Shot these photos in my 5 acre backyard this morning. Buck was in major rut stalking/chasing the doe, (don't we all?)

she also had 2 fawns by her side from last spring. I walked up within 50 feet of him.


One Horny Distracted Buck!!!

Saw the first buck of the season a few days ago while driving through the local park with my brother in law. A majority of the deer that graze on the local lawns seem to be does and fawns. One night/morning at 2 or 3 in the morning there were between 5-7 deer spread across 2 or 3 of the surrounding lawns. They were as shocked to see me as I was to see them.

ATB,
Sam

Um ...... You know I'm the resident bow hunter on here right??? This is like holding candy in front of a kid LOL. I harvested a pretty nice 8 pointer this past Sunday. Some may not like the pictures so I'll hold off

:evil: :evil: :evil:

He's definitely swollen and ears back (careful). Bucks normally don't tolerate yearlings when doe are in estrous. I've seen those poor little fawns get gored up pretty bad when she's ready. Great pics though. Thanks for sharing.

3 shot, I understand about the swelling and all, but can you point out the areas that are swollen.

Cheesy. This bucS-P-A-M-L-I-N-K-s neck has swollen to almost twice its normal size. This happens in breeding season. Hormones increase blood flow to the neck area which, combined with rubbing trees, scraping, and fighting, causes the neck to swell. The bigger the neck, the more power. Kinda like two guys arm wrestling. Bucks fight over does in breeding season. The more dominant buck takes the doe for mating. This only happens in the fall between October- January mostly. This breeding time is called the "rut" as windyheap mentioned. During the spring and summer months, their necks are normal size.

Hope I didn't ramble..

No ramble. Thanks, you confirmed what I thought. But wasn't really sure.