On the road committed to pursuing the sika deer, the rough off-roading drive is five kilometers in low gear on trails that don’t qualify as anything close to a ‘road.’ If you are unfamiliar with navigating frozen boggy terrain, you are better off warming your feet at your lodgings. Still, I have never been stuck in a bog on one of my Hokkaido photography workshop tours because my team and I often get out of our vehicles double and triple-checking the terrain such as ruts with stainless avalanche poles or monopods for depth because we don’t want to drive our vehicle into a Hokkaido Wildlife Waterhole. Once I have started down the path to the Hokkaido Ezo sika deer, I recheck participants to make sure everyone is ready to join the adventure with no cold feet, as I have to be 100% sure there are no question marks in my head about anyone, so there are no omens on the path to hinder our adventurous spirit. At the end of this trail is an encounter with the largest herd of Hokkaido Ezo sika deer on our planet that you will never forget.