RE: thoughts on fawns??
 

If I'm hunting for meat,if doe and fawn come in to my stand, I shoot the fawn. I'd hate to leave that fawn with out it mother.

RE: thoughts on fawns??
 

There's nothing wrong with it, unless your deer herd is hurting for numbers. Actually depending upon where you are, it can be a better idea than shooting mature does for controlling populations and improving habitat.

Annually fawn requires more forage to grow to full size than a mature deer requires to subsist on. So if your habitat is hurting and you need to reduce the deer population, shooting a fawn is a double-plus.

Here's a somewhat informative article from the QDMA org folks:
http://www.qdma.com/articles/details.asp?id=46

If you've got a thin herd and your wondering where all the deer are though, you might want to tell your buddy to let a few of the small ones go.

RE: thoughts on fawns??
 

Never have.... never will. Thats just me. And if you think that all
you get out of deer are steaks then you need to take a butchering class.

RE: thoughts on fawns??
 

Like some of the others have said, I don't look down on others who shoot young deer (less than a year old) but I'll never do it, personally. There are too many other deer that I can take. Where I hunt, I'm even able to be so selective that I can shoot a doe that doesn't have young ones by her side. I don't know if I'm fortunate to be in this type of situation, or the deer numbers are so high that it's almost a negative. Whatever the case, I won't kill fawns whether it's with a bow, rifle, or muzzleloader. I couldn't feel good about myself killing a deer that is that young and igorant.

RE: thoughts on fawns??
 

bdu dont read into what i posted. I said I wanted a steak deer, I cut about 20 packs of venison steak a year. I pesonally think that a fawn will produce a better steak than a 200 lb buck! Yes i take the trimmings, yes i cut the stew meat I even turn the neck into a roast. I have been butchering wild game for 23 years. I have butchered my fair share of beef and pork. If you have any questions maybe you want to ask before you assume!

RE: thoughts on fawns??
 

I prefer not too. A bigger one is more meat.

RE: thoughts on fawns??
 

Tyler and I have found over 250 dead fawns one year when shed hunting. The coyote couldn't even keep them cleaned up. Finding a 100 plus in a normal/extreme winter is not all that uncommon. With the mild winter we have been having in recent years,most does have two fawns and the deer population is expanding at a fairly good rate. Winter can be brutal here. The fawns are the first to die from winter kill. We have no problem with someone taking fawns.

Our deer are good sized and we can get quite a few tags. Filling the freezer is not a problem. I will take a doefawn towards the end of bow season to fill my doetag and top off the freezer. We might as well get a few good meals... if it is a tough winter this year the coyotes will find enough dead fawns to survive.

The deer herd up in winter here. Taking a doe fawn out of a bunch of does/fawns can be quite fun with all the eyes, ears and noses. We hunt from the ground and I like stalking in the snow. There is still a challenge under these conditions. I like getting close... 20 yards or under. Trust me the does will keep you on your toes if the fawns don't. The fawns are much easier to drag through thesnow banks then a doe also. :D

Tim