Well I'll try to help you all I can..since I've never taken any classes myself I know how important it is to have the support of other cake decorators.  I started with a 9x13 pan and then added a 6"round at the top for the head and then on top of the 6" I put a 1/2 ball pan cake but you could use another 6"..just have to carve off a little more cake. Make sure you have frosting between each cake to hold them together. Then you just carve the nose down into the shape you want. Next follow the line of the 6" down into the 9x13 to finish off the head and then kinda cut off the sides in a backward C motion to shape the body. Frost with buttercream then you can use a plastic fork, knife or sculpting tool to create the fur. Add eyes and nose,I used modeling chocolate, but you could use fondant. Put a little extra hump of icing down where the eyes will go to give it the right shape. Add the ears..this is made from some of the cake that was cut away. Then I airbrushed to give it some shadowing then went back in and added the white buttercream "fur" where it was needed. Last the antlers are shaped rice cereal treats covered in white modeling chocolate. I made markings up and down the antlers and then brushed on powdered food coloring brown and black mixed. I used a double strength cake board (non-waxed) and shaped it to fit the cake, then I painted it with edible food coloring to look like the wood mount and black to really show the antlers. I made a nameplate out of fondant and brushed it with gold luster dust and wrote on the message. Hope this helps..let me know if you need any more info.   By the way next week is My Dad's 60th birthday.  He is a big hunter so I've done the deer thing.  We have a small family farm and he loves his chickens so I'm going to make one cake that looks like his wooden box nest with eggs in it, then another cake,the sitting hen. I'm going to use dowel rods so that the hen doesn't smash her eggs and you'll be able to see them when you lift it off

welcome