Above, you see a young white-tailed deer buck that was born in the spring and was “shot” by me in Sunday’s first morning light. Technically, he’s still a fawn, as is his twin sister who was nearby in the shadows:

Generally, a deer is considered to be a fawn until it becomes a year old; then, it’s called a yearling until it matures into an adult and is called a doe or buck. 

Speaking of being shot, we’re in firearms hunting season now until November 30. The limit is one antlered deer per year. Although this buck has fur-covered “buttons” on his head, he and his sister are considered to be mostly protected as “antlerless deer” under Maine’s regulations: “Hunting of antlerless deer (a deer that has no antlers or has antlers less than 3 inches in length measured from the skull) is prohibited except by special permit during both the firearms and muzzleloader seasons.”

(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on November 10, 2024.)

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