Bowsite.com

23 deer

I have 23 deer that come daily to feed at my house.

2 are adult bucks

19 are adult does

2 fawns (1 button buck and 1 doe fawn)

Observations:

1) only 2 fawns for 19 does seems pretty low. That's less than 5% of does having fawns or loss due to predation

2) the two bucks come in with a group of does. the bucks will let the does eat but will NOT let the yearling eat (yearling is a doe). I wonder why?

3) I go through almost 200 pounds of corn/ grain a week for the past 8 weeks. Deer are healthy and strong. They are voracious feeders

4) 2 weeks ago I had a deer come in my itself. It's backside was shredded and rail completely ripped of to the bone. It was in really bad shape and was stumbling around. It looked like yotes got it but somehow it barely got away. It was so sad that I determined to put it down as it was suffering so horribly (yes, I realize that it would be an illegal act but I was willing to take my chances and submit myself to the warden). I wasn't able to shoot the deer and it never came back again. Very sad .

5) deer come in all day and night sometimes 5 or 6 times a day

Just wanted to share what I've bern seeing this year

Meant to type "less than 15% does having fawns"

I think you just found i4ni's missing deer.

What town is this at? That's like 3 square miles worth of Reddin deer right there.

Scotland

i would ease off the corn and put some protien blocks out. The 40 lb blocks at tractor supply will cost about the same and last a bit longer..it sounds like youre the only game in town for now,easy food close by...

The buck doe ratio sounds tolerable,but hey,i wouldnt mind 19 ladies with only 1other competitor around..the yearling ratio sounds out of whack..do any does look pregnant ? maybe all the feeding is bringing in yotes= less yearlings..

I'm sure there are more than 2 fawns there but they are so furry they look like mom. Specially if they are pregnant.

Did you count the deer that you didn't see? Just askin'

Keep feeding em. There are very few fawns from last year. Recruitment is around 20%....so you are right in what you are seeing.

New Hampshire had a big issue with feeding Deer - -

NE hunter,

This won't happen with me because we have been giving the deer a mixture of acorns, grain and corn since last fall. We only stepped it up the lady couple of months because there is nearly nothing to eat in the woods.

Starve to death or starve to death. Two bad options weather it's no food or the wrong food

I would rather die full than starved!

I put out 2 cedar trees that I cut down, yesterday there were 16 deer eating the 2 trees ,so you are right not much food left the deer can reach in the woods.Also saw the first road kill this morning in a couple of months.There is one yearling that looks like it survived a bobcat attack it has cuts to its face and one side has 12" long cuts where all the fur is missing.I'll try and post a picture of it.

Register here to reply to this topic