Hi hi sorry if this is something you've been asked before, but I am an avid deer fan and even so find myself lacking in basic knowledge of them. I was wondering if maybe you knew any good texts or any other media I could consume in order to expand my knowledge? There's so much out there, and I get a little intimidated not knowing where to start. Thank you!
So to start out, my recommendation is just browsing Wikipedia. If you'd like to delve deeper into a species, you can look into the sources listed near the bottom of the page. You'll probably find Valerius Geist's Deer of the World: Their Evolution, Behavior, and Ecology among them -- it's slightly outdated and ridiculously overpriced for a copy, but if you can find it at your local library (or other sources), you should definitely pick it up. Otherwise, encyclopedias of mammals or compendiums of a region's wildlife are also good starting points.
If you're moreso looking for direction on which deer to start with, here are a couple suggestions:
Whitetails (Odocoileus virginianus) are the most well-studied species in North America. If you have a niche question about them, there's probably a reliable answer somewhere.
Sika deer (Cervus nippon) have deep cultural ties in Japan, specifically to Shintoism. They're held sacred as messengers of the gods, especially in Nara Park where harming the deer is prohibited.
Moose (Alces alces) are the largest deer species in the world. They're semi-adapted to the water and can even close their nostrils when submerged.
Muntjacs as a whole (genus Muntiacus) aren't as well-studied as other species, but are some of the weirdest animals on Earth with giant, protruding facial glands, both antlers and tusks, and as few as 6 chromosomes in female southern red muntjacs (Muntiacus muntjak) and 7 in males, the lowest of any mammal.
