Tale of 2 photos: Whitetails young and old in growth stages

WILDLIFE WATCHING — Deer are growing like crazy this month, young and old alike.

Montana outdoor photographer Jaime Johnson gives us a snapshot of the stage deer are in after capturing both of these photos in a single day.

One photo shows a whitetail fawn playing and showing the size and strength it’s developed less than two months after it was born.

The other photo features a mature whitetail buck with still-forming antlers in velvet that began sprouting from its bare skull this spring.  In August this fast-growing tissue will harden like bone and he’ll begin rubbing off the fuzzy velvet to become a specimen that will catch the eye of more than one type of creature this fall.