ABOUT BAKER'S MAJESTIC WHITETAILS

	I started my deer operation in 1994 with a pure Louisiana bred doe fawn that we bottle raised. About that same time I purchased doe fawns and bred does from Tommy Dugger and Gene Riser in South Texas. The first fawn born here was in 1996 from a Dugger doe. It is now March 2009 and I still have that doe today along with others from that original shipment of deer and I could not have asked for better. Even today, fifteen years later, those deer still look great and continue to produce world class offspring here. Unimaginable. Thanks fellows !!! A little later I purchased a couple of doe fawns in Missouri. They did a terrific job adding some versatility to my line and I was able to keep them for a while before I got my first introduction to EHD.
Russell Baker	Some of their lineage is still here today. During this same time I purchased some doe

fawns from a farmer here in Louisiana that were from northern does. My second introduction to EHD soon followed and fortunately I met Dr. Harry Jacobson soon after.

Without the leadership of Dr. Jacobson I would have been out of the deer business years ago. Earlier in my deer raising career I knew little about deer physiology and what makes them “tick” right or wrong. Thru experience and Harry’s guidance I learned not to locate a deer where it doesn’t belong and to appreciate and utilize disease resistance and natural immunities. South Louisiana affords it’s own unique set of “challenges” to both, deer and farmer. My farm is 6 yrs CWD monitored and TB accredited. My original “anchor buck” was Oscar Jr. His lineage was from a southern cross doe and an Ohio buck. Oscar lived here until he was fourteen and has countless son’s and grandsons well over 200 inches. Many of them over 250 inches plus a 372 inch and a 441 inch grandson that I know of. It is an honor to see Oscar Jr. offspring in the many books, sale catalogs and websites highlighted as cornerstone’s of other deer operations. The legacy continues. My selective breeding program today revolves around Oscar Jr. daughters, granddaughters and some of my original Dugger and Riser does. I cross these does with bucks raised here on the farm and AI to what I believe are some of the most unique bucks in the industry. While we’ve yet to produce

“a prefect deer”, these bucks crossed with my southern does produce an animal I feel is second to none offering a high probability to survive here in the south and exceptional antler heredity.

We all have our own opinion about antler structure. I prefer a deer with a massive, balanced, definable mainframe with long G’s and a few “extras” here and there. That’s what I try to breed. Others may settle for an antler that leaves the head then looks like an unraveled rope but if it scores high they’re happy. However, regardless of ones antler preference the seasoned farmer is concerned first about survivability. I am.