Well Im not an expert by no means. But I have some interesting points to bring up.

1. Why did the deer rub around the whole tree? The two pics are of different parts of the tree trunk.
2. Why did you take a picture of a different side?

I think you can see the "rub" going all the way down to the ground on the oppisite side of the 2nd photo.

Ill just post both them pics so you can all see what Im saying.

This is the first pic he posted.



This is the second.






And one more thing. I am almost certain that you posted this rub a pretty long time back. I think you actually hung your keyring on the branches to show the size of this rub. I looked for this post but could not find it.