So we finally got out of the metro mess and moved full time to Fredericksburg. I have a feeder in the "front yard" on some acreage in the county so I can hunt if I want. I don't really have any interest in shooting them as most of them are really like pets now that we feed treats to plus I have a ranch in Stephens county to harvest deer. There is an older pot-bellied, very meaty buck that has been stressing all year in the heat and will likely succumb to next summers temps. He's super fat so I feel confident he will make it through the winter. I am starting to have thoughts about harvesting him instead of him having a miserable death and its frankly a lot of good meat that I don't want to see wasted. My only set back back is that I am concerned about how the other "pet" deer will react when I harvest him off the front porch as I am very unlikely to catch him there by himself. My fear is that the "pet" deer, that I can darn near hand feed, will lose trust in us and go else where. So my question is, have any of you ever had this situation come up and did it run your usual crowd off and did they come back after a while? Just curios as I my gut tells me they will likely get it over it pretty quick and return to their normal routine but I am not sure.

I’ve never had any pet deer so I can’t help you.

I never get that chummy with them because it just sets them up for failure if they wander to a place that's hunted. As far as shooting them and they hate you forever, I've shot them, gutted them and had the others that watched the event come over after it's calmed down and kick open the stomach to eat the corn out of it. They don't process things the way we do.

I don’t think he will succumb to next summers temps if he is meaty and healthy today. You may be projecting a bit.

If your concerned about other deers reaction, shoot him with a suppressed rifle and drive up to him instead of walk over to him.

Or wear this and they will just think a black panther killed it….

Oh, this thread has potential. My wife calls the deer up to the back porch and feeds them white bread off the porch every day. I like having the tame deer around. They are handy for trash breaking my bird dogs. I don’t shoot the bread eaters. The summer weather doesn’t kill the deer. They flourish here in Texas because they are well adapted to the climate. You are talking to the wrong crowd to use that as justification to shoot deer. If you decide to kill the yard buck, just own that you shoot yard deer. Is it sporting? No, but neither is killing a cow and I like to eat beef. A young doe will be markedly better on the table if that is your sole motivation. Deer are dumb animals but they know what they know. If you start shooting the ones in your yard, they will eventually learn to fear you as a predator.

txtrophy85 is correct. I shot a 10 pointer with three does. I drove up to the downed buck-loaded him in my atv and the doe never stopped eating. Yes, it makes the pets an easy target for other hunters.

"Out of the mess to Fredericksburg" struck my funny bone. I am happy for you and I assume you're out in the country a bit. Enjoy your new place.

If you're gonna have pet deer, flour tortillas are fun to Frisbee throw to them.

well you do you. Like said above just drive up to it and load it. If he is meaty then I don't think heat will be his death. Agree a younger doe is better table fare. If you decide to take him out, hopefully you have a child/grandchild or perhaps a neighbor's kid or someone deserving in town to allow to take him and perhaps share the rewards/meat.

The other deer will be back at the feeder that afternoon.

Deer or any animals care about food over fear. The noise of the shot will usually run them off, but only for a few minutes. If you did it every day, then they would probably either figure out what is going on or you would eventually run out of deer.

We have yard deer and enjoy watching them...spread corn in the yard with a push fertilizer spreader. Just like any other deer if they sense danger they start feeding at night.

Unfortunately the turkey also get accustomed to it and have the yard on their daily circuit. One day I was out spreading corn for the deer and the birds come rushing in. The wife got a kick out of me yelling and trying to shoe them away. They did not want to leave.

agree with others, one shot will likely run the rest off for a little bit but will fall back into their normal routine by the next day typically. My dad had a rancher friend that had a pet doe that he raised off a bottle when her mom got caught in a fence & died. The fawn grew up in his chain link fence yard, once old enough, he opened the gate and she strolled out but never very far, learned to jump the fence and bedded mostly right there. She would return to the yard each year when it was fawning time to raise her little ones in the same yard. She also brought in many bucks during rut that the friend filled his buck tags while sitting at the breakfast table drinking coffee. He wasn't what I call a hunter, merely a shooter to fill his freezer. his old rusted 222 sat by the back door for many years.

I also agree that the summer heat likely won't be his only cause of death

I appreciate all of the input. He's 6.5 years old easy and definitely the fastest buck I have ever seen. Rack isn't that great at all but legal. He also bullies one of my pet bucks. I'll probably go ahead and harvest him. I usually dedicate one whole deer entirely to jerky anyway, so I guess I'll name him jerky.

We get the $1 sliced french bread from HEB. We actually have one buck that we named French bread because he loves it so much.

We are actually just barely in Kendall county. So glad we were able to move here. We get the $1 sliced French Bread at HEB for the same reason!

We have a bunch of pet deer at my friend's rifle range. They're not eat out of your hand tame, but they don't run very far if you walk or drive by them. One of the guys shot a doe out there last year and the other deer didn't even seem to notice. Of course they hear shooting all the time.

Shot two nice bucks off the front porch a few years back. Had zero effect on any of the other deer that hung around.

Agree with the others-if you like him, eat him. It won't bother the rest.

Don't make deer humans....you have to think like a deer.

Imagine you are eating and all of the sudden a loud bang happens, one of the people at your table falls over, or runs off, but nothing affected you other than the loud bang. Being that you are constantly hungry and want to eat as much as you can because you know winter is coming and it will be running around time soon where you will expend energy, you need to eat, so what is one little bang and one of the pack running off?

Deer do not understand death, they do not know what a gun is, they just know what a sound is and if something hurts them. Even when something hurts them, there is a prey instinct to make it seem they weren't hurt, so they don't stand out from the herd as the weak one.

Don't overthink this. If you want to shoot the deer, shoot the deer. They don't care.

Last year my friend was over and shot one of the old mean doe’s that was a bully. She just ate corn and slapped around the the other deer all day. She hadn’t had a fawns in years. We knew she was old and figured she would be tough but she was so tender it was difficult to get the back straps out without tearing them. Old but corn fed can make for a tasty deer.

They like sugar cookies as well....at least mule deer do in NM.

Big fat healthy deer that won’t make it so you’re putting them down LOL

Just shoot your pets already

I have pet deer also , a few that will eat out of your hand . I hunt in another county. Same as you . No interest in shooting the pets . They are mostly there for my wife’s entertainment. I do enjoy this time of year when the bucks start getting more aggressive. I don’t get to close to them this time of the year. I would never shoot one . Doesn’t seem fair. They will get old and die just as we all do. Part of life. Good meat though is always a plus.

Shoot him whenever you want, the others will be back at the feeder next time it goes off.