I Know, I'm A Big "Softie", But I Sure Hope They Make It...

[Mari-in-IN]

... through hunting season...





Many a morning I am out at the coops letting everyone out and these two are out there.  They have gotten quite close on a couple occasions while we were checking each other out.  Such beauties...
~Mari
ETA - Does anyone have a guess in regards to how old they may be?  Can you tell from their antlers?  I anxiously await any replies...  Thanks!

[feather]

Magnificent! Beautiful pictures of them.

[Mari-in-IN]

Aug 11, 2019 16:05:58 GMT feather said:

Magnificent! Beautiful pictures of them.

Yep!  They sure are beautiful and graceful creatures and I find it such a treat to get to see them on a regular basis.  Thanks for the compliment!
~Mari

[susannah]

They're beautiful, aren't they? I especially love the way it looks when they're in velvet.

Warning - grandchild story. When he was maybe three years old, Wyatt asked if we'd give him a deer for Christmas. While my son the skeptic scoffed that one off, I did the "adopt an animal" thing through NWF and "adopted" a whitetail in Wyatt's name. He got a certificate, poster, stuffed whitetail deer and something else. He named "his" deer "Rudolph the Red Nosed Black Reindeer". A mouthful of a name, right? The "black" part was because in the TV show, Rudolph's father put a black nose cover over his red nose.

Anyway, there was a fawn that next spring that Wyatt decided was HIS Rudolph. It did turn out to be a buck, and it came back for a few years - the deer are ridiculously tame up here, at least in our neighborhood. The last time we saw Rudolph, I took a picture of him - his beautiful 8 point rack was in velvet at the time. The picture is framed and on the wall in Wyatt's room at our house. While I suspect Rudolph is probably no longer with us in this world, Wyatt is convinced the Rudolph just moved on to another family. I see no reason to tell him otherwise and there's always a chance that he's right.

Wyatt wanted to adopt another deer this year. Wyatt's named "his" latest deer Jim, although I'm not sure that's the best name since I suspect Jim is a doe...

[Maura]

Isn't that a bean field he is standing in?

To age a buck you count the spikes on one antler. A healthy well fed buck will have a larger rack, but the spikes tell the age. He looks quite healthy. Again, bean field.

[feather]

Maura, stop saying bean field.

[Mari-in-IN]

Aug 11, 2019 17:02:44 GMT Maura said:

Isn't that a bean field he is standing in?

To age a buck you count the spikes on one antler. A healthy well fed buck will have a larger rack, but the spikes tell the age. He looks quite healthy. Again, bean field.

Yep!  It is indeed a bean field.  I've got some video of them munching on them out there.  I may post it later - it's kind of jumpy though - I'll see!
Oh, and thanks for the info as far as their age - I appreciate it!

[Tim Horton]

Yes... Beautiful "typical crown" white tail rack.

Up here in this bush we have extremely few white tail, mostly mule deer. They tend to have a "basket crown" to there racks instead of "typical crown"

As well as age and good feed, trace mineral in there diet do a lot in producing nice racks.

[Mari-in-IN]

susannah, this has been such a treat indeed since I've not seen them in velvet very often at all.  I think that was so precious of Wyatt to want a deer for Christmas!  AND, I think it is just beyond precious in regards to you doing the adopt a deer thingy for him.  It'll be neat to talk about all of that after he "grows up".   Jim, that's cute.

Several years ago many deer in this area were killed by whatever that disease was caused by the bites of midges.  We STILL are not seeing anywhere near the numbers that we used to.  I think that is so cool how they are so tame in your area.  They aren't so much here.
~Mari

[Mari-in-IN]

Thanks for your reply Tim Horton,
I just finished up reading about the Mule Deer on Wiki - really interesting.  Oh, and I learned two new words today - stotting and pronking!
~Mari