For the new people here, Elly had been coming to see me for close to 4 years.  I have been through 4 sets of fawns with her.  Three weeks after having her second set of triplets, Ely passed away.  The fawns have been surviving on their own.  The neighbors and I have put our food and water for them to help them survive.  With many trips down the road and back, I earned their trust to the point they started showing up in my yard for some apple pieces.  Two weeks later, something spooked them, and they stopped showing up here.  I take them some food when I see them out, and the tiny one has come back to visit me 3-4 times.  I am trying to get all 3 fawns to make regular visits so they know they have a safe place to come and eat.  I want to do this for the fawns.....and for my Elly girl.

For those concerned with the "humanizing" of these deer, I have been doing this for quite a while.  What I have learned is that the deer see me as some kind of nice animal to them.  They run if any person comes down the road or into my yard!  it is a special relationship I have with them that took a long time to develope.

I follow the DNR guidlines closely for recreational feeding.  I have contacted the DNR office, and I have it in writing.

Here are some clips of my 15 regulars that visit me.  The young ones will be leaving their moms soon, so I wanted to film then together.  Elly, Marcie, and Mickey look like they could have new fawns at any time.  Rocky, Moses, and Sampson's (Sammy) spikes are starting to grow quickly now.  They have all lost their winter coats over the last month, and are very happy that there are leaves on the bushes and green grass to eat.  But, they still love to stop in for a snack. :-)

I started working with Elly over a year ago.  At the time, she had a young fawn I called Fritz.  They would come over for apples or corn through the winter and early spring.  Fritz is now a 9 point buck.  Elly had two more fawns this spring.  She finally got the nerve to walk right up to me when I fed her, and let me start petting her.  Her kids, Rocky and Adrian, come over every day with her now.  Oh, there are others.  Bella has been visiting for a year.  She had two fawns last year.....Aaron, an 8 point now, and little Peyton.  Peyton shows up with her friend, Jules, and is the only other deer that lets me pet her now.  There is also Marcie with her little girl, and Casper.....a bigger doe with a lot of white on her.  They all know my voice, and many times, will come when I call them.  They have become my "wild" pets, and I have a lot of fun working with them.

Yes, I did check with the DNR as far as recreational feeding o