His first rack
A young buck at the hay roll
Taken in late June, this young buck is having an early morning munch from a fairly new hay roll. He's watching me carefully and if I get a little too close he'll bob and swing his head a little in an attempt to intimidate me with his velvet covered spikes. By the end of August or the first week of September, all antlers in the herd have been rubbed and polished to a hard finish and can do significant damage if a buck gets feisty. The velvet covered "mini-rack" worn by this guy seems no more threatening than "Nerf" antlers. Spike bucks can be a little pushy, and act a bit "hyper" at times. They do a lot of growing fairly rapidly, and as far as herd behavior goes, are on a very short learning curve. They grow up very fast, and it's hard to believe that all big bucks bearing an impressive set of antlers once looked like this fellow with his spindly "twigs".
This guy looks very much like "Bloot" or "Houdini", and although cream colored now, when fully grown he'll be almost snowy white... if he stays away from the fish pond's mud.