Is this fawn going to make it?

[bwoods11]

We saw this little fawn with spots while bow hunting in late November. Checked my camera and the mom and fawn are regulars in my bean plot.

It's tiny!

Is he/she going to make it?

When do you think it was born?

 

[bwoods11]

 

[dipper]

Wow that's the smallest fawn I've ever seen this time of year. Mom looks Mature and healthy. Is there a third rut? Wonder when the little fellar was born, July? Our deer usually loose their spots by September, so he's at least two months behind. Is that even a winter coat? I think he's got a chance with momma watching out for him and all those beans. But how far north are you?

 

[biglakeba$$]

Holy crap. Gonna be a tough go for it, but if winter plays nice, who knows I guess. Mother nature is cruel at times, but quite amazing at times as well.

 

[chummer]

No shot.

 

[bwoods11]

Wow that's the smallest fawn I've ever seen this time of year. Mom looks Mature and healthy. Is there a third rut? Wonder when the little fellar was born, July? Our deer usually loose their spots by September, so he's at least two months behind. Is that even a winter coat? I think he's got a chance with momma watching out for him and all those beans. But how far north are you?

That farm is in western MN
About an hour west of St. Cloud

 

[bueller]

A result of having a firearm season during the rut????

 

[Turkey Creek]

Holy Moly! That is a tiny bugger for this time of year.

 

[wiscwhip]

Pretty good evidence of the lack of rut activity in MN right there. I had a mature doe with twin fawns this year that were obviously the product of her second estrus cycle. They still had spots towards the end of October while all the other fawns in the area had lost theirs a month earlier.

A result of having a firearm season during the rut????

The rut in MN will never be normal as long as the orange army is turned loose every year during the peak breeding cycle. To answer dipper's question, it is highly uncommon for does to have 3 estrous cycles in one year(they are supposed to have only 2, if they do not get bred the first time), but not impossible nor unheard of. It's really hard to tell the age on that doe, but she may have been the product of a late second rut breeding herself, thus she would not have came into estrous until the second rut period last year, and then may have not been bred during that time, causing her to go into estrous again, but at an even later date, close to when a 3rd rut would have occurred. I have seen a few trailcam photos of does being mounted in January over the years. That little one most likely doesn't make it if the winter turns any time soon, but who knows, they are very resilient creatures.

 

[Bill]

An infant outside 24/7 in MN with no winter coat.

I don't think that little one makes it.

 

[bueller]

Harvest that puppy dog before the winter does. Won't be a whole lot of meat but it should be tender as hell and you will know that the animal didn't go to waste.

 

[bwoods11]

It's too bad. I didn't even think of the third rut possibility, but it's probably the case.

 

[Terrific_tom]

Several years ago on a different forum a guy from central Minnesota had trail cam photos all winter of a late born fawn with spots. It did survive all winter and lost it's spots when it shed it's winter coat. On another note watched a hunting show last night on Sportsman channel about different methods of controlling deer numbers. In one segment Charles J. Alsheimer discussed about does coming into estrous, according to him a doe will keep coming into estrous until they are bred and it sticks. So this doe could have been bred in February, March or April. He also stated that this messed up late breeding raises hell with bucks and causes some bucks to die due to the fierce competition for only a few does in the later ruts.

 

[dipper]

Do u guys over there see late holding antlers?

 

[bwoods11]

Harvest that puppy dog before the winter does. Won't be a whole lot of meat but it should be tender as hell and you will know that the animal didn't go to waste.

I just don't think I can do it, but I know what you are saying. I'll cross my fingers. They have good food and cover and the mom has really been as close to the fawn as possible.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

Do u guys over there see late holding antlers?

In my area of SE MN the antlers seem to drop in mid February.

 

[BJE80]

I would let the fawn go. If it is a mild winter she has a decent shot.

 

[wiscwhip]

I would just let nature run it's course in this instance. If it does succumb to winter or predators, maybe that means an older, healthier fawn would have the chance to survive.

 

[phil@thesidehill]

I do not. Most bucks have shed by late January here, last year some had shed before the new year.

I'm not in MN, but is see and have pics of the shedding process from december to april every year. the bulk seem to hit the ground late Feb early March here every year. so many factors go into shedding though. Physical condition, severity of the weather, injury, timing of testosterone level drops, and i also do believe some bucks are genetically predisposed to shed early and some late others "on time".

I already have a pic of a buck that had shed one antler as of November 29th. A friend of mine has been getting pics of a buck that shed both sides some time around November 20th. First i have ever seen bucks shedding in November. The buck i had pics of that shed, clearly has an injury. the antler he dropped is a large bladed fork, the other side is a typical 6 point, although the G5 isn't scoreable. My money is on a cranial abscess....i have quite a few sheds in my shed pile with large chunks of pedicle and skull almost all were found fresh early in the shed season. some of them still had puss on them. I know a guy that shot a buck yesterday that had shed one side. the day before his son in law found a fresh shed on the same property (different buck from the one he shot) while walking to his stand. Every year I hear tales of guys having antlers pop off when they go to drag a buck out during our rifle season, or shooting a buck and finding one his antlers while walking down the blood trail.

heres the one i have pics of.

 

[bwoods11]

I saw a shed buck (both sides) chase a doe by my stand in Iowa. He apparently didn't care of he had horns or not. Kinda of a fat buck too, I think he was three.