Roe Deer

[Brown Dog]

First steps in digital photography (and trying to post the results!):

Managed to photograph these roe bucks whilst out with the dog this afternoon, they may be of interest to those unfamiliar with roe:



A strong buck with a good head, possibly a potential medal winner. Continental Europeans would pay well to have a pop at a trophy animal like this.

One of his pals unimpressed with my presence:



These are not big deer, roe only stand around 26-29in at the shoulder and have a live weight of 50-70lb.

And finally, for any confused by the provenance of my logon name, the Brown Dog:

 

[orwapitihunter]

Nice photos.
Thanks Brown Dog.

 

[Perkules]

Yes very nice.

 

[Dave King]

Thanks for posting the pictures and the opportunity to see those little critters.

 

[1894]

Nice photos. Here are some summer coat ones:-

A nice woodland buck



This is and is likely to remain the best buck I've ever shot.



And here's my 'little black dog'



I love stalking roe, you'll see from their size that a 300m shot is not the chip shot it might seem on a big deer.

 

[Matt Regalia]

Brown Dog,

Where are those pictures from (Part of the country)?

They look very similar to Sika Deer. I grew up hunting Sika's in the marshs of Marylands Eastern Shore. I will have to try and post some pictures.


Matt

[ 04-07-2004: Message edited by: Matt Regalia ]

[ 04-07-2004: Message edited by: Matt Regalia ]

 

[Brown Dog]

Matt,

I'm in South West UK.
If you stood a UK Sika next to a UK roe, there'd be no confusing the two -don't know how large/heavy your US sika are, but I agree that your trophies do look surprisingly similar to my buck photos.
In UK, roe antler span varies significantly over short (eg 50 mile) distances.
As I said, I'm in the SW. Here, spans are quite wide -contrast my 1st photo with 1894's 2nd- his beast has a much narrower span (but is nevertheless very heavy - 1894- a gold?!)and (I think you'd agree) looks less similar to your trophies. I dare say 1894 is in a different part of UK to me (1894 -South East?).
I'm sure if we were able to put the two side by side, your sika heads would be noticeably larger.
Here's a photo of a well proportioned (but non-medal) head, I've put a ruler next to it for scale, I guess it will measure much smaller than your heads:

 

[Matt Regalia]

Brown dog,

The Sika's are a fairly small deer too. They average about 65-75 pounds for the bucks and around 45-50 pounds for the does. It is amazing how the antler structure can vary is such a short distance. I have new seen a Roe Deer before. i fist glance the buck in your first picture could pass for a Sika. The white rump is a Sika trait too. the sika's look like miniature Elk. they bugle just like an elk too. The bucks are a deep dark brown most of the time. althought the last picture I posted (4 point) was a Auburn color. Very pretty deer and also was a large bodied deer (104 pounds dressed). thats why i had him mounted.

The last picture you posted with the ruler is not far off the scale of my racks. Most of mine ar around 11 wide and 11 to 15 inches tall. if you moved the antlers on your about an inch farther apart i would swear it was a Sika rack.

Thanks for posting the pictures. I have never seen a Roe Deer before. I enjoy seeing the other species of deer around the world.

Matt

[ 04-07-2004: Message edited by: Matt Regalia ]

[ 04-08-2004: Message edited by: Matt Regalia ]