Biologists say that a Bucks neck will swell up as showin the Mule Deer Buck Near Rut capture. They will swell up to 50 percent larger of a circumference adding more muscle mass. This is all related of course to the Rut which is the annual fight to breed. They live in a world of scents and hormones floating in the air from the does in the group.
Scientific data indicates that this growth is caused by a big surge in testosterone to the deer. That dose of steroids makes the neck muscles get big and also causes the deer to become more aggressive.
I had a buck try to run me down in my backyard one night in November 2012. It’s a long story but both of us walked away relatively unhurt. I definitely came out of it better than the deer did but he survived too lolol. This event was the causation of me getting serious about building a deer resistant fence around our entire compound. I haven’t had a deer eat my flowers for several years. Young trees survive, it’s a miracle cure for deer pressure.
This male had a nice herd of females numbering 15 or so but I suspect there will be others trying to take them away. A lot of itinerant bucks walk through and they have a pretty big range which they can cover quickly. I like his unibrow and he might be the father of ‘Mr. Unibrow” a young fawn with a split ear I’m watching. His unibrow is equally developed as well. Is that a “W” I see for a Wyoming Muley?
Location: Bliss DInosaur Ranch, Wyoming/Montana borderlands
Title: Mule Deer Buck Near Rut