Doe with young one
Moderator: Excalibur Marketing Dude
Doe with young one
Are young deer born this spring old enough to fend for themselves or would it be bad at this point to harvest a doe with fawns?
the Whitetailed Fawn
Whitetailed fawns are usually born between May and June after a gestation period of 205 to 218 days. Fawns generally weigh 4 to 5 pounds at birth and they possess a light tan coat covered with cream-colored spots numbering from 250 to 350 in total. These spots create the illusion of small patches of sunlight penetrating the foliage and provide the fawns with the perfect camouflage.
A young doe will normally have one fawn for her first birth and after that she will usually produce 2. In rare cases 3 are born but this happens in especially prime habitat. The sex ratio among fawns is 1:1 with slightly few more bucks than doe fawns.
Fawn mortality is high among both sexes with between 6 to 7 % of all whitetails dying within the 1st 48hours. The degree of fawn mortality depends on a wide range of variables:
1-habitat shortage
2-adequate nutrition during conception, gestation and lactation
3-stagant water supply
4-food availability
5-the abundance of predators
6-the abundance of parasites population
7-the exposure to diseases
8-hunting seasons
9-and finally exposure to severe weather conditions (harsh winters)
The weaning period last about four months. Fawns, you must remember are not ruminants at birth and cannot digest grass and twigs. They must have bacteria in their rumen to start the digestive process. This bacteria is ingested from the doe's mouth as she licks them or from the water they drink.
Although more research would be welcomed on this subject, it is widely believed that 50 percent of fawns die within their first year of existence.
One thing is certain mind you: Whitetailed deer are enormously productive. Theoretically, one mature buck and one doe could increase to 22 animals in 5 years. In 10 years they could increase to 189. It is rare however, for a herd in the wild to approach this potential.
I harvested one year, a doe who had a fawn beside her. I was there to hunt and had made a decision on the doe. This was no time to turn Greenpeace. I did all that was expected of a level hunted hunter and after the harvest treated her with respect. I prayed that the fawn which had escaped with it's life to the detriment of his mother would also avoid falling prey to the mortality variances which I previously described above.
This does not fully answer your question I am aware. It is my hope that my reply has provided you with some insight about fawns in general.
I leave you with this:
With all the many stories heard of grand bucks and record heads taken by hunters each year from the big woods, one would surely be due a substantial reward for declaring the killing of a doe or a fawn.
xboman
A young doe will normally have one fawn for her first birth and after that she will usually produce 2. In rare cases 3 are born but this happens in especially prime habitat. The sex ratio among fawns is 1:1 with slightly few more bucks than doe fawns.
Fawn mortality is high among both sexes with between 6 to 7 % of all whitetails dying within the 1st 48hours. The degree of fawn mortality depends on a wide range of variables:
1-habitat shortage
2-adequate nutrition during conception, gestation and lactation
3-stagant water supply
4-food availability
5-the abundance of predators
6-the abundance of parasites population
7-the exposure to diseases
8-hunting seasons
9-and finally exposure to severe weather conditions (harsh winters)
The weaning period last about four months. Fawns, you must remember are not ruminants at birth and cannot digest grass and twigs. They must have bacteria in their rumen to start the digestive process. This bacteria is ingested from the doe's mouth as she licks them or from the water they drink.
Although more research would be welcomed on this subject, it is widely believed that 50 percent of fawns die within their first year of existence.
One thing is certain mind you: Whitetailed deer are enormously productive. Theoretically, one mature buck and one doe could increase to 22 animals in 5 years. In 10 years they could increase to 189. It is rare however, for a herd in the wild to approach this potential.
I harvested one year, a doe who had a fawn beside her. I was there to hunt and had made a decision on the doe. This was no time to turn Greenpeace. I did all that was expected of a level hunted hunter and after the harvest treated her with respect. I prayed that the fawn which had escaped with it's life to the detriment of his mother would also avoid falling prey to the mortality variances which I previously described above.
This does not fully answer your question I am aware. It is my hope that my reply has provided you with some insight about fawns in general.
I leave you with this:
With all the many stories heard of grand bucks and record heads taken by hunters each year from the big woods, one would surely be due a substantial reward for declaring the killing of a doe or a fawn.
xboman
Re: the Whitetailed Fawn
xboman wrote:
With all the many stories heard of grand bucks and record heads taken by hunters each year from the big woods, one would surely be due a substantial reward for declaring the killing of a doe or a fawn.
xboman
Well said!!
Doe w/Fawn
I passed up two does this morning - both with two fawns. First came under my stand right at legal light - I had just settled in and since this was the first day on a new piece of property...I wanted to wait and see what the morning would bring and to see how the deer were moving.
After seeing 5 bucks (a 4pt, 3 6pt'ers and a monster 8 - bucks are not in season for another couple weeks) I had a group of does come in just out of range...two fawns came grazing past at 20yds...an shortly afterwards the doe came. She was a good size, clearly an older girl.
When she was broadside, I started to draw (today I had the bow with me) and at the exact same moment in time the fawns came blazing down the hill and started nursing! I did not want to shoot the doe while the fawns were nursing...so I was going to wait until they were done - but wouldn't you know it, they all turned and walked off - with the fawns between me and the doe...I would have taken her if they gave me a clear shoot...but the season is six months here, and I wil be back there Friday morning...
Where I am in Virginia...the deer population is out of control. I would take the doe, and let nature determine if the fawns survive.
After seeing 5 bucks (a 4pt, 3 6pt'ers and a monster 8 - bucks are not in season for another couple weeks) I had a group of does come in just out of range...two fawns came grazing past at 20yds...an shortly afterwards the doe came. She was a good size, clearly an older girl.
When she was broadside, I started to draw (today I had the bow with me) and at the exact same moment in time the fawns came blazing down the hill and started nursing! I did not want to shoot the doe while the fawns were nursing...so I was going to wait until they were done - but wouldn't you know it, they all turned and walked off - with the fawns between me and the doe...I would have taken her if they gave me a clear shoot...but the season is six months here, and I wil be back there Friday morning...
Where I am in Virginia...the deer population is out of control. I would take the doe, and let nature determine if the fawns survive.
If deer are anything like other animals they will usually nurse as long as they can (or as long as mom puts up with it). I've seen kittens nursing for months after their siblings have been weened. They eat solid food, but will nurse also if the female allows it.
I'm no expert, but if I know it is a fawn and it doesn't have spots, I would take the shot on the doe. If they still have their spots I might pass. Depends on how close it is to the end of the season.
I'm no expert, but if I know it is a fawn and it doesn't have spots, I would take the shot on the doe. If they still have their spots I might pass. Depends on how close it is to the end of the season.
I hunt for memories, the meat's a bonus!
As I am led to believe from reading, that in a normal winter the greatest mortality is in mature bucks, followed by fawns then does. The reasoning is that the bucks' energy reserves are depleted after the rut, and they have little time to replenish them before cold sets in. Fawns are more vulnerable than does because of their smaller size, less efficient body heat retention, inability to move around in deep snow to feed, inability to reach high feed under competition, predation, etc etc.
Last year I took a typical lone female fawn in late October weighing 98 pounds on the hoof, 55 pounds fully dressed and I got 32 pounds of bone-in meat. Not a huge animal, but it was tender and tastey. With the number of tags available in this area I'd do it again.
On the other hand, I've heard of fawns being no bigger than a german shepherd by the fall. I think I'd pass on one like that.
MAple
Last year I took a typical lone female fawn in late October weighing 98 pounds on the hoof, 55 pounds fully dressed and I got 32 pounds of bone-in meat. Not a huge animal, but it was tender and tastey. With the number of tags available in this area I'd do it again.
On the other hand, I've heard of fawns being no bigger than a german shepherd by the fall. I think I'd pass on one like that.
MAple