I just saw two dogs chasing a deer with a orange collar around its neck. Could this be a pet deer? The doe would stop and actually play with the dogs. Strangest thing I've seen in a long time.
Ill try to make this short.
A lot of people take up fawns they see and raise them. Thinking they are doing the right thing. As we all know the mother is usually around and in fact people are just stealing the fawns from their mothers!
I had a young deer walk up to me last January on our property and start rubbing its head on me! It was totally tame! I called the DNR they said obviously some one had raised it and now let it go. They asked if I had other "wild" deer in the area it could take up with and "maybe" re learn how to be wild. I said yes. They said try that ignore the deer & tell all the neighbors to ignore it and perhaps it will get wild again. If Not the case they would come get it. If it was a doe they would place it in a zoo or something. If it was buck they would put it to sleep. The DNR said this happens all the time! People raise deer and when they get older they become huge nuisances! He said they get calls for them jumping on people cars, kicking people you name it! He said the bucks are terrible in the rut they try to kill people! Thats why they kill the males if turned into them. That deer is still around our property, he is a young buck, he is not as tame but still far from being totally wild. We'll see what happens to him the next few months of deer season.
Now another story. Know a guy from Michigan. He was hunting in the Upper Peninsula (U.P.) See's and shoots a very nice buck! Walks up to it and it has a collar & antenna on its neck and a tag on its ear! Then a DNR guys shows up minutes later and wants the collar. They get into a bit of a disagreement the as the guy I know the hunter wants to keep the collar as well/part of the trophy package right? Anyhow they compromise the DNR gets their collar back and the hunter gets to keep the tag attached to the deers ear. He had it mounted with the tag its a very special 10 point!
Leave "abandoned" fawns alone when they are in the woods. The mothers will leave them for HOURS by themselves. You are not doing the deer any favors by "helping" it.
If it had a collar, you might be doing it a kindness by shooting it. That collar could get very tight as it grows older. Plus it could rub, cause sores and provide a place for ticks to attack.
Just think of the orange collar as the aiming point.
We had a spike a few miles from the house that somebody had painted "pet" on it's side. It would roam freely but would look for handouts. Fish and game finally captured it.
There a family that lives in Thomson that had a buck for years. They got it when it was a fawn. It grew up to be a nice buck. I dont know what happen to it.
It was probably a pet...and for the record, it is not illegal to have a deer as a pet, so long as you have proper licenses. Deer play with the dogs at my buddys house in NY quite a bit, but in the fall, the bucks are locked up away from the dogs because the bucks get unpredictable, but the does play with the dogs all year round, so long as the fawns are not newborns...
There is someone across the river from you in SC that has a buck that has been nuetered. Although it is a buck he does not have antlers. He does have an orange collar. This buck has a reputation of bringing other bucks by the hunter's stands. Surprisingly, he doesn't run off after his buddy takes a dirt nap. Personally, I'm not interested in hunting this way, but the owner might want to consider putting the buck on the S & S.
Shot a buck a few years back with one on it's neck, I called the DNR afterwards and they said I did the right thing. Still have the collar, of course my buddies at work still give me a hard time about shooting someone's pet deer but hey those were some good tasting backstraps !!
the old douglas county sheriff has an old buck that lives at his house, stays in a pin during the rut and sometime during deer season, but went not in the rut it stays on a runner. i took my son by there a couple of months ago to feed it, and the old man said it was around 15 years old. its at the intersection of post rd. and bankhead hwy.