That deer is very young, his body tells me he should be sporting a fork horn rack....not the one he has now.

Is that the remnants of a salt lick he is feeding on?

Regardless, he has good symmetry, and in a couple -three years he will be a dandy.

I would say he is not much older than 18 months, as his legs are still long compared to his body, and his hooves are rather dainty, and his neck isn't swollen though it should be as the rut in your area is only 2 weeks away. He is still splaying out his legs as he bends to feed, and all that tells me he is a very well developed 18 month old whitetail.

Little guys like him leave ALOT of sign (scrapes especially) as their hormones are active, and they don't quite know what is going on...so they scrape alot out of frustration. I bet that you can find a TON of scrapes by him in areas that are relatively flat and close to cover. He won't hit the ridge tops much in daylight till next year, that is why I am saying that. I would also bet that within a 100 yards of where this photo was taken...you will find a group of saplings that have been rubbed like there was no tomorrow!!! He will rub and push those saplings to work out the frustration of what his body chemistry is doing to him.