Short answers, pulled from the story.
Male deer grow and shed new antlers annually as part of a cycle tied to reproduction and social hierarchy. Antlers are bony extensions of the skull that begin as soft vascular tissue called velvet, then harden through mineralisation. They serve primarily for combat between males during mating season and as signals of genetic quality; males with heavier antlers hold higher social rank and tend to have greater resistance to pathogens.
At least half a million deer are killed in vehicle collisions each year in the United States. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates roughly 1.5 million deer-vehicle collisions occur annually, causing approximately 150 human deaths and $1.1 billion in property damage.
The moose is the largest living deer, standing nearly 2.6 metres tall and weighing up to 800 kilograms. The northern pudu is the smallest deer in the world, reaching only 32-35 centimetres at the shoulder and weighing 3.3-6 kilograms.
The ancestors of deer are traced back to Diacodexis, the earliest known artiodactyl, which lived 50-55 million years ago in the Eocene. The first antlered cervids appeared in Eurasia during the Miocene, and the full evolutionary arc from antlerless, tusked ancestors to modern antlered deer spans roughly 30 million years.
Deer appear frequently in European heraldry in a wide range of defined postures, including lodged (lying down), trippant (one leg raised), courant (running), and at gaze (standing and facing the viewer). Coats of arms featuring deer are found in Hertfordshire in England, the Israeli Postal Authority, the German state of Baden-Wurttemberg, Nizhny Novgorod in Russia, Åland in Finland, Queensland in Australia, and Chile, among many others.
A 2006 survey by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimated that hunting license sales generate approximately $700 million annually in the United States. The same agency estimated that big game hunting for deer and elk generates approximately $11.8 billion annually when accounting for hunting-related travel, equipment, and related expenditures.