How old are are small deer?
10-03-2012, 02:57 PM
#1
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: YewNork
Posts: 1,794
How old are are small deer?
This weekend I shot a small button buck with my bow (thought it was a doe) and it weighed about 80ish pounds... We were having a debate over how old it was. I said it was 6 months old because it was fairly small and had one inch tall spikes, others were saying 1.5... The thing that confuses me is the area we hunt, this size deer is usually the smallest i see, and when their with mature does they are that size and not any smaller, but someone i know recently shot one that was the size of a dog, really small.
If deer are born around 6 months before hunting season, why are some really small come hunting season. Would you say this deer was 6 months old or 1.5? I see larger sized spikes in the same area that look about 30 lbs heavier, and have 3-8" spikes, are they the same age, just with better genetics? ( I hunt southern upstate NY by the way)
Im just really confused at how old these deer that are 1.5 years of age or younger really are. I attached the pic of the one I got below.
If deer are born around 6 months before hunting season, why are some really small come hunting season. Would you say this deer was 6 months old or 1.5? I see larger sized spikes in the same area that look about 30 lbs heavier, and have 3-8" spikes, are they the same age, just with better genetics? ( I hunt southern upstate NY by the way)
Im just really confused at how old these deer that are 1.5 years of age or younger really are. I attached the pic of the one I got below.
Last edited by ABarOfSoap; 10-03-2012 at 03:29 PM.
10-03-2012, 03:14 PM
#2
Fork Horn
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Southern New Hampshire
Posts: 190
You are right...a button buck is a yearling or this years fawn probably born April or May depending on when the Doe was pregnated. Either first or late rut. A spike horn typically is a 1.5 year old. Those scronny deer your seeing are runts or late rut fawns and a lot of times won't make the winter if you live in any of those cold climate states with heavy snow totals. Coyote feed mostly but some do make it if their food source is plentiful and preditors are scarce.
Last edited by 7MMXBOLT; 10-03-2012 at 03:18 PM.
10-04-2012, 05:00 AM
#4
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 2,445
There's lots of confusion caused by terminology. Many use the term "yearling" for a deer born in the spring of the same year rather than the preceeding spring. A fawn is a deer born in the spring of the same year.
Fawns are between 4 and 8 months old during their first hunting season. Their age depends upon when the season came in and when they were born. Fawns can be born in several months of the year, so there's quite a bit of variability in the size/age of fawns that are shot. I've seen a fawn with faint spots and a good-sized buck fawn during the same day in the woods. The buck fawn was almost twice the size of the small fawn.
Fawns are between 4 and 8 months old during their first hunting season. Their age depends upon when the season came in and when they were born. Fawns can be born in several months of the year, so there's quite a bit of variability in the size/age of fawns that are shot. I've seen a fawn with faint spots and a good-sized buck fawn during the same day in the woods. The buck fawn was almost twice the size of the small fawn.
