Fawn drop coming soon to a woodlot near you?

[MountainWalk]

No babies 'round here yet, but those doe bellies are swowled up tight. Haven't seen as many yote dogs this year so far either. Lots of cats tho.

[crowinghen]

Just saw a doe with a fawn in tow- seems early!

[fishnfur]

That's what I'm talkin' about!

[lokidog]

Anacortes today, up the hill from WA Park by the Firestation.  Good looking doe, fawns look to be at least a week old.

[7mmfan]

The doe I see by my house almost daily has been gone for a few days now. My guess is shes holed up in the green belt with a little one or two. Hope to see them out and about soon!

[JakeLand]

Now is the time to drop some coyotes we've been seeing yotes all over lately and I've got a itch to drop some fawn killers

[justyhntr]

 

Now is the time to drop some coyotes we've been seeing yotes all over lately and I've got a itch to drop some fawn killers

[fishnfur]

Nice photo lokidog.  I assume that Fidalgo Island has similar problems of deer overpopulation as the San Juans and Island Co. isles.  You'd think there'd be a whole bunch of new/early fawns on the islands these days.

I'm starting to believe that perhaps last fall's early rutting activity may not be that much of a rarity, at least in the relatively mild regions from the foothills down to sea level areas.  There seems to be plenty of forage available for nursing mothers by the beginning of May.  The extra month of time available for an early-born fawn to gain enough body mass prior to the onset of it's first winter is probably a huge factor in determining it's ability to survive that winter period and the associated scarcity of browse; especially so in the case of an early cold snap that defoliates remaining late fall shrubs. 

It seems that (if you believe in evolution and natural selection) the population of lowland deer in areas with typically mild winters would naturally trend towards an earlier rut, which would result in greater survival of early-born fawns over the subsequent winter.        The peak of the rut still remains in early November.......   Hmmmm, I gotta do some more cogitation on this.

Should any of this affect my hunting strategy?     Perhaps not at all, but if I get a MS tag, I think I'll be in the woods the second week of October this year instead of fishing for silvers on the Cowlitz.

[Curly]

Coyotes have been howling a lot lately.  I'm guessing they are finding some fawns now......or at least searching.

[HUNTINCOUPLE]

Well one of our does dropped one this afternoon in our wood lot! Last year I tried real hard to find a fawn to lay our new son next to get a pic but it never happened. So the wife took some eggs up to our distant neighbors and on her way back spotted this little guy or gal that had just been dropped.

[Boss .300 winmag]

Came across this one last weekend

It's like I'm not moving and you can't see me. 

[fishnfur]

I still have no visuals indicating that new fawns are among us.  I did notice that on the last day of April, suddenly my previously pristine apple trees in my back yard had been browsed for the first time this Spring.  After three days of watching the trees get beat up every night, I put a trail cam out (wishing for a buck, but expecting yea rlings).   

The next three days verified that a single mature doe, somewhere around 110 - 120 lbs., was gorging on the apple tree leaves.  She buries her nose in the fruit bearing regions and almost inhales the leaves, like it was a big salad bowl.  Normally, they pick single leaves and twigs off, so I believe that considering her very thin (not pregnant) belly, she has likely already given birth and is gorging on succulent forage to offset her caloric loss from the rigors of lactation.  .....at least I don't think she looks pregnant,  which of course does not mean she gave birth either.  Who knows?  It may be the second pic is a different deer - she looks a little more stout.

Silly me.  I saw these two at dusk on Friday night (almost three weeks later) eating mini-apples I had thinned off the trees.  Turned out they were both bucks - still just showing a bit of antler growth.  The long legs should have been a tip-off.

Fantastic photo HUNTINCOUPLE.  Is that a mule deer or blacktail, or can you even tell?

[lokidog]

Nice photo lokidog.  I assume that Fidalgo Island has similar problems of deer overpopulation as the San Juans and Island Co. isles.  You'd think there'd be a whole bunch of new/early fawns on the islands these days.

I'm starting to believe that perhaps last fall's early rutting activity may not be that much of a rarity, at least in the relatively mild regions from the foothills down to sea level areas.  There seems to be plenty of forage available for nursing mothers by the beginning of May.  The extra month of time available for an early-born fawn to gain enough body mass prior to the onset of it's first winter is probably a huge factor in determining it's ability to survive that winter period and the associated scarcity of browse; especially so in the case of an early cold snap that defoliates remaining late fall shrubs. 

It seems that (if you believe in evolution and natural selection) the population of lowland deer in areas with typically mild winters would naturally trend towards an earlier rut, which would result in greater survival of early-born fawns over the subsequent winter.        The peak of the rut still remains in early November.......   Hmmmm, I gotta do some more cogitation on this.

Should any of this affect my hunting strategy?     Perhaps not at all, but if I get a MS tag, I think I'll be in the woods the second week of October this year instead of fishing for silvers on the Cowlitz.

Thanks.  I think in areas with fewer predators, cities, islands, etc., there is less selective pressure to drop fawns all at once (the more fawns on the ground, the less likely one is to be eaten as predators may already be full) so the breeding season tends to get stretched out a bit more. It does seem that, in these situations, it would be beneficial to drop earlier so that the fawn would be larger going into the winter.

We seem to have a lot of really small yearlings (late fawns) but I am not sure what the selective advantage of that would be.   

Still have not seen a 2016 fawn here, but there has been a lot more deer activity recently.

[HUNTINCOUPLE]

Another pic of the little one.

[HUNTINCOUPLE]

I still have no visuals indicating that new fawns are among us.  I did notice that on the last day of April, suddenly my previously pristine apple trees in my back yard had been browsed for the first time this Spring.  After three days of watching the trees get beat up every night, I put a trail cam out (wishing for a buck, but expecting yea rlings).   

The next three days verified that a single mature doe, somewhere around 110 - 120 lbs., was gorging on the apple tree leaves.  She buries her nose in the fruit bearing regions and almost inhales the leaves, like it was a big salad bowl.  Normally, they pick single leaves and twigs off, so I believe that considering her very thin (not pregnant) belly, she has likely already given birth and is gorging on succulent forage to offset her caloric loss from the rigors of lactation.  .....at least I don't think she looks pregnant,  which of course does not mean she gave birth either.  Who knows?  It may be the second pic is a different deer - she looks a little more stout.

Silly me.  I saw these two at dusk on Friday night (almost three weeks later) eating mini-apples I had thinned off the trees.  Turned out they were both bucks - still just showing a bit of antler growth.  The long legs should have been a tip-off.

Fantastic photo HUNTINCOUPLE.  Is that a mule deer or blacktail, or can you even tell?

It is neither mule deer or blacktail deer. It is one of a kind BENCHLEGER deer! The deer around our place for sure have more blacktail than muley in them but to hash that out would require a new thread.