The annual breeding season for elk occurs in late September and early October. The bull elk will challenge a rival male by bugling and clashing and locking antlers to fight for the harem. The bulls harem makeup consists of 20-30 females. Each female will bear one calf during the spring. Elk have a very strong herd instinct unlike whitetail deer that are more free roaming and found in smaller group numbers throughout the United States.

Antler growth of a bull elk is determined by the health of the bull and the health of its habitat. Bulls will shed their racks in shed in March and April, and the antler starts regrowing in May. The antler at first is blood vessels covered with a hairy surface called velvet. The antlers will grow throughout the summer and subsides in August. The bull will tear off the bloody covering of the antler by rubbing them on trees and shrubs. The points on an elks rack can have anywhere from 1 point on each side, referred to as a spike or 8 points on each side refereed to as a 8×8. A dominant male bull elk is determined by antler size, body health and experience. Bull elk are sometimes refereed to as Stags.

The coats of elk are reddish brown and a darker-colored manes and a distinct yellowish white rump . The length is the longest of all deer species, they have long lanky legs. This suits them well to distribute the weight evenly across the legs.

You will soon find out most deer species share the same characteristics as other deer species, The biggest factors is habitat, some habitat is better suited for different species. This does well especially to control the growth of the herds throughout the United States. Inter mingling of species especially were over population occurs is known to be the building blocks of diseases which leads to starvation and death.

The worlds record typical elk of North America was harvested in 1968 Length of main beam: Right 56 2/8 – Left 56 2/8 : Inside spread: 47 4/8 : Circ. of smallest place between 1st & 2nd points: Right 11 – Left 10 2/8 : Number of ponts: Right 6 – Left 7

Below you can see the overall size of the elk taken by Alonzo Winters while elk hunting the SCORE: 442 5/8 LOCATION: White Mts., AZ 1968

The worlds record non-typical elk of North America was harvested in 2008 SCORE: 478 5/8 in Piute County, UT by a hunter named Denny Austad.

Below you can see the overall size of the elk taken by Denny Austad while elk hunting.

Bull Elk is a post from: Deer Pictures

In the 1983 Deer &Deer Hunting issue Lenorad Lee Rue III authored an article called Forehead Scent Gland in White-tailed Deer in the same issue Dale C Deckman authored an article called External Glands of Deer. It is with this research in hand and personal observation I would like to cover all the glands that can be found on whitetail deer.

Metatarsal Gland

The metatarsal gland is located on the outer hind legs of the deer halfway up the heel. Although the reason for this gland is still unknown what we do know is it gives off a strong musky odor. My personal observation tell me that is how deer differentiate one from another. It is still unknown how sharp a deer and its eye sight is but do to the lack of poor eye site at certain times of the day , deer makeup for it by having glands to leave scent as a calling cards. The scent can also be possibly picked  up through the keen sense of smell if a deer strays far from the family or bachelor group.

Representation of Metatarsal Gland in the following picture.

Tarsal Gland

The tarsal gland is located on the inner hind legs at the foot heel conjunction. You can see from the picture below were the tarsal gland is located. This gland is used primarily during breeding season. The breeding season is broken up into three cycles, pre-rut activity, rut activity, and post-rut activity. The tarsal gland can be found on both sexes at birth like the metatarsal gland.  During breeding season the deer will urinate on their tarsal gland as a form of leaving a calling card for other deer in the area this is called rub-urination. This gland is the most important gland that we know of to date for the whitetail deer, they use this gland the most and will actually lick the tarsal gland to reduce how strong of a scent it produces to reduce their dominance in front of a more dominant deer.

Inerdigital Gland

Inter means between, the interdigital gland is found between the toes of a deer. One gland between each toe equals four glands per deer. This is again like the tarsal gland is used  as a sign for young faws to help find their mother and for bucks to track doe during the breeding season. This gland can not be seen unless you spread the toe apart and part back the hair. Deer rely on scent in order to identify who is who within the family group and bachelor groups so scent is a very important factor when it comes to the whitetail deer. Like I said they have a keen sense of smell that works as a defense mechanism for them as well.

Preorbital Gland

The preorbital gland is found in the lower corner of the eye on deer. Like the interdigital gland the orbital gland is found on either sex, both male and femal and mature and new born fawns. Very little is known about this gland and gets used the least or from the stand point it is so close to the eye that any great use could cause eye injury. The preorbital gland is mostly used when an adult doe nuzzles and grooms the fawn. It is used as a scent marker so the doe can find the fawn easily if the are separated.

Whitetail Anatomy Glands is a post from: Deer Pictures

The whitetail deer belongs to the Family Cervidae, Subfamily Capreolinae, Odocoileus. Odocoileus has two species and they consist of the mule deer odocoileus hemionus and whitetail deer odocoileus virginianus.

The whitetail deer has four stomachs as do all Ruminantia Species. One of the main aspects of the process of rumination is cud chewing animals. The ruminates will regurgitate their food to break down the hearty fibrous plant material.

The whitetail deer diet greatly varies throughout the year and is determined by each season cycle.

During the winter due to the lack of new growth deer will primarily feed on bark browse. This may also include hemlock, cedar and arboreal lichens. Feeding deer in the winter can be very damaging to the population in the long run. The damage often occurs in forms of over population and diseases being contracted because of the close approximation of numerous deer in a small area, unless under natural uncontrollable circumstances. Just a word of caution when researching winter feeding odocoileus virginianus ask yourself this question, does the research presented lead me into buying a product?

During spring deer will feed on new growth this may include grasses, fresh tree buds and berries. Throughout the summer deer will concentrate on these fresh sprouts and farmer crops.

During the fall which is one of the most active times of the year. Not only is it when breeding season occurs but deer fatten up to put on a layer of winter fat. Their diet in the fall consists of energy rich foods that are high in carbohydrates which may include apples, nuts, grapes, berries and other mast producing crops. These food types enable the deer to put on a great amount of fat in a short amount of time.

I should also note that as the diet changes so does the stomachs react to those changes. Such as the deer will create more saliva. The amount of nutrition a deer sustains will effect survivability over long winters, how fast their coat molts, bone and antler growth.

Again I will like to note many states have banned the feeding of deer. The key reason here is a disease that has formed within most cervids and that is called chronic wasting disease shorthand cwd. It has been noted that the disease is contracted through the transfer of saliva from one cervid to another, so avoiding any practice of manmade congregation of deer will limit the spread of this life threatening disease.

I will note although cwd is very similar to mad cow disease the most important difference is cwd can not be contracted to humans. This does not mean deer meat is fit for consumption if the deer has chronic wasting disease. If you think the harvested animal has cwd please contact your local game warden so he can take the deer in for study. They would be more than willing to help you and for you to retain the antlers in the long run.

Please check back often I will be covering more behavior and information on odocoileus virginianus.

Odocoileus Virginianus is a post from: Deer Pictures

I would like to share with you the common behaviors I have witnessed first hand in hopes to give you a glimpse into the whitetail world. The first is defining what a buck scrape is. Buck scrapes occur all year round but the majority get freshened and used during the fall of the year. In a male whitetails yearly cycle when fall season rolls around the bucks testosterone levels go haywire. The rut is best described as the breeding season for whitetail deer.

The rut activity is divided into three descriptions. The first is the pre-rut activity, this is a busy time of the year, doe deer are fattening up before the first snow fall, male deer start to rub their antlers on tree’s, freshen scrapes, and spare within the bachelor group.

The second phase is full rut activity. This is when bachelor groups break up completely because the fighting is too intense for the less dominant males but more importantly the doe’s have come into full estrous. A buck will run itself ragged for days before the doe shows signs of being in full estrous. Although rape does happen in the deer woods it is a rare occurrence. If the doe is not receptive to a buck then she will not let him mount her.

The post rut is when a buck will have it’s harem of females and follow them around till the doe hits its second and third estrous cycle. When I was taking deer pictures on early winter day I seen this harem behavior. Six doe were heading down the trail with the buck close by, the buck happened to be a nice ten pointer and my buddy harvested him from the small shed we sat in. This time of the year is most taxing on the dominant males. They let their guard down and make costly mistakes. Not only with not checking the wind but if the dominant deer is distracted by another buck he will begin to fight with him, in the meantime a third lesser subordinate buck will come in and mount the females and mate them.

I hope you enjoy the deer pictures. Check back often for more blog and picture updates.

Deer Behavior is a post from: Deer Pictures

Although this website is in it infancy stage I would like to take the time and ask if you are an aspiring artist or wildlife photographer and would like me to feature your prints please let me know via my contact form.

This website stemmed for my love and respect of the whitetail deer. It is a symbol for America that is only rarely captured for hunters but wildlife enthusiast as well.

This site will not be limited to only whitetail deer so if your picture, print or drawing has anything to do with any species or subspecies of deer I would happy to do a blog interview to get you more exposure as an aspiring artist or photographer. More to come soon..

Welcome is a post from: Deer Pictures

Once the fawn is born it is necessary for the doe and fawn to complete what we call an imprinting process. The imprinting process can take as little as a few hours for a mature experienced doe and up to a few days for inexperienced doe. If this process is disturbed by a predator or a human the doe could possibly abandon the fawn. Abandonment’s in nature often occur more when the doe is an experienced mother. So this imprinting process is critical. If you see a new borne fawn it is best left alone because you have no idea if the fawn had time to imprint with the mother. A passing doe could adopt that fawn as their own if she went barren that year. Mother Nature has ways of working itself out.

The deer pictures display a whitetail buck. The whitetail male deer is called a buck. When reminiscing about the nostalgic of deer some might refer to the buck as a stag or the monarch. A number of deer congregated together is called a group. More than one buck will always congregate throughout the summer in what you call bachelor groups.  The bachelor group consists of all male deer.

Plural for more than one deer is sometimes incorrectly described as a herd of deer’s.  These terms are only used in describing the anatomy of a deer or something closely related to the deer. For instance the phrase the deer’s hind leg is the correct way to describe the hind leg of a deer.  Another example is a deer’s habitat, a deer’s home range, or a deer’s travel corridor.

I do not prefer to use the term herd only when referring to herd density or livestock.  The term herd is often used on cattle ranches when they are referring to the number of animals they own. Although there are game ranches across the United States that contains a herd of deer this practice is looked down upon. It has been shown in studies with high deer density and where the deer is contained by a fence it can result in any number of diseases within the deer population.

The mother will kick the yearling bucks out of the family group. These inexperienced males will form into yearling groups. In the bachelor group there is what you call a pecking order.  Male supremacy will be determined by the health, strength and experience of the buck but more importantly the size of their antlers. The deer’s antlers are used to attract a prospecting mate and are used as a warning signal to small male deer within the bachelor group. The antlers start forming in the early summer and stop growing in early fall. When the antler stops growing it hardens up and the remaining velvet left on the antler is rubbed off by the buck.  Into late winter is when the male whitetail deer will shed its antlers and starts the process all over in the spring.  Check back for more deer pictures.

Whitetail Deer is a post from: Deer Pictures