BRC Fallow Deer

just read the instructions. Oh Shoot! Our Fallow deer didn’t come with an instruction manual. So what do we do now? We try our best and just keep working at it until we get it figured out. Anything worth doing is worth doing right. 

Antler Removal: It is important to remove antlers from our bucks to keep all of our deer safe. Safety of the herd is a top priority.

Deer grow a new set of antlers each year. When the antlers are fully grown they shed their velvet covering revealing hardened antlers. This is done shortly before the rut (mating season) begins. During the rut the male deer fight due to a rise in testosterone. Since our herd is confined within a pen this increases the chance of an injury to one of our deer.    

All we have to do is use the tranquilizer gun to drop one buck at a time, remove their antlers, give them a shot of reversal medication and watch them to make sure they return to normal behavior. Easy right?! NOPE! We quickly realized this was going to be a much more challenging task than we assumed, BUT nothing we (Brendan) couldn’t orchestrate. 

Apparently getting within 30 yards of our bucks proved more difficult than expected. In order to be accurate with the dart gun Brendan needed to be 30 yards or closer with the deer standing broadside and still. Which is quite a large feat in a 5 acre pen with a herd of wild animals. We managed to take care of the first buck the first night. Unfortunately the deer seemed to catch on to what we were doing and became even more skiddish. It’s like they know how to protect themselves from a predator or something. 

Once our first buck was down, Brendan and I worked together to monitor the buck. There are several things to keep an eye on while a deer is tranquilized, such as body temperature, body and tongue placement, covering their eyes to help keep them calm and most importantly staying calm and efficient. The second buck gave us a run for our money. 

Brendan spent the next day finishing up our catch pen. Then he successfully coaxed the herd into the smaller pen. We kept them in the catch pen for a little over a week to try to get them accustomed to people and tame them some. Good animal working facilities are worth their weight in gold.

The catch pen ended up working better. I still had to gently push the deer in the direction of Brendan in a ground blind. And trust me when I say they don’t push the way you think they will nor do they like to stand still. 

About 10 days after starting this project we wrapped it up successfully. It was a learning experience for all of us that definitely involved some teamwork and persistence. We have ideas for how to improve in the years to come. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try and try again.