pyclub1

I read a article a few years back that someone had wrote stating that does without fawns will come into heat earlier than does with fawns. How true is this?? Does anyone have anything to say on this?? When I first read this I didn't really think much of it, this summer how ever it has been constantly on my mind and here is why. The area I am hunting is covered up with does.. But, 80% of the does I see have no fawns with them... I have my own explanation for this and don't really care to get into that but, with that being said, I have shot 3 adult does this bow season and all 3 were alone when I shot them, I drive around EVERY EVENING the last hour of light checking my fields and surrounding fields for bucks. The last 3 nights I have seen 2 shooter bucks chasing does, and multiple runt bucks bugging does, every buck I have seen that has been nosing a doe, has been nosing a doe without fawns... My trail camera shows the same thing. Every doe with fawns has no buck following, but a few of the does without fawns have bucks following... What do ya think? Curious to hear some other comments on this subject. If anyone has any articles they can point me to please do so as I am very interested to learn more about this...

Schobs

There are many factors that could contribute to a doe not having fawns, each of which may or may not play a part in when she comes into heat. I don't have any articles or research to back me up, this is just from my own knowledge of deer I've picked up over the years. Deer, like humans, are individuals and each one is a little different. Although deer as a species first go into heat around the same time regionally each calendar year, an individual deer may be weeks ahead or behind that schedule for various reasons. I do believe an individual deer will go into heat around the same time each year, so what may be happening is those does you're seeing being tended naturally go into heat earlier. This could lead to them being bred and consequently giving birth earlier. If the whole process happens too early, and the fawns are born before the habitat has had a chance to recover from winter, they may stand a poorer chance of survival. This could be one reason those does don't have fawns. It makes sense on an evolutionary scale that those deer wouldn't be allowed to pass on their genes because they don't do the species any good. I have to imagine the production of milk has a great deal to do with hormones, and if a doe suddenly loses the need to produce milk, say if her fawns are no longer with her for whatever reason, her hormones may shift. I have no idea what role the hormones play in what time a doe goes into heat, but one would guess there's some correlation.

Like I said, I have no facts to back any of this up, but it is something interesting to think about. I believe the understanding of deer biology will greatly increase in the next 10-20 years and hunting will continue to change at a rapid pace. For better or worse, we shall see.

pyclub1

I have to agree with you on most everything you have said schobs, My personal opinion on the no fawns is this, There are SO many bears in the area where I hunt it's ridiculous, in a 1 week time period I saw 17 bears while driving from my land to home and back. I think that the bears are really putting a hurting on the fawns, Lots of coyotes in my area and bobcat as well.. The WI DNR put out some numbers a few years back and in them numbers they state that bobcat alone kill 2000 deer a year. Now with that being said, the bear are really putting on the feed bag come may and june, thats the fawn dropping period.. That's just my thoughts.. I do think that the does drying up and not producing milk will bring them in early. Thanks for posting, great to hear your thoughts on it.