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Quote from: huntingbaldguy on October 22, 2015, 01:54:58 AMI have a pair of old does that had fawns late. Their fawns just lost their spots. I'm assuming they could be going in to estrous late, or do you think that matters at all?are they still nursing?
I have a pair of old does that had fawns late. Their fawns just lost their spots. I'm assuming they could be going in to estrous late, or do you think that matters at all?
Quote from: JimmyHoffa on October 22, 2015, 09:45:25 AMQuote from: huntingbaldguy on October 22, 2015, 01:54:58 AMI have a pair of old does that had fawns late. Their fawns just lost their spots. I'm assuming they could be going in to estrous late, or do you think that matters at all?are they still nursing?I don't think so. Even during early archery when a few of the fawns had spots still, didn't seem like they were nursing. We watched them a few times from our blind. Wondering if those does were bred twice because the first time didn't stick. They are definitely older does. Minimum 4 year olds. I'll shoot one of them as a last resort in late archery if late rifle doesn't pay off for a buck.
Next Thursday through Saturday (29th-31st) are going to be the "magic" days for this years rut. Timing, weather, etc. Just sayin'.
Perhaps. Certainly the lack of predators on many islands is a large factor in fawn survival and overpopulation.I believe that winter forage is the "selector" for which animals survive and live long enough to breed. Fawns born too late in the season often have not put on enough body fat to survive a bad winter. When the winter is mild, such as is normally the case in the S.J. Islands, it probably isn't as much of a factor - so there's little or no selection process at work for fawns surviving winters. Much like the mid/late winter rut of WTs in the deep south. There is food all year, so the fawns born at off-times (October there?) survive just as well as those born in mid-spring here.