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-   -   Late "crop" of fawns? (https://www.huntingnet.com/forum/whitetail-deer-hunting/367331-late-crop-fawns.html)

buckfever8991 07-08-2012 07:13 AM

Late "crop" of fawns?
 
I'm a volunteer firefighter in Illinois and we had a car vs deer wreck the other morning. After caring for the patients minor injuries and all the other things that come with a wreck I had a few minutes to look at the deer. It was an adult doe nothing new there, however something caught my eye, upon closer inspection it was an unborn almost full term fawn.

Anyone else seeing late fawns or does the forum believe this to be an isolated incident?

Topgun 3006 07-08-2012 08:05 AM

That's not unusual, as she probably didn't get bred in her first estrus cyle and got bred when she came in a second time in December. Normally our fawns up in this area are born in late May to early June and those does that didn't get bred in late October through November will breed into January sometimes with their fawns not dropping until July. I saw spotted twins one time here in southern Michigan during our late November deer season, so their Mom probably wasn't bred until as late as February or March.

buckfever8991 07-08-2012 09:29 AM

Well I was wondering about that, it just seemed so late to me I guess i just thought it was a little odd.

fastetti 07-08-2012 02:26 PM

I think it's a bit odd but not super out of the ordinary. It also could have been last years fawn and she wasn't bred until January. The last day of bow season in January I had a 4 point breed a doe within 30 yards of me so I figure if she has a fawn this year its also going to be a real late one. I was hunting Central Illinois as well. With this heat and lack of water that fawn would have to be pretty tough to survive. Enough with the sun already, we need the rain!

Topgun 3006 07-08-2012 05:10 PM

It's funny how many people think that deer need to go to water regularly when normally they can get by just on the moisture in the food they eat, whereas antelope and elk do need to go to water daily due to their different digestive systems. However, if deer live near a water source, they will certainly use it. After I made the other post I did think about a young deer that might breed in December or January for the first time, but the OP called it an adult deer that I would consider more than one year old.

buckfever8991 07-08-2012 05:32 PM

I here ya on the rain front, it could rain for 5 days here and I still dt it would catch us up!

And yes it was an adult, could she have just not bred first cycle though? Idk about anyone else but a few friends of mine and I talked all year last year about how the rut never really seemed to get intense and peak around here, maybe it did and we just didn't notice but I wonder if maybe the unusually warm fall/winter through off the timing of the rut and that led to her being bred late?

We could sit here and throw different opinions out all day long and never agree, it was just something that seemed out of the ordinary to me so I figured I'd table it and see what everyone thought.

Topgun 3006 07-08-2012 06:50 PM

The breeding period is basically due to the photoperiod, rather than temperatures, that varies to a very small degree in each area from year to year. Generally though, the rut is later up in the northern and southern climates compared to the middle latitudes, which would make it seem like temperature has a little something to do with it. I think what we have mentioned is what happened in the case of that doe and it really isn't that unusual for a few does to not get bred, especially if it's in an area where possibly the buck to doe ratio isn't quite as good as it should be and a lot of does come into estrus in a very short time frame.

bookfire1238 07-09-2012 01:20 AM

It's funny how many people think that deer need to go to water regularly when normally they can get by just on the moisture in the food they eat, whereas antelope and elk do need to go to water daily due to their different digestive systems.


bookfire1238 07-09-2012 01:22 AM

It's funny how many people think that deer need to go to water regularly when normally they can get by just on the moisture in the food they eat, whereas antelope and elk do need to go to water daily due to their different digestive systems.


fastetti 07-09-2012 04:01 PM


Originally Posted by buckfever8991 (Post 3950280)
Idk about anyone else but a few friends of mine and I talked all year last year about how the rut never really seemed to get intense and peak around here, maybe it did and we just didn't notice but I wonder if maybe the unusually warm fall/winter through off the timing of the rut and that led to her being bred late?

Join the club! We felt the same thing where we hunt. It never seemed like we had a solid rut by us either. It just seemed like no one in my area saw a full on rut like they are used to. Compared to the year before it was a lot different.


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