For the anti hunters to read
Whitetail Deer
Being the sick twisted killers we are I thought I would share this even though honestly I did not want to as there is no happy ending. I was doing yard work in the backyard and heard a bah sound. I instantly recognized it as a fawn distress call. I looked but could not find it. Ten minutes later I heard it again and still no luck. Finally after that I heard it bah multiple times and located it.
It was in my next door neighbors yard and thought it was a great thing to see so I took a pic. I continued with the yard work and it kept on crying and I realized it was trapped inside as my neighbor put up a fence to keep rabbits out of his garden not good. I knew by the sounds it made that it was not normal.
Is it caught in the fence?
I wasn’t sure what to do and when I walked up to the fence again it was up and walking and saw me headed right for me again not good.
For some reason I don’t know I picked it up over the fence and it followed me. I figured there was no mom as it looked skinny and I also walked in the woods and did not jump a doe anywhere.
I called a few rehab places and they all said the same the mom will come back. I explained that the fawn was trapped behind a fence and the doe was gone. I put up a cell cam to make sure and put the fawn back. I got a bottle and milk from a feed store with colostrum to feed the fawn.
I took this picture with high hopes but the videos you see of calve cows tugging at a bottle do not apply to fawns as I quickly learned. This little guy dove at my shorts sucking away at fabric where a nipple might be found. It even stuck its head up my short leg to find one. I tried the bottle but it was not natural enough being away from a body. I even tried soaking my shorts and dumping it on the palm of my hand. The little guy just turned away and laid down under the porch.
I was up pretty much all night waiting for my cell cam to go off so I could let the fawn go but that never happened as I figured. Anyway the final part is that it never made it the next morning. I’ve hunted deer for 31 years now and that killed me. I don’t know how many people have had a fawn lick their face but it’s something I hope won’t ever happen again.
Zbone not only did I get a lambs nipple but I cut that thing to fit a water bottle as they didn’t have the right size.
:), congratulations!
LOL. did i read it found a nipple up your shorts?
i wouldn't give up all hope just yet of mom coming back. i sure hope so. if not, you have a job to raise it. they'll be some life lesson here, just not sure what it is yet. good luck and keep us posted.
Ron it’s dead the following day
Awww sad, sorry to hear...
To some this is no big deal to me the fawn trusted me as the last thing to save its life. That’s a tough thing to swallow.
Damn…and here I was hoping for a happy ending.
My one question how many antis would have devoted their entire day and money for food for a fawn? I did and I’m a deer hunter.
You made a good effort Spike. Doesn't always work out. Those of us raised on farms know the story well. Sometimes it's a little sad just way it goes.
But good try...
wow, sorry to hear that. didn't mean to make too much fun of the situation. i thought you were stuck raising it.
You did what you could, Spike. Good for you. Not sure about your attempt to make political statement about it, though.
Mother Nature has a cruel side. It was painful to read ..
GG my first non political statement ha
People with the proper prospective will see your efforts as trying to be a good steward of the land. That’s how I see it.
I am curious tho…what happened to the doe? I can’t believe she wouldn’t return simply because you intervened?
Yup I will say to have a deer lick you and follow you around it makes them damn tough to want to shoot!
70 from what I read the doe will have the fawn go back to the woods and call the fawn to it later. The fawn could not walk to the doe because of the fence so she probably left it after day 2 or 3.
Sorry, my misunderstanding. For some reason I thought this was all in one day. Sounds to me like you may have just been a little too late to help. But hey, I bet it gives you a whole new perspective on things.
Am I losing my s••t, or did the opening post and pic suddenly change? I thought I just wasn’t paying attention.
I suspect that more fawns are taken in by Antis than Hunters, simply because so many Antis live in deer-dense suburbs and don’t know about how does care for their fawns, so they jump in (needlessly) to help… end up doing the wrong things….
Hunters don’t have a corner on the Compassion thing.
Corax all I know is this little guy killed me what an awesome little creature.
spike78, even though to most it may have appeared that you did 'the humane thing', but the fact is you didn't. Nature has to take it's course, one way or the other. I would suggest as a former wildlife LEO, that you leave it alone and call your state game dept for removal. They all have contacts with local wildlife rehabs to take it to.There's a better chance of survial using this path. You gotta stay on the right side of the law on these matters. I'm not being critical of you, or casting aspersions, just giving you some advice for the future.
In summary, call your state wildlife dept, they will assess the situation, if appropriate take it to a wildlife rehab, release it back to the wild, or humanely euthanize. The state affiliated wildlife rehabs have a very high success rate for long term survival.
Taking a fawn in after abandonment by someone other than a trained professional in not only illegal, but a STUPID thing to do. I challenge anyone on here that 'hand raised' abandoned fawns to call your local game dept and confess that to them, if you dont believe that action to be stupid.
Spike, I'm happy to see your compassion for that fawn. It tells me there's a heart beneath all your silly conspiracy theories and political ranting. :-)
This reminds me of 2020 in the middle of the pandemic. A decrepit old feral cat showed up at our garage one day. We named it Covid Cat. He was clearly on his last leg, but there's was no way my wife and I weren't going to try to help him. So we set him up with a comfy bed, food, and water in the garage. He showed slight improvement for about a week, but it was clear the end was near. When he passed my wife was devastated. I told her I was happy we got to show Covid Cat a comfortable last few weeks of life. You should feel the same.
I've hand raised over 100 for release.Long term survival is poor.Sometimes I'm not sure they are better letting nature take it's course.Ive seen 2 people life flighted from being attacked by "tame" bucks and know of 3 others injured.Picking it up was a mistake well meaning as it was.They are so tempting and precious.I believe hunters care more for wildlife than the middle-aged ladies at cocktail parties that ramble on about how much they love animals.
Spike, thanks for trying. You did all you could.
I raised 6 fawns to all be eaten by coyotes. It sucks but, can’t mess with Mother Nature sometimes.
spike78, even though to most it may have appeared that you did 'the humane thing', but the fact is you didn't. Nature has to take it's course, one way or the other. I would suggest as a former wildlife LEO, that you leave it alone and call your state game dept for removal. They all have contacts with local wildlife rehabs to take it to.There's a better chance of survial using this path. You gotta stay on the right side of the law on these matters. I'm not being critical of you, or casting aspersions, just giving you some advice for the future.
In summary, call your state wildlife dept, they will assess the situation, if appropriate take it to a wildlife rehab, release it back to the wild, or humanely euthanize. The state affiliated wildlife rehabs have a very high success rate for long term survival.
Taking a fawn in after abandonment by someone other than a trained professional in not only illegal, but a STUPID thing to do.
I challenge anyone on here that 'hand raised' abandoned fawns to call your local game dept and confess that to them, if you dont believe that action to be stupid.
Stix, the man made a choice, stuck to his decision, and made his best effort to help the fawn. He is certainly not stupid, as you infer. Considering you are a former wildlife LEO, people respect your opinion, but there's no need to be an ass about it.
In my experienced opinion, calling the local game warden is not always the best choice for the animal. Some years back I found a geriatric bobcat hanging out on my property. Poor gal was so old and skinny she had lost her canine teeth, and several of her front claws were gone..she was skin and bones. She could not get up and run away, so I chose to put her down right there and end her misery.
Had I called the game dept., she would have been snare poled, put in a cage and transported to somewhere they would have put her down. Basically, it avoided a whole lot of stress she did not need, and that there was no point to. My concern was what was best for the cat, not the state.
Spike, good onya for making the effort..sometimes all we can do is try.
JMHO
good on you for trying spike but we shouldnt forget that fawns die at an alarming rate...for a whole host of reasons. studies have shown that only half the fawns born will survive three months.
nature is brutal.
I would bet that the doe was not far away unless the doe was dead.The does don't come near the fawns except to feed them.
I would bet that the doe was not far away unless the doe was dead.The does don't come near the fawns except to feed them. At least until they are old enough to out run most predators or they are feeding on browse.
Stix I raised them brought to me by the wardens.All other critters too.I had a warden tell me for every one he brought me he hit 2 in the head.Its a PR nightmare for wardens and a real pia for them for sure.Especially now that people have more compassion for animals than their fellow man.
Spike78. Good for you and I would bet most hunters would have done the same thing.
Seeing fawns always puts a smile on a hunters face for some reason.
Stix read my post I called 3 different wildlife rehab places one didn’t answer and the other two said see if the doe comes back.
Buckdeer read my post I said the fawn was trapped in a fence as apparently the doe decided to have it in my neighbors fenced in garden. I walked in the woods and jumped no doe, heard the fawns cry’s all day long knowing it couldn’t get out. I made the judgement that the doe couldn’t call it to her because of the fence and it turned out I was correct and it was basically starving to death. Even if the rehab place said they would take it the next day it still needed to eat and that is undeniable but thanks to the few who said I made the wrong call lol. I’m not as stupid as my conspiracy theory’s lead you to believe.
I still don’t understand why the story changed.
Sorry it didn't work out. You gave it your best shot. I went to a fawn rehab place in NC once. It was really strange to have four tiny fawns jump on you like they were puppies. I saw a fawn get hit once and its back legs were destroyed. One of the hardest thing I ever did was shoot it while it was staring at me. I would rather do that then have coyotes slowly disembowel it.
Brutal Spike. Really sorry to see this. But, I get the desire to do anything you could to help. Brutal.
It’s probably illegal in most states to possess a fawn without the proper license (tax). One game warden I knew would take them to his mother and she would raise them. She had no license (tax).
Spike, your intention was honorable in my opinion, it just didn’t turn out well. Stuff happens that we can’t control.
In this state everything is illegal but I’d like to see a judge throw the book at me for trying to save a starving animal.
No, you wouldn’t!! LOL
Seriously, though — you wouldn’t be in court if a wildlife LEO didn’t think you should be. And I don’t think those folks are in the business of prosecuting people who are just trying to do the right thing….
But Nolz is right…. A fawn dying is sad, but meaningless in the grand scheme; a person who gets worked over or killed by a deer which is confused about its Species Identity is tragic…..
Nice try Spike. That fawn is way big enough to follow its mom all over the place. If it was crying all day and the doe wasn’t pacing your yard, the fawn was orphaned for some reason.
Disagree with this being a trivial matter. Plenty of admissions here on a public forum. 2 violations per animal. Illegal possession of wildlife and aiding in the wilful destruction of wildlife, (since admitting that they all died whether naturally or not).
Thinking that you are showing compassion for the benefit of the anti-hunters is not cool. In most cases they can point to hunters as being law breakers.
We need to police our own ranks when something is illegal, not encourage it. When behavior is wrong, it's wrong. There's no grey area. Admitting it on a public forum is STUPID
" When behavior is wrong, it's wrong. There's no grey area."
From your perspective, you believe it is wrong because the state made up a law. That does not mean the action was "wrong" in a moral sense, rather it means that it violates the law the state has enacted.
In the case of that bobcat, she was suffering, and certainly did not deserve to be put through the stress of what would have happened had I called in WDFW. Out of respect for the animal, I looked at the options, made a conscious choice to put her down, and it was the correct one for that particular situation.
Spike78 made the same conscious choice.
'Nuff said.
It is not only a bad choice because the law was broken, it is a bad choice because it is detrimental to the survival of the animal.
All of the state game departments have connections with wildlife rehab centers across the state. It is a very similar scenario to a person going to an emergency room vs being brought in via ambulance. The ambulatory person will in most cases be taken directly to a treatment room vs the walk in will have to wait in a waiting area.
The wildlife rehabs give priority to the state game depts bringing in an animal vs a walk in by a citizen. Therefore the outcome is usually better when the task is completed by official personnel.
About 10 years ago we had a few "abandoned" fawns adopted by a family in our neighborhood. They came in the dog door entry. Hand fed, bandanas put on them the whole bit. Well one morning they crossed the road in front of a local Peace Office. He called it in and was told by local DNR and his office to dispatch them. Which he did with his issued pistol.
That opened up alot of public debate on the issue. As stix said its likely illegal (it was in my area) and there was talk about the family being charged with wildlife violations. Personally, I didn't think it was necessary. If they were that tame could have transported them to the two wildlife parks(petting zoos) in the area if they would have taken them. That said a different neighbor was killed by his "pet" buck while in his pen in November.
I have had them in my yard, once right behind my archery targets. We didn't shoot for a few weeks til they moved on. Does are hit on the highway and local roads in my neighborhood all the time. This time of year, probably leaving fawns behind. As roadkill probably fed to the wolves at the research center. It's a tough call, just like moving a big snapper from the swimming hole (almost) Should it be done?
Am I emotionally moved when I see a doe with fawns, turtle, turkey polts, etc. dead on the roadside ? You bet. People need to slow down and give a shit about wildlife.
It's something to learn from it's not the end of the world.
