On May 11, I was fishing my way up a drain ditch that runs into the lake in front of our house. The lake was extremely high which forced all the land mammals closer and closer to the roads. These deer, which all seem to be bucks were right up against the road, when they realized that something was approaching by water. It was Fudge and and his friend, Geezer.
Take a look at the buck to the right of the tree. His budding antlers extend very flat, rather than heading upward as is usual. This is often the sign of a buck that will had a very nice set of antlers.
Then on June 7, Marilyn drove in the driveway and said there were a couple of buck deer browsing just down the road. I grabbed my camera and we headed about 1/2 mile down the road. There he was, along with a friend that also had a nice set of antlers sprouting.
Here's another view of the same buck, taken at the same time. He is now showing thick beams and still appears that he will carry a nice wide set of antlers.
Then on June 21 we were sitting on our deck watching the quail at our feeder when Marilyn exclaimed that there was a big buck deer in the pasture about 40 yards away. I got a glimpse of him as he moved behind a tree and one of my brush piles. He didn't come out, so I walked over to my boat and got my camera. As I was on my way back, she called out that he was moving again. As I crossed the lawn he posed for this nice photo. I believe it was the same buck.
Yesterday while we were again enjoying our deck, 4 does walked out of our east pasture and crossed the road and onto the refuge. But we haven't seen the buck. The USFWS refuge across the road is called Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge. You can see why. Every evening we have several cars slowly cruising along looking for deer. So far this year however, I have yet to see a fawn.
