I have seen a lot of smaller deer that try to hang out with the big guys. Saturday morning I shot a nice 8 pointer and once he went down a smaller 8 comes out of the creek and is checking things out. He walks off after minute or two and then a small 6 point coes out fo the creek. I have heard that once a dominant buck is preoccupied breeding a doe, the smaller one will jump in and try to take care of another doe in the area.