Since the bucks have their own page…….. here are the girls!!!!
And our visiting doe for the summer….
Julie is owned by Brian Herron, Red Oak Whitetail in Hookstown, PA.
After several weeks of phone calls we are finally getting a chance to upload pictures on our web site of the deer this season. My friend Alyssa is helping me learn how to do this. So we are posting all the bucks, then all the doe will be added on a separate page. Fawns are updated on the news page.
The name and age of the buck is located at each picture.
Adam–Age 13
Bert–Age 12
Henry age 5.
Marty age 10.
Prancer age 1.
Snoopy age 11.
Sundance age 8.
Vixen age 2.
Hi, When people email me or stop in at the ranch, they ask what a typical day at the deer ranch is like.
So the day described has no meetings, no salesman, no tv crews or no building projects. (which all happen from time to time.)
My husband Shorty and I take turns wih the fawns. Since he is a early riser he does the 6 a.m. bottle. I usually get up by 7a.m. First I feed all 5 cats. Then I usually make toast or cereal sit on the patio and have breakfast with the cats. I take a walk around the fence and converse with all the deer and give them apples.My husband Shorty feeds them alfafa hay, roasted soy bean corn and dairy balancer pellets.
Then I get the shop ready for opening and do the dishes. Wait on customers, along with my step daughter Lisa. Then we do the noon bottle for the fawns. The fawns drink Milky Way calf milk replacer. The customers can help. We then love up the fawns, then come in and wash bottles. Work on any on going painting projects. (we are still doing stuff with the golf). Or mow the lawn inside or outside the fence. I love to mow.
Wait on customers till 6 p.m. bottles and treat time. The best time of the day. We take out buckets of cut up apples, pass them out. Then we go in the fence and bring the deer over for the customers to pet and feed. It usually takes about an hour to make sure everyone got their treats. Then I come in and my husband watches the desk while I cook supper. We close around 8p.m.
Then we go out to take some pictures, and make a fuss over the deer. I watch 1 tv program. Shorty usually goes to bed and then I do the 10 p.m. bottle. Some nights I do an extra trip around the fence. Then I check my email and hit the sack. Some nights Lisa stays over night with the grand kids and we have cookouts, or play board games. We go back in the fence for extra play time with deer. Some nights we even camp out. Not too exciting , but I love every minute of it.
Adam is our oldest buck and looking good for his age. Here he is appreciating the scent of the ladies.
Bert age 11
This year we lost Oscar and Bert really misses him. He was 12 this June.
Chester age 5
Cupid age 1
Henry age 4
Marty age 8
Rudy age 12
Rudolph is one of our senior citizen deer. He doesn’t grow much antler, very non typical but we love him anyway.
Snoopy age 9
Sundance age 7
Vixen age 1
I am asked all most daily about bucks shedding their velvet. Why does this occur? Is it painful? And how long does it take? All very good questions.
This is happening in our pens right now. We have our bucks all separated so that they won’t hurt each other.
A deer’s antlers begin to grow each year in May. They are covered with a soft furry covering called velvet. This is protection for their antlers because there is blood running through them as they grow. They are a living thing with nerve endings. In August the antler stops growing and the blood supply shuts off. Then they harden from the inside out. No they are not itchy, nor do they hurt at this time. They are hard bone. The velvet is removed to show their crowning acheivement, a beautiful set of hard antlers.
To remove the velvet a deer picks a low lying bush, a branch, or something plyable to help get that old dead skin off. Some deer are lazy and let it fall off on its own. Others can’t wait to remove it and it is all over in 20 to 30 minutes. At any rate once it is removed their antlers become weapons that they use to prove their man hood to the other bucks. That is our reason for separating our deer. They love to spar and would injure each other. Some bucks have been known to fight to the death. It is not always over “Doe” as we are led to believe. But many times just over territory and wanting to be “the big man on campus”. By giving our buck’s their own pens, they mark their territory and seem to settle down knowing they have claimed their domain.
Please feel free to leave any questions or comments.
Rusty