I agree - this is a great shot. I also like what Roman did with the PP.

My personal opinion is I think I would crop more off the right side - so the two deer are more centered. I am slightly distracted by the far right tree.

Funny - I would not have thought twice about removing that branch. My thoughts are that I expect that if I were taking the shot, I would not have noticed that branch. Therefore if I remove it from the photo, the shot would still capture "the way I experienced the scene".

I would never do anything more invasive that that, but to me removing some minor "noise" like that branch is not much different from enhancing colors and contrast to emphasize certain portions of the photograph to be more like I remembered. At least I have a hard time making the distinction between the two.

I know this is a controversial subject for some...