Double Diamond Deer Ranch

Nice place to check out white tail deer!

5 stars because I think it’s great that these people protect and raise these deer until they die. I wish they could save all of the ones that are running wild and smashed all over the roads up there!
They love dandelions so pick some and they will come eat them right from your hands. so sweet~
The Albino pair are expecting a baby.
Very interesting place ~

Double Diamond Deer Ranch is a cute little independently-​owned animal farm along the main route into Cook Forest. Although they’ve been around since the ‘90s, we just had our first chance to visit them last weekend while we were visiting the area, and we had a great time.
When you first walk into Double Diamond Deer Ranch, you enter a gift shop whose walls are covered in mounted antlers, stretching up to the ceiling in some areas. These are the shed antlers of the bucks on the farm, and each buck has his own row, so you can see how his rack has grown year by year. (Side note: it’s okay to giggle every time you read about someone’s rack. At least, I hope it is, because we did. Yes, we are twelve-​year-​old boys in our minds.)
From the gift shop, you pay your entrance fee (it’s cash-​only, but just $ 6 a person) and step outside to begin your journey through the ranch. The girl at the front desk told us where each type of deer was located (fawns, does, and bucks), and how to make our way through the labyrinth of walkways. You can make a complete circle around the ranch, but you can also walk up little hallways between the deer pens to get closer looks at them, depending on where in their pens they are lounging.
We were there on a chilly day, so many of the deer were snuggled up in corners of their pens to stay warm. But the fawns, Carrie and Rudy (short for Rudolph, as he has a little red nose!) were out and about and putting their noses right up to the fence to be petted. They were so sweet!
What I liked best about visiting the deer was that each pen was marked with a sign stating the deer’s name, and then beneath that was a little paper about them, as written by the deer him– or herself. We had a great time reading their little stories out loud and learning who likes people, who is a little shy, and who each deer’s best friends were.
We didn’t actually get to pet any of the deer on our visit, because most of them were keeping to themselves in the cold weather, but it was still a lot of fun to visit each pen and look at the deer. Everyone looked quite content and well cared-​for, and the pens were roomy and designed to be much like a natural habitat.
During the summer season, you can watch ‘treat time,’ which is when the deer are fed by caretakers, and you can also see the fawns have their bottle feedings (these stop after Labor Day). And after you visit the live deer, your admission also gets you into the ‘Buck Barn,’ which is their display of mounted taxidermy animals (we didn’t visit that, because I thought it would make me sad lol). But all of the deer on the farm stay safely until they die of natural causes, and they are well taken care of their whole lives.
We had a great time at the Double Diamond Deer Ranch, and we learned a lot about deer as well. There are facts all around about antlers, breeding, and the life of deer in the wild. This is a great stop for anyone visiting Cook Forest (we were afraid it would be all kids and families, but there were plenty of adult couples like ourselves as well). We will definitely be back, hopefully in the summer so we can see Treat Time!
Double Diamond Deer Ranch also has a glow-​in-​the-​dark mini golf course, and a playground for kids. But seriously, you know you’re going to see the super cute deer and watch them make funny faces when they eat. (I now have a video folder on my computer called ‘Deers Eating’. It was THAT CUTE.)