Yearlings, or Lack Thereof

[CavemantheHunter]

Just got back from a camping trip in the Methow Valley. Had a great weekend and saw quite a few deer. One thing that worried me was that of the 20 or so does I saw, only 4-5 of them had yearlings, with only one having twins... Anyone else notice this? Thinking I need to make another trip over there to do some predator hunting.

[deerhunter_98520]

I was in minot peak all weekend scouting and out of the 40 or so deer i seen ......3 yearlings .....i was thinkin the same thing

[bobcat]

Fawns, or yearlings?

I've been getting lots of fawns with my trail cameras.

[deerhunter_98520]

I meant fawns lol

[D-Rock425]

Just had a doe with twins walk around the field at work this morning in woodinville.

[CavemantheHunter]

Sorry, I meant fawns. Saw 4 fawns all weekend out of 30 total deer...

[ldjbuff]

I noticed this weekend on the way to the coast I Saw like 40 elk, all cows, no babies. Then on the way back same field, cow elk and about 20 calfs. Maybe they were sleeping

[CavemantheHunter]

A few of the does could have had sleeping fawns nearby, but the majority of the does I saw were on the move, either crossing roads or headed through the hills with no fawns in tow.

[bankwalker]

There's no new fawns around here. I scout every day and I've seen 5 since June 1st 

Yearlings are everywhere though. More little spikes and tiny 2pts then I've seen anywhere ever.

[blackveltbowhunter]

A few of the does could have had sleeping fawns nearby, but the majority of the does I saw were on the move, either crossing roads or headed through the hills with no fawns in tow.

    I think you hit the nail on the head about predator control. I think this is probably the biggest threat to fawn/calf recruitment. That said you might be surprised how far away mama will go from the lil bugger. I know I have been. Especially deer...I have watched, mama put baby to bed then feed for a while often several hundred yards away, then bed down in position to watch babies area. This year for the first week after being born their was a fawn bedded in the neighbors yard. Although there were 4 possible mothers in the immediate area ( i never saw a doe closer to it than 2 hundred yards) it wasnt until 5 or 6 days after it first showed up that mama was actually with it. 2 of the other does followed suit showing up with twins. Dunno if the third was barren, or fawn was taken but nothing yet. I know mama came or at least called it to her from cover, cuz the fawn was there at first light and gone 2-3 hours later.  Older and I assume wiser does will even attempt to distract danger in a not so obvious manner just by making their presence known. I've seen this happen with coyotes. Moments prior to termination of said dog     Spring bear should be statewide season to keep some pressure on them as well. At least more units should offer tags.

[bankwalker]

I see coyotes to often while out scouting where I live, in the general area I plan on hunting.. Almost every trip out.
If i go to other areas, a couple miles in any direction. i see fawns with almost every doe. And never see coyotes or hear them at night in these areas

[Rainstorm Hunter]

I went scouting in some of my hunting areas yesterday and noticed that I am seeing alot more fawns this year compared to last year and not a whole lot of yearlings.  Almost every doe I saw had a fawn.  I do wonder why there were alot less fawns last year though.  I was seeing about one fawn per every 3-4 does last year and most of the does this year do have fawns. Also alot of my scouting was in the minot peak unit.

[lokidog]

I see coyotes to often while out scouting where I live, in the general area I plan on hunting.. Almost every trip out.
If i go to other areas, a couple miles in any direction. i see fawns with almost every doe. And never see coyotes or hear them at night in these areas

Sounds like a good reason to carry a rifle while scouting....

[LiveandLearn]

kill those predators!!!

[bankwalker]

I see coyotes to often while out scouting where I live, in the general area I plan on hunting.. Almost every trip out.
If i go to other areas, a couple miles in any direction. i see fawns with almost every doe. And never see coyotes or hear them at night in these areas

Sounds like a good reason to carry a rifle while scouting....

  who says I haven't killed a few 

[AKBowman]

Fawns, or yearlings?

I've been getting lots of fawns with my trail cameras.

Ive been seeing the same things we've I've been out. I haven't been out as much as I'd like lately but seen lots of fawn tracks and gotten them on cams. I think this winter/spring was good for the BT's with all of the moss and tree limbs that came down during the ice storm this winter. Tons of food for them and easy to get to makes life easy.

[mrmoskillz]

saw a set of twins at my new place yesterday.  The mom was hiding in the tree line and the fawns were in the middle of the wide open field.

[huntnphool]

Ive been seeing a lot of fawns as well.

[sako85]

I'm not seeing the fawns in the 204 either. Did watch a bear take a run on a mature whitetail doe.
In our area i think the bears and wild dogs are worse than the yotes.

[3nails]

 I just spent a week at my cabin in Thompson Falls, Montana and didn't see a fawn all week. Usually almost every doe has at least one fawn. I asked everyone I ran into over there about it and got reasons from a cold, wet birthing week to bears nailing them. It really has me scratching my head.

[Button Nubbs]

Been getting lots of fawns and calfs of my cams

[runamuk]

I have seen lots of fawns and quite a few calves ...I know on the wetside of an area with lots of twins and even triplets this year

[rebal69972]

I've been scouting on base and I think I've seen 1 fawn since spring bear ended but seen a lot of yotes on base, ta4 is loaded with dogs

[blacktailcody]

From what I have seen it has been a great year for fawns and calves.

[huntnnw]

tons of whitetail fawns from Canada to here in Spokane

[Sitka_Blacktail]

Something to consider, the fawns are still young so the mothers will leave them and wander off to eat, so you don't always see them together this time of year. Plus they are so small they are sometimes hard to spot if you're in brushy country like deerhunter_98520.

[jess]

yotes and bears are getting most of the fawn around here when the fawns are droping there is bears cruising 24/7 lookin for fawns then if they make it through that they got the packs of yotes to deal with.. Gunna be hard to find a good buck in four or five years.. And the wdfw says we dont have a problem with our big game populations.. BS!

[et1702]

Lots of fawns and calves on my trail cams, including several sets of twins.  Ran into a set of twins in the grass too while scouting a couple weeks ago. 

Also got pics of a mama bear w/twins.

ET

[grundy53]

been seeing plenty of them. Both in person and on the trail cam.

[buckfvr]

yotes and bears are getting most of the fawn around here when the fawns are droping there is bears cruising 24/7 lookin for fawns then if they make it through that they got the packs of yotes to deal with.. Gunna be hard to find a good buck in four or five years.. And the wdfw says we dont have a problem with our big game populations.. BS!

I'm not seeing the fawns in the 204 either. Did watch a bear take a run on a mature whitetail doe.
In our area i think the bears and wild dogs are worse than the yotes.

tons of whitetail fawns from Canada to here in Spokane

Two of these post apply to what I see everyday in unit 121......Sure , I can drive to town and run around the back roads where no one but the land owner and his guests can hunt, and see tons of deer, does with fawns, etc.......but as you get away from the relative safety of people and buildings, the yotes and bear are raising hell.....again , still.  All is not well with the predator  impact on our herds.

[huntnnw]

yotes and bears are getting most of the fawn around here when the fawns are droping there is bears cruising 24/7 lookin for fawns then if they make it through that they got the packs of yotes to deal with.. Gunna be hard to find a good buck in four or five years.. And the wdfw says we dont have a problem with our big game populations.. BS!

been tons of predators up there since I have hunted it 20 years ago and hasnt changed and we still find boatloads of big bucks 

[jess]

yeah but there is a noticeable difference in the last few years that i can see...

[sirmissalot]

I finally made it into my deer spot last night for the first time this summer. I don't know how many deer I saw probably close to a dozen but not one fawn... The deer were really spooky too. Normally this time of year they kinda just watch me walk by but they all bolted. My trail cam which has been up there since November had pictures of a family of cats, I suspect that and the bears have taken their toll. I was really amazed watching all the lone does

[gottatree]

Not sure which area you have your cams set up out there but I have more fawns and yearlings this year than I ever have before. Four cams on Simpson ground and another four on private ground. Cameras are spread from the 600 to the prison. I have seen one spike buck on all of my cameras this year. No bear or cats on any cams either. I have seen a huge increase in packs of dogs in almost all locations which could be taking a huge toll on are fawn crops.  

[nontypical176]

I had 3 does that hang around my place with 2 fawns each.  Now there is only one doe with fawns, still has both.  The other 2 does now hang out with a couple of last years fawns.  Pretty sure coyotes are the problem, at least thats all that was on my game cam.  I've killed a pile of coyotes this year(8 or more) at the house, but many nights I can hear a pack howling away.  The doe that still has fawns hangs out closer to me and the neighbors houses these days.  She had the only surviving fawns last year as well, and I am taking a pretty good guess that they survive because she uses people for protection from predators.  On nights when coyotes are howling I'm almost guaranteed to see her and the fawns in my yard.  My dogs like deer and hate coyotes, so maybe they are helping her out too.  Thought I had shot enough coyotes to keep them in check and help the fawns this year, but the coyotes just keep coming.  Its been a real eye opener for me, the number of coyotes in this small an area is out of control.  This has already been my best year ever for killing coyotes, all of them right at the house, and it hasn't even slowed them down. 

Last year I blamed pet dogs for the lack of fawns, so I found out who owned the dogs that were running loose and warned them what was going to happen if the dogs weren't controlled(showed em pictures from my game cams).  All the dog owners locked them up and this year I've seen no pet dogs running amuck and none on the game cam.  Bear and cougar have been seen in the area, but never once on either of my game cams, and I've only seen 1 bear in 6 years.  The first night one of the does fawns went missing (about a month ago) I heard a pack of coyotes and I don't think its coincidence. 

[CavemantheHunter]

I'm hunting the Methow right now and have seen 15 does so far, 0 bucks, and 0 fawns. All 15 does have been without child...

[blacktailcody]

The herd I like to hunt (deer) has  one 3x3, three 2x2s, one 1x2, five 1x1s, twenty does, and ten fawns of unknown gender.

[Biggerhammer]

I've been seeing a bunch of fawns on the Douglas Co side around Wenatchee.

[huntnphool]

 We saw a lot of deer the last couple days in the Methow, lots and lots of fawns and loads of twins.