Fawns
- Thread starter Mike Belt
- Start date
tree_ghost
Well-Known Member
BSK
Well-Known Member
Looks it.
BSK
Well-Known Member
Very healthy!
tree_ghost
Well-Known Member
So if my math is correct this doe was bred between Mar-April?
BSK
Well-Known Member
Correct.
tree_ghost
Well-Known Member
Man that's crazy! Do you normally see a trickle style rut in areas where breeding is spread out across 5-6 months?
BSK
Well-Known Member
A few does are bred early and late in all environments. That's Nature "trying everything," or more accurately, the randomness of Nature. That "randomness of Nature" is how evolution takes place.
Even in areas with the best herd dynamics possible, only 95% of does are bred within the perfect 5-6 week period. There is still 5% that will be bred at odd times.
My place has an extremely short and intense rut, yet I used to photograph the same doe every year still pregnant in late August.
megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
My new farm is above 100% fawn recruitment (every 2.5yo or older doe has a least 1, and many have twins). The population was VERY low on that farm when I bought it 3y ago. I've since added 12acres of fall and summer food plots. It's really paying off.
My main hunting farm is a little better again this year for recruitment. About 20%. We ran 20% last year as well, but that was preceeded by 5 years of 10 to 15% fawn recruitment.
And the 2 farms I referenced above are only 10 miles apart! That goes to show you it is impossible to 'blanket' manage a state or even a county.
My main hunting farm is a little better again this year for recruitment. About 20%. We ran 20% last year as well, but that was preceeded by 5 years of 10 to 15% fawn recruitment.
And the 2 farms I referenced above are only 10 miles apart! That goes to show you it is impossible to 'blanket' manage a state or even a county.
DoubleRidge
Well-Known Member
Interesting and encouraging report...thanks for sharing....I don't have percentages to report for our property's but I will say there are several Mama's with twins and several with singles....seems to be a great fawn recruitment.
BSK
Well-Known Member
Last year at this time (late September), the fawn recruitment on my place was at 4%. Just 4%. Now it picked up later as deer from surrounding regions moved in, but it still was only 24% for the entire season. So far, this year the fawn recruitment is 58%. And that's with coyote populations at all-time highs. What's the difference? I suspect it is fawning cover. Last year, most of our timber thinned areas had regrown to the point they weren't adequate fawning cover, leaving only two power-line right-of-ways for cover. This year, we had 1/5 of the timber cut off the property in winter and those cuts quickly filled in with weeds (mainly fireweed and pokeweed) and provided great cover by early summer.
Timber cut areas after only 6 months:
Timber cut areas after only 6 months:
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JCDEERMAN
Well-Known Member
Love seeing that after a fresh timber cut. Surprisingly, with as much rain as we have gotten, we are seeing almost that amount of growth from our timber cuts that started in the beginning of June. That's 3 1/2 months of growth - never seen it grow that fast. I'll take it!
