The Meaning of Deer in Old English

In old english, it didn't mean a spe i animal like bamby. It was actually a generic term for all animals,. especially wild animals, the type you might hunt. The plural of rabbit is rabbits, but hunters might say that their hunting rabbit without an s. This process ultimately led to a situation where commonly hunted animals were always referred to in the singular form. We still hear people refer to shremps or elks or sleeping with the fishes.