Unusual Absence of Fawns

[nso123]

This year has been really strange on the farm I hunt. I have seen a bunch of deer for this area and the majority has been young bucks. There have been lots of 3, 4, and 5 pointers that look to be 1 1/2 year old deer. The odd thing is that I have not seen a single fawn. Not one. Even when does come out, there are no fawns. Could this be a predation issue? I have never gone a season without seeing fawns, and I have hunted this farm for 20 years.

 

[backyardtndeer]

Could be predation. I had been surprised here by the number of spikes and button bucks I saw in one sit a couple weeks ago. I had three different button bucks and three spikes all in my field at the same time. What seemed kind of odd was that there were also several does around.

 

[EastTNHunter]

Where I hunt is the exact opposite. All little deer and plenty of fawns. One group of 4 small antlerless deer that I have seen several times, I can't tell the mom from the fawns unless they are all together out in the open, and even then it's tough

 

[PickettSFHunter]

We've had very poor recruitment in my area for years. The biggest issue at least here is bear predation.

 

[Remington700]

Could it be a change in habitat? My property went from a bunch of does and few buck sightings. Then it got thicker and all I saw were bucks and no does. This year it is opening back up and have seen a lot of does with young ones and fewer bucks.

 

[nso123]

Could it be a change in habitat? My property went from a bunch of does and few buck sightings. Then it got thicker and all I saw were bucks and no does. This year it is opening back up and have seen a lot of does with young ones and fewer bucks.

It really is about the same as ever. Crops rotate each year, but this has been very noticeable. It's a great combination of hardwoods, ag fields, and thick stuff.

 

[megalomaniac]

Yes predation (or sampling error).

It's not like all does take a year off from breeding.

Barring extreme weather conditions or drastic changes in harvests, the doe population is going to produce the same number of fawns every year.

How many of those fawns survive till the fall is based on level of predation.

We finally have our coyote population down to reasonable numbers (sometimes zero) for the past 2.5 years. Amazing the difference it has made. Numerous hunts with 5 or 6 1.5yo bucks feeding together at the same time this year.

 

[nso123]

We do know that there is a coyote issue on the farm. That's the project after deer season ends.

 

[Snake]

We do know that there is a coyote issue on the farm. That's the project after deer season ends.

If you bow hunted and didn't see fawns then that's alarming . Later in the season unless they're really close it's hard to tell yearlings from their mom. You may have yearlings you thought were older does. They grow really fast ....mother nature but I say God helps them to grow fast because their life depends upon it . Most prey fawns waks within a short time .

 

[nso123]

If you bow hunted and didn't see fawns then that's alarming . Later in the season unless they're really close it's hard to tell yearlings from their mom. You may have yearlings you thought were older does. They grow really fast ....mother nature but I say God helps them to grow fast because their life depends upon it . Most prey fawns waks within a short time .

This has been all season. The does I have seen have also all been singles with one exception where I saw 3 or 4 together. Historically, I have seen multiple groups. I'm sure the drought was hard on them, but this farm has 2 miles of river frontage, so they had easy access to water.

 

[megalomaniac]

This is the crap I have to deal with... 5 dogs in a pack yesterday.

Same camera location we had a pack of 4 and I killed 3 out of the 4 just before Thanksgiving. Now a new pack has moved in from neighboring properties in just over a month.

Going back out there to remove them asap.

Thats the thing about coyotes. If you are going to make a real world difference, it HAS to be a year round war. As soon as new dogs move in, kill or trap them out!

 

[nso123]

This is the crap I have to deal with... 5 dogs in a pack yesterday.

Same camera location we had a pack of 4 and I killed 3 out of the 4 just before Thanksgiving. Now a new pack has moved in from neighboring properties in just over a month.

Going back out there to remove them asap.

Thats the thing about coyotes. If you are going to make a real world difference, it HAS to be a year round war. As soon as new dogs move in, kill or trap them out!

They are definitely a scourge.

 

[.243 Deer]

My vote is on predation. Never underestimate a coyote pack's ability to kill fawns and adult deer.

 

[Smo]

I've seen the same 4 deer , 2 doe & 2 fawns since this Spring …
Unfortunately they have been all I've seen this year.

 

[ronnycl]

This is what I saw before CWD was determined to be in our area. I believe it effects fawn recruitment.

 

[nso123]

This is what I saw before CWD was determined to be in our area. I believe it effects fawn recruitment.

It would be really far to the east if this were CWD. I'm just outside Chattanooga.