FALLOW DEER
—are the species of Deer bred in parks for the production of venison, as well for the private use of the great and opulent, as for sale. The male is called A BUCK; the female, a DOE; the offspring of both, A FAWN; and they vary some degrees in colour, but consist principally of a dark dingy brown, inclining to black, or a mottled sandy dun. The BUCK is furnished with horns, which he sheds yearly: the DOE has no such weapons for self-defence.
The BUCK sheds his horns from the middle of April through the first weeks of May, which are in part regenerated by the month of September. The DOE generally produces her young in the last week of May, or during the two first of June. The season for BUCK VENISON commences in July, and goes out about Michaelmas; when DOE VENISON comes in, and continues till January. The time in which the act of procreation is carried on (called rutting time) commences at the latter end of August, and continues during the greater part of September.
The skins of both buck and doe are manufactured into the article of leather for breeches, so superior to every other kind for the purpose of riding, the produce of the whole kingdom is not equal to the demand, many thousand skins being annually imported from different parts of the world. For the LAWS relating to DEER, see Deer Stealers.
Buck hunting was formerly a much more frequent sport than at present; and a dwarf kind of stag-hound (called buck-hounds) were kept for the purpose. The uncertainty and short duration of the chase, has, however, at length, nearly obliterated the practice, as there is hardly such a thing in the kingdom as a pack kept solely for the purpose of hunting FALLOW DEER.