outdoor studio that evening. So at dark, I disappointedly put away my blind, decoys and camera equipment. All that night, I had thought about this incredibly beautiful field of wildflowers and wondered if I should try it again the next afternoon, or give it a few days to rest, so I wouldn't "burn out the spot". I ended up fighting with myself until the next afternoon trying to decide what to do, and finally decided to set my equipment up again, and give the spot another try. This time, I brought my 10 year old son, Joseph, for good luck. The photo you see is the result of my persistence and Joseph’s good luck! Three beautiful, mature Gobblers came in to my calls, and strutted around for several minutes for Joey’s and my front row seat. Later on, the same two Jakes showed up too, and before dark, I shot over 2,700 photos of all five turkeys in the incredible landscape God had set before us, as they strutted around and allowed me to teach my son about persistence in that little blind on a warm, Spring afternoon! taken in Field of Flowers by @lance_krueger

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4 years ago

“A Short Trip Home.” As a professional photographer who has specialized in photographing live whitetail deer over the last 35 years, ironically, my most famous photo I’m recognized for more than any other of my photos, doesn’t even have a live deer in it, but a dead one, which is heading to a hunter’s dinner table. I shot this photo of my close friend, Dan Soldan, a fellow hunting guide, in a snow-covered, red canoe on a lake in Michigan back in 1996. I documented this scene with Fujichrome 100 slide film, and a manual focus Canon 300mm f/2.8 lens on a Canon F-1 camera body set on manual exposure. This photo ended up winning 1st place in the Outdoor Writer’s Association of America (OWAA) photo contest in 1997 (pic 2), where I titled it “A Short Trip Home”. For the next year, enlarged prints of this photo traveled around North America in a traveling exhibit, and was featured in the OWAA’s magazine “Outdoors Unlimited”, where it gained the attention of “Bowhunting World” magazine editor, Mike Strandlund. He was looking for the right photo to appear on their Premiere Adventure issue: “Bowhunting World Xtreme” to make its nationwide debut in the Fall of 1998. This issue was titled “Bowhunting Like A Wildman!” (pic 3) Then, the next year, “Field & Stream” magazine, the largest, oldest, and most prestigious hunting magazine in the world picked (by then Photo Editor, Daniella Nilva) my slide of Dan in the snow-covered red canoe, to go on the cover of their November 1999 issue. (pic 4) And since then, this image has remained in the hearts and minds of Sportsmen around the globe. I have had more people recognize this famous photo more than any other from my portfolio, and have sold more prints of it than any other of my photos during my entire photography career. I can’t tell you how many people I have met in deer camps and hunting shows that tell me they have one of these two magazine covers framed and hung up in their home, office, or hunting camp. So despite many people thinking my “Steam Blaster” photo is my most famous photo (which it is my most famous live deer photo), but my photo of “A Short Trip Home” is, ironically, by far my most famous photo I’ve ever shot. by @lance_krueger

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2 years ago

“Steam Blaster!” Of all the photos I’ve shot over the last 35 years, the first photo is probably my favorite whitetail deer photo I’ve ever taken. The second one was taken just a few seconds later, but I don’t think I’ve ever posted it, and wanted to share it now since a lot of you have never seen it. Despite either of them never being published on any national hunting magazine’s cover (though the first photo has been published multiple times inside national hunting magazines, and on the cover of my first “Dream Bucks 2019 calendar”), it’s still my personal favorite wildlife photo. I shot these two photos a number of years ago when it was 12 degrees one frosty morning in Wisconsin, and I set up where the sun was rising behind the tree line you see in this photo because I knew this backlighting would highlight any frost coming off the breath of any buck that might walk into the frame. I shot this photo as this majestic buck paused in this opening, while on his never-ending search for does in heat, which warmed him up and caused him to blast out these big plumes of steam off his breath. So, I hope you enjoy this photo of mine, and if you’re interested, prints are available of either of these photos, or any photo here on my IG page, on my website www.Lance-Krueger .com/prints , where you’ll find my Fine Art Photographic Prints under “Print Shop.” While you’re at it, put my Whitetail Dream Bucks 2025 Calendar on your Christmas List! Or make every day Christmas, and get one for yourself! 😁 Tap the link in my bio or go to www.Lance-Krueger .com/shop or comment 2025CALENDAR to have a link sent to you in your messages!
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#deer #buck #antlers #biggame#whitetail #whitetaildeer #bigbucks #bigbuck #whitetails #buckfever #qdma #monsterbuck #whitetailbuck#deerlife #monsterdeer #deeranddeerhunting #hunting#redneck #hunt #deerhunting #huntingseason #deerseason#outdoorsman #sickforit #bowhunting #bowhunter #bowseason#archeryhunting #rut #therut by @lance_krueger

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2 years ago

“Broadside”

A really massive, 10-point mainframe Whitetail Buck with deeply forked G-2 back tines, pauses feeding in a brassica (turnip) field on a late-October evening. Standing broadside, this buck is presenting the perfect body position for the gun or bow hunter (or photographer in my case), or anyone for that matter, who just enjoys looking at these beautiful beasts! 🙂

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#whitetail #whitetaildeer #biggame #whitetaildeer #bigbuck by @lance_krueger

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3 hours ago

I need your help finding white-tailed deer (bucks specifically) in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Washington and Oregon (and other western states). Please watch this video to find out about a GIANT whitetail buck I photographed this week in the Dakotas, which totally shocked me that a buck of this caliber is on public land! And in this video you’ll find out how you might be able to help me out with finding the next big buck I’ll photograph! by @lance_krueger

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2 days ago

“Turkey Wattle!”

Look at this ancient old warrior, would you?!

When you see a whitetail buck with a “turkey wattle” hanging down this far under their jaw, you know he’s an OLD guy!!

This is a post-mature whitetail of probably 9 to 10 years old, from the Las Raices Ranch.

You can join me this December for my “Whitetail Dream Bucks” Masterclass or Photo Tour, where you might see and photograph some ancient bucks like the monarch you see in the photo above.

At Las Raices ranch, it’s all about maturity, as bucks aren’t even hunted on this 7 square mile property until the buck is at least 7 1/2 years old.

So there is a high percentage you’ll see, photographed h or film mature and post-mature bucks on this property.

So what is the difference between my Masterclass and Photo Tour?

The Masterclass is a combination of learning and photography. I will be teaching you all I have learned over the last 40 years in how to get mature, hunted whitetail bucks up close to me and my camera gear for frame filling photos. How to overcome a whitetail’s Danger Detection System, which are his eyes, ears and nose. Plus, you get to apply what you learn each day in the field in how to get mature whitetail bucks close to you.

The Photo Tour is all about the photography and none of the learning. You will get to sit in several of the dozen spots on the 4,000+ acre ranch where the biggest bucks on the property have a good chance of being seen and photographed or filmed by you.

Plus, the Photo Tour is less expensive than the Masterclass because I’m not teaching you like I will be with the masterclass students.

Check it out at the link in my Bio or Story here on IG, or comment the words “MASTERCLASS” and/or “PHOTOTOUR” and I’ll send you a link to the info about the event you’re interested in.
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#whitetail #whitetaildeer #bigbuck #whitetailbuck #buckfever taken in Old Man by @lance_krueger

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4 days ago

“Short-sighted men who in their greed and selfishness will, if permitted, rob our country of half its charm by their reckless extermination of all useful and beautiful wild things. The wildlife and its habitat cannot speak, so we must, and WE Will!”
-Theodore Roosevelt (Hunter, Conservationist and U.S. President)
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#hunting #hunt #deerhunting #huntingseason #outdoorsman by @lance_krueger

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4 days ago

“Once Engulfed”

A curious whitetail buck eases closer to my photo blind as I shoot this sequence, framed by the same golden fall colors that had engulfed him just minutes before.

In the days before mirrorless cameras and silent electronic shutters, you’ve heard me complain about how wary bucks would spook at the sound of my DSLR (digital single-lens reflex) camera firing off like a machine gun. But sometimes I’m able to trick a buck into thinking the noise is part of another sound, one that’s unthreatening to him.

For this photo, I pressed the shutter button very slowly and synchronized each frame with a short grunt from the grunt call in my mouth. The grunt helped camouflage the sound of the camera’s mirror flipping up and down and the shutter opening and closing.

Most bucks will still spook from it. But some, like this 8-point beauty with extras, find the grunt-and-click combo confusing enough to stand for a few seconds longer than normal before blasting away.

I’ve used sound camouflaging in many ways over the years, some more effective than others. So remember, there are other ways to camouflage yourself besides camo clothing and masking scents. You can often camouflage your sounds in the woods, too.

Have you ever camouflaged your sounds in the woods? Tell me about it in the comments below!
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#biggame #whitetail #whitetaildeer #bigbuck #whitetailbuck by @lance_krueger

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5 days ago

Whitetail Dream Bucks 2027 Calendar by Lance Krueger.

Pre-order my new Whitetail Dream Bucks 2027 Calendar, or subscribe to it yearly and get free shipping for life in the U.S. That way you never have to remember to re-order, and won’t miss out in the future. Plus, yearly subscribers get it shipped out first! Every fall, you just pull it out of your mailbox and it’s ready for you to use in the new year!

To pre-order yours, click the link in my bio or my story. Or comment the word “CALENDAR” and I’ll message you a link directly here on Instagram or Facebook. Or just go to www.Lance-Krueger .com/shop Everyone who pre-orders or subscribes now gets their calendar from the first printed batch shipping in November, so order yours today!
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#whitetail #whitetaildeer #bigbucks #whitetails #whitetailbuck by @lance_krueger

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5 days ago

“The Edge.”

Most of us in North America are standing at the edge of deer season, just like this buck standing at the edge of this field. This time of year, my outdoorsman friends and I are all itching to get back in the woods at first light, settled into a blind or stand, waiting for the buck we’ve been scouting to step into view.

Some of you have been bow hunting for weeks already. Others are counting down the days to gun season. For me, these days it’s more often a camera than a bow or rifle, capturing these majestic animals at their peak, surrounded by the oranges, yellows, and reds of fall.

But for you and yours, I hope your bow or rifle is sighted in and your game face is on. So tell me: who’s already deep into bow season, and who’s waiting on gun season? Drop it in the comments. 👇

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#hunthard #livetohunt #bowhuntordie #biggamehunting #deerseason taken in On The Edge by @lance_krueger

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6 days ago

“I HATE IT when this happens!”

When a big buck gives you that slight tilt of the head and that “Are you serious?” look on his face… you just know what’s coming. Every time one does this, I’m sure he’s thinking, “I’m outta here!”

Head-tilts usually come with hoof stomping, snorting, and maybe a little head bobbing. But they ALWAYS end the same way: a white tail flagging as he bounds off in the opposite direction!!

How many of you have seen a deer with some head-tilt action going on? I know I sure have!!

💥✨⭐️🔥 Want to learn how I get up-close photos of thick-necked brutes like this one, the kind that end up on the covers of national hunting magazines? Join my “Whitetail Dream Bucks Up-Close Masterclass” this December! Message me for details, click the link in my bio, or comment the word MASTERCLASS and I’ll send you the link.

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#naturephotographer #naturephotography #wildlifephotographer #wildlifephotography #shotoncanon taken in Head Tilt Photography by @lance_krueger

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7 days ago

“One Bad Hombre!” 🦌💀

I don’t know about you, but I think this MONSTA right here is one of the baddest-looking bucks ever! There’s nothing pretty about him!

From his ugly, grizzled old face… to that brutish neck… to that gnarly rack with its crooked, dinged-up points (though he does sport some nice little drop tines!). But that Bad Boy look? I think it’s very cool!

If he were a human, I imagine he’d start bar-room brawls and ride a Harley Hog. Nobody would like him, and he wouldn’t like you either. Greasy clothes, greasy hands, smell pretty ripe… and every other word out of his mouth would be a cuss word! 😂

Maybe it’s the same reason some women fall for “Bad Boys,” even when they know they’re going to get hurt. Whatever it is, I just think this old Bad Boy is the coolest buck ever!

If I were hunting him, I’d wonder if my archery setup was enough. Would my broadhead bounce off that thick, scarred-up hide? Or just shatter on impact? Then I’d worry I’d only ticked him off… and what would he do to me THEN?!

Fortunately, I was only photographing him and didn’t have to find out the hard way. I’m so glad our paths crossed and I got to share this One Bad Hombre’s awesomeness with you!

Enjoy a little badness this evening by studying this guy’s gnarly attributes. What comes to mind when YOU see this buck? 👇

📸 Want to learn how I get up-close photos of thick-necked brutes like this one, the kind that land on the covers of national hunting magazines? Join my Whitetail Dream Bucks Up Close Masterclass this December during the rut at Las Raices Ranch!

💬 Comment MASTERCLASS for the link, tap the link in my bio, or send me a DM for details.

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#monsterbuck #whitetailbuck #monsterdeer #whitetaildeer #bigbuck taken in Dark Alley by @lance_krueger

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8 days ago