A chance encounter with a young buck grows into a study of mule deer for the next seven years of Joe Hutto's life. Hutto dedicates himself to earning the trust of the deer by spending time with the herd every day for over two years. Eventually the keenly intelligent animals eventually accept Hutto as one of their own.

When I Was a Turkey is a middle-grade adaptation of the remarkable true story of a naturalist who raised a flock of wild turkeys using imprinting.