Throughout the years while on WaltAbout I have seen many, many deer. Growing up on a farm in upstate NY I had my first experiences with deer. Elk and moose are also members of the deer family but I am referring to them with those names on WaltAbout as most most people refer to them with those names. The Mid-Atlantic states have always had a large, healthy population of white-tailed deer rural and suburban New York was no exception. My first experience with mule deer was at Big Bend National Park and a lot of rattlesnakes while in the Air Force. Moving from the East Coast to the West a steady diet of seeing white-tailed deer was replaced with mule deer and many more of them. Deer have existed for around thirty million years, by comparison humans have existed for about three hundred thousand years. The deer have been a food source for humans in just about every place in the world and still are today. In America alone millions of deer are harvested a year by hunters.
She Is A Beauty 
Three Does Grazing At Red Rocks 
Mule Deer Conga Line 
Mule Deer Bedding In Brush 
Young Buck Standing In Stream 
Mule Deer Fording Stream
There are two species of deer in Colorado, mule deer “mulies” and whitetails and I have been able to see both while on WaltAbout. My sightings of mule deer have been just about daily all over the state. I have seen white-tails solely at the Rock Mountain Arsenal (RMA) Natural Wildlife Refuge. The I-25 freeway running north to south is basically the separation point for the two species. Mule deer run stiffly and will when threatened start bouncing on the rugged terrain while escaping this is called stotting. They get all four hooves off of the ground to do this which takes a lot of energy so it is only done sparingly. They can easily exceed ten feet in their jumps. Whitetails have a much more graceful gate and can be identified by their white tails that they wave when they run while distressed.
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal neurological disease found in cervids including deer, elk and moose. Wildlife researchers have been studying since its discovery in Colorado in the 1960’s. The disease is caused by a protein called a prion that creates folds in the brain.
Deer are herbivorous, they are plant eaters. They eat a huge variety of plants including neighborhood gardens that can cause conflict with humans. Shrubs, gardens and trees are all fair game for the deer! They eat some plants and mushrooms which are poisonous to people, so just because they eat something it doesn’t mean you can eat it. Does live in herds of varying size and have established hierarchies within groups with some females being dominant over others. Male deer are not as communal and live a more isolated existence except during the rut. The picture above taken during a late December WaltAbout features six bucks after the rut. Normally you will not see this as the bucks continually work to establish their dominance to the herd. They will get on their hind legs to strike out against perceived competitors and will lock horns in mortal combat if they have to.
You will notice that the deer in the pines at the left have coats that are a little more kinky than the others. Those photos were taken at an elevation above 10,000 feet. At that elevation temperatures will drop much more dramatically, so mother nature provides them with a little heavier coat.
Deer do not have the communication skills like the bugling of their cousins the elk. But they do something called blowing before they flush from danger. They breath heavily when distressed to alert other deer that are in the area. Once they do that they get out of Dodge very quickly. Deer do not generally use water as a defensive or escape mechanism. They possess speed and agility skills that they use for escaping danger, running through water diminishes those skills. I have observed deer while on WaltAbout from the plains(whitetails) to the tree line of Mount Evans. I have seen exactly one mule deer buck above the tree line he was agitated and was quickly making his way back down the mountainside. I found that the deer will graze until about 10am and then they will retreat to forested areas to keep cool and rest. Scat animal fecal droppings is a great tool for finding wildlife the more you are out in the wild the more you will become familiar not only are wildlife in the area but what ones are using it. As with all animals don’t get lulled into a sense of comfort with deer if they feel threatened or crowded they will charge.
