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Just seen the first fawn of the year!!!!!
Friend said he seen one last week.
All due respect guys but "seen"?
Any foodplots with wr/ww should be left alone now till 6/15 for fear of augering a fawn thru a brush hog.So much for the "moon" rut per DDH D. Schmidt. A deer's gestation is 210 days and they are dropping big time the next 10 days. Do the math.
Your so correct November forever
It is a tough concept for some " ruts early" " the ruts late" " it's to hot" it's this of that blah blah blah
Your correct it's on time every time by design. Good observation and comment
DDH is notorious for picking "hot" topics to sell clicks and fish wrap. Xbows, highfences, extended, late rut? What garbage. Mother nature doesn't conduct business that way. 210 days prior to 6/1 is what date? The very few bred 12/7 are spotted breakfast/winter kill anyway.
Actually a whitetail's gestation is from 190-210 days. For a rough average I use 200, which puts fawns dropped in the last week being from does bred late Oct - first week Nov. Which still disproves D&Dh's moon crap.
I SAW a half of a fawn yesterday? Other half was still in the doe. I was on a bicycle ride and it was in a field close to the road.
I never had a problem with a brush hog or haybine for that matter as far as killing fawns but a side sickle they were real wicked. I believe the can't see the sickle coming? When I was farming I made a lot of hay
Two this afternoon ...little guy following Mom through the ditch. Very cool!
I saw two yesterday on my way home from work...
I stumbled into three this weekend turkey hunting. Didn't have time to snap pictures as I was working on gobbling toms every time. Looked very healthy though
If we use last Friday as an avg drop date, and use 200 days for gestation. That puts conception right around November 4th. With a good amount before and after. Which to me says deer were breeding about the same time as they do every year.
On my way back home I saw a fawn on the shoulder of Hwy 8 near Tripoli. It was laying on it's belly with it's nose almost on the white line. I thought it was dead or injured so I turned back to investigate. When I walked up to it the fawn sprang up and sprinted 100 yds. across the road then layed back down. I checked the ditches for the mother but didn't see her. I sure hope they found each other.
I've found 3 already, hunting turkeys and Morels!! Here is one that I found after the doe snuck away. She just gave birth, it wasn't even licked dry yet!!! Snapped a photo and beat feet!!
Slvrtip
And a little buck later that day Morel hunting!! You gotta love it!!!
Silvrtip
Silvrtip-
Thanks for sharing the pictures!
First Fawn picture of the year!! The bad thing is 2 different coyote picts less then 48 hours later same camera :(
Agree on the "moon phase" rut nonsense. Year in and year out, newborn fawns are seen in our NE WI farm country last two weeks of May. That puts the peak breeding at roughly the first two weeks of November.
Great picts. Saw my first this AM June 8. It was standing right under my deer stand. Mom ran circles around me so I backed out as not to stress either of them. Hope it was a future 10orBetter! I have a copy of the book Whitetail Ecology and Management. In the book it speculates that during severe winters the does abort the doe fawns as a natural population control. Is this accurate and do any of the experts here know of any data to support a natural internal mechanism to control the population?
10orbetter -
My understanding of the fawn "abortion" has to do solely with the survival of the doe.
It really has nothing to do with population control to my knowledge.
The doe actually absorbs the fetus, ending the pregnancy when their body weight diminishes to a certain level that can/would effect the mortality of the once pregnant doe.
An animal's body condition has absolutely nothing to do with genetics or acclimatization. It has to do with the bodily reserves present at the moment stress sets in, how long the stressful situation lasts and finally the amount of resources available, if any, for the duration of the stress event.
Deer that have been challenged by climatic conditions such as drought or another anomaly that causes a shortage of food may not even cycle into estrous if their body condition is not conducive to carrying a fawn full term. Human females even stop menstruating when they lose too much body fat and their body condition is unsuitable to pregnancy.
Deer and other mammals that may be just fit enough to conceive to begin with when pressed by lengthy food shortages caused by severe cold, drought, deep snow, heat, etc. will either spontaneously abort, or more likely since mother nature abhors waste absorb the immature fetus. If the fetus is into late term it typically is aborted (miscarriage).
I know of no data to support a natural internal mechanism to control the population of whitetail deer.
Saw my first one yesterday morning. Doe crossed the road with the fawn behind. A car was coming from the other direction and stopped. Fawn stopped in the other lane, turned around, went back and forth not knowing to follow its mother or go back. Mother won out. Very comical to watch.
Glad you guys in the south are seeing alot of fawns, must be nice, I have seen 3 wolves in the last week, runnning the logging roads behind the cabin.....
And on top of that, for the bear guys, I have seen 6 in the last two weeks........
However, although no fawns spotted, I have seen alot of deer in Michigan, in the fields, but very little to nothing, when you cross the Brule into Florence Co,,,,,,,
Oh thats right, feeding deer in the winter in Wis will definitely kill deer,,,,,, however Michigan deer must be different.....
Lots of feeding goes on in northern WI, with or without DNR's blessing. One Facebook friend has posted oodles of photos in a "barren" county with deer aplenty at the feeders and food plots, and fawn photos as well. One size doesn't fit all, even in the north. So much depends on the habitat, young or old, and supplemental feeding/plots that attract/hold more deer in good habitat.
Thanks Pat, good information.
I saw ma and her fawn dead on the side of the hwy this morning. :(
I have yet to see twin fawns this year. It looks like the harsh winter had an impact in the south as well. I am up and on the road every day at 4:00 AM. The fawn-less does still look malnourished and the does with fawns appear to have only one. In a way that might be better for the fawns since they will have more milk available to them. Besides the reports posted here, I have been hearing of no fawns in Forest, Vilas, and Onieda Counties. Hope it is not true for the northern guys.
Yep, only singles so far, no twins.
I finally seen my first one 3 days ago nursing next to the highway. Seen my second yesterday flatter than a pancake! About 8 miles apart. My feeding neighbor had 9 coming in most of the winter. Down to 5 now, and no fawns yet. As of last night!
Dad in Vilas county has seen one doe with a fawn.
He also found two winter kills over Memorial weekend. One 6 pt buck, found the ribcage and skull still attached to spine, and a doe, scattered mess of bones.
Normally he has a good half-dozen or more deer roaming around their lake house property and the neighbor's land on a regular basis.
So far this spring, they've seen three deer on a regular basis that come down to the lake to drink at dusk.
I've seen "zero" fawns in Washington county where I work/live, but plenty of yearlings running around. High amount of road kill too :(
Ive seen three road-killed fawns in my part of Waupaca County this week.
Saw one dead on Hwy 63 just south of Spooner about 10 days ago. Spooner certainly is not the harshest part of the north but there was one borne there.
I had what I believe is the same doe living on my place near Hayward for at least the last two years. I have not seen her yet, I hope she is just hiding in the thicker cover till her fawn(s) this year get bigger. I have seen the two little bucks that she had with her last year.
Skitters are chasing the deer out of the woods. Starting to see fawns. We saw two different sets of twins today - great sign. No singles yet.
The deer are very visible right now at dusk i
Spotting my share of daytime deer. Ears are like working overtime along with tails swatting insects! Warm and muggy does not help the comfort level!
I've seen 7 fawns so far.....looking for more.
I have a couple cameras out and these are the only "fawns" I have seen in my neck of the woods...
And besides the Sandhills, geese, coons and foxes...
Mike. Cool pictures. Sorry. That plot looks awesome, I'd be bummed
Nice pics of the cranes Mike. We had a pair set-up housekeeping at our big pond before the snows receded and the ice melted.
Been watching the colts put on some size....
Fetched the SD cards from four trail cameras today. Fawns are showing-up regularly. Including this little one...
And this one that was born earlier.
Big difference in size...
The last two weeks while going to fish spots, I have seen 6 does, and all with fawns, and 2 of the does, had twins. This would be in Michigan, in the Ottawa Lake area of Iron Co.
I have seen 3 does in the Tipler area of Florence Co, and 2 of them had twin fawns, the other has a single.......
although taboo, both areas had residents doing alot of feeding over the winter
In non feeding areas in the NF, travelling between Long Lake and Fence in the back roads, I have seen over a dozen does in the last month. No fawns but that does not mean there not with the does somewhere.........
I have not seen many bears, but lots of baits out, and training season starts in a week...... I know the bear population is very good.........
The other day, I had cans to return, that were in a plastic can, inside a clean garbage bag, with a brick on top, so the wind could not take the lid off.....
I came back from fishing, the can was gone. Found it back in the woods, cans scattered, bit marks on the garbage can...... First bear sign at my cabin that I have seen, must have been traveling thru, since I have no feeders or any food out.........
My Labs found this prize on our walk this morning.
This fawn was just birthed. Still drying out and not able to stand yet.
We beat it out of there real quick as the dogs probably caused mama to skedaddle.
It initially struck me as unusual for a fawn to be born this late. But a web search tells me early July is about the end of the fawning period.
Second rut. Unique sighting.
Talked to a close farmer friend today who is always on his land. 90% single fawns and 10% twins. Plenty of deer
I was surprised to see twins up in Price county this past week.
