Pet deer from spike to 8pt? !!Not an AR thread!

This Spike showed up last year following around the cows on our Deer Lease. We saw him right at camp and the kids have fed it out of their hands. It has a cut in the right ear, possibly from a tag. This past weekend my buddy was filling his feeders with his kids (8&11) and a deer walks up behind him (20ft) and just mills around for 15 minutes. We think it could be the same deer, what do yall think.
Taken with Blackberry last year at 5feet

Taken with Iphone last weekend at 20 ft

Her's aanother pic at a different angle.

Possible

This is why we have ARs. Pay attention, East Texans.

I see the same....I say " Its the same buck "

Well that spike is legal in AR counties so you better talk to TPWD to get spikes protected...lol

Seen alot of yearling 'spike's' have more points in following years. Moral of the story, DON'T SHOOT REALLY YOUNG BUCKS!!! AR's would do nothing for him in the first pic!

He's legal in AR county in second pick also!

Gotta love AR threads

I vote for same deer due to the notch in the right ear for the second pic. Unless you have two escaped breeder bucks on your lease, which wouldn't be a bad thing.

not the same deer.......in my opinion. and chances of the notch being from a tag doubtful, most all deer on my ranch have rips in one or both ears....

BMD, just be glad you dont have to deal with them!!! Most of our older bucks in ETx. wont meet the AR's.

That's alot of difference in one year.

No doubt about the AR crap, just damn shame hunters don't have self control and knowledge so the state didn't come in and arse it up

yep

probably a late born. We have a bunch of spikes every year.. 99% of them will jump to 6-8.

It looks like the same deer to me Frank.

I have some more pics, I will put them up shortly to compare. I see vast differences from the 2 but the behavior has me convinced that its the same deer.

Probably is then.

Hmm...I know I wouldn't take that small a deer in picture one but can't say the same for some other guys. Not so sure about the second during bow season. Could be a tough decision especially if it's getting late and I have a pocket full of tags..lol. Tough to call though I can see differences but behavior is suspicious.

i say differnt because the rip in the second pic seems a lot bigger than the first.

If I were to follow the belief that this is the same deer;

I'd say the deer in the first pick was an early fawn, and possibly that picture was taken very late in the season.......

yielding a super fawn.......which at a 1.5yoa (second picture) has produced a solid up and come'r

but even I am having a hard time justifying that one

I noticed that too, it may be coincidence but look at the back feet, the right foot is forward in both pics

Low Fence? Pet/tame deer? hhhhuuuummmmm

Hard to tell if they are the same deer. I doubt the rip in ear on the yearling buck was from a tag. When deer are tagged, they are tagged in the center of the ear and not on the edges.

If is the same deer, thats why we don't shoot spikes. Just because the State says you can shoot it, doesn't mean you have too.

I agree, the tear in the 2nd pic is bigger but that could happen. I think if the 8 pt let you feed him by hand then that would confirm it's the same deer. Very rare for a wild deer to be so comfortable around people.

Low Fence..there's a high fence place 5 miles away. Here's a another pick from last year. Need to get the other pictures from my buddy's phone. Also check above, added another pic from a better angle. I am still looking for more pics from last year.

Haha I know. I was confused for a second...

not the same deer, they have different antlers.

BAHAHAHAHAHA!!! That's funny right there!

Odds are its the same deer.

People I hunt with cant figure out why I wont cull yearling spikes.........THATS WHY! Very nice improvement in one year and great pics.

I bet the same deer.... you arn't going to shoot him are you?????

Most likely the same deer but one thing I can assure you that when he is in hard antlers this fall I would keep a close eye on him around kids. He will probably at some time in his life become mean towards people since he no fear of them. Especially around kids. At 2 years of age most grown men could not handle or control a 2 yr old buck if he came after you closer to the rut.

If he is tame enough lead him around to all the feed pens this fall and make sure he has a lot of "dates"......

Either way imagin what he will look like when he 4 great deer am pics

Lol and folks laugh at me for keeping a hotshot on hand when dealing with the pets

It's impossible. Once a spike always a spike. I read it online

I don't think this is the same deer due to differences in white around the nose and the eyes being different. If any other pictures from 1st year show the "tatoo" on the right front leg that this year's pictures clearly show then an arguement could be made for same deer from appearances.

I'll bite my tounge on this one.

Looks like the same rip in the ear and also looks to be the right age.

LOL, maybe it was a penned spike a breeder didn't want to feed that expensive feed to so he turned him out! Maybe he'll turn into a bruiser in three more years and one of you will put him on your wall!

Well, I can't see enough good evidence to say either way. One thing I will say is that on my dad's lease, a lot of the deer behave this way. If they are hungry and used to coming to the feeder, it might just be that they are putting aside their fear for food.
To make my point with a good story... whenever we go down to fill dad's feeders in August, which he does not feed all summer, often times there is at least one deer that comes to check things out. By the second filling, there are usually four or five standing around. By the time hunting season gets swinging he can pull up in his pickup, honk the horn and have up to 30 standing there in minutes. This place is low fence, 40,000 acres and he hunts a 300 acre pasture of it. No high fence for 30 miles. We took my son up there last year and watched from the cab of the truck as a 130 inch mule deer buck ate from the tailgate and a 120 inch whitetail stood at 20 yards and ate corn with about 15 other deer and all we did was stop, honk the horn and throw corn around the pickup. They follow him to camp and eat around his camper. Funny thing is, out of 20 hunters on the ranch, he is the only one this works for. Maybe, like him, you are just blessed with the trust of animals.

Good call jhp. Also, look at the tear ducts on the two deer. Second pic sure has his well defined for less than one year's growth (I assume it's probably closer to only having been 9 or 10 months given furry antlers vs hard antlers).

I think you have pics of two different deer. Deer 1 is likely offspring or related to pics 2 and 3. Pics 2 and 3 are older than 1.5 to 2 years, imo. Learned behavior and inherited ear notch? Possibly.

Not very likely that deer will inherit an ear notch of the same shape and depth and in the exact same place on the ear. Also you are comparing facial and other features to two deer in different seasons of the year. Facial and body hair is a different texture and color in winter vs. summer. Post of pic of the 8 point in hard antlers and with a fall coat and you will see they are the same deer.

Like Ranchman said before, if it is the same deer don't try to make a pet out of it. Especially with young folks around. There is nothing more dangerous than a tame "Male" wild animal.

plus the older they get get the grouchier/meaner they get.

This. I think it's two different deer.

The rip is lower and longer on second deer but behavior says it probably is the same,great advice about keeping the kids away Ranchman,people get killed every year by "tame" deer.

Maybe, but don't forget that the buck is still growing in body and skeletal size up to age 4 or so and he had much longer winter hair (even in his ears) in the first pic as a spike, so I think the rip is even longer in the first pic but covered by hair.

Here you go boys. The pics attached are defiantly the same deer that is in Franks pic#1. These two were taken on 04/22/11. I didnt think it was possible when I took the ones last weekend. However, when comparing mainly the cut in the ear, it appears that the cut either stretched or tore a little more from the first picture taken late last year. You be the judge..Guess you should let those spikes go that keep hanging out at your feeder Frank so I can shoot them later.

http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/ae276/Cooperjack31/closeup3.jpg

http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/ae276/Cooperjack31/Closeup.jpg

The cut will get larger as the deer ages... Going to continue to do so until it's in the 4-5yo range. With what we see on "tamed down" deer, he'll be timid another year then something will flip and he'll like a little more of a buffer unless there's does involved that are tamed down and like to come greet you (use you for food).

Amen brother. Thanks for diggin up those pics. I would not have believed it was possible.

If it is that tame,,,,,why shoot it. Go after something more challenging. Does not appear to be a trophy yet anyway...so let him walk and shoot at something else. If you guys hand fed him, i doubt he will be wild as the rest of the deer ever again.

My vote.... same deer.

No one said to shoot it. Let it breed. I hope it lives so I can document it's growth.

same deer. notch in ear is the same

X2

To me AR's are worthless. Education is the key and getting people to implement good hunting practices. Just do not shot young deer. Let them grow up and become what they are going to become. I have several friends in AR counties that have deer come though their lease and should be take out of the gene pool. Some of them are 5?5 yrs old or older and still have not grown antlers outside their ears. I saw a photo of one that was a very nice 11 pionter who's outside spread could't be more that 10 inches.

I hope you forgot to indicate sarcasm.