I see that alot of folks call 1.5 year old deer yearlings and deer that were dropped this year fawns. How can they be fawns if they don't have spots? They are 5-9 months old. How can they be yearlings when they are over 1 year old? That doesn't make sense to me. Around here we have always called yearlings the deer that were dropped this year. A deer is a fawn until it has lost it's spots. What do you guys call them?

I think most people in my area do call 1 1/2 yr old deer yearlings. But I think you are correct in the proper term for yearlings is deer that were born this year, however, a fawn is a fawn regardless if it has loss it's spots.

Deer born this last spring/summer are yearlings. Still in the first year of their lives , thus the name yearling.

I agree. yearlings are this years fawns that have lost their spots.

Why would you call a 1 1/2 year old a yearling??........wouldn't it be a yearandahalfling?

Yearling is a fawn from this spring.

Around here we call it a fawn until it is a year old. Then we call them yearlings.

I don't think it is unsual to see people generalize when it comes to age in the animal world. It happens all the time in rural areas.

For example, in the horse world, a horse that is under two years old can still be termed a colt. In the dog world, a dog that is under two is often referred to in many circles as a pup. In fact in some competitions they can compete in the puppy division as long as they are under two.

Here deer that are born in the spring are referred to as fawns until the next spring or fall and then they fall into the yearling catagory. The yearling catagory is usually carried until the deer's second year.

The official definition for a yearling is "an animal that is between its first and second year of life."

To me not a shooter

Good eatin'