gestation for whitetail?
 

What is the normal time frame for a deer' s gestation? A friend killed a mature doe today, that was pregnant.The unborn fawn had fur, and weighed a little over 9 lbs. I have never heard of a deer bearing a young this late in the year. Do we have an overpopulation problem? Why would this happen? It was killed on a green field in south Jefferson County near Brookwood, Alabama. She had one other doe with her, and they fed into the field about 10 mins before dark. We have seen several does(25) up to this point, but only 1 buck. Thanks for any help.

RE: gestation for whitetail?
 

I would imagine, probably 8 months or so...(Nov-june), but i read in another post that Doe' s Keep going into an estrus cycle until they are pregnant, so most likely that it took that lone buck to courst 25 does...lol :)

RE: gestation for whitetail?
 

Next time you see 25 does in a field, try to shoot 24 of them.

RE: gestation for whitetail?
 

LOL, not 25 at one time, 25 in 2 weeks. And only the one buck over the same time period. OVer the summer we saw several bucks, so they are there. Just nocturnial right now I think.

RE: gestation for whitetail?
 

The normal gestational period for a whitetail deer is 200-210 days or roughly 7 months. If you saved the fetus, a deer biologist could tell you almost exactly the date of conception.

RE: gestation for whitetail?
 

Assuming this was a whitetail, you should not feel bad about taking this doe. That fawn would have been born in winter and would have had a tough time making it in addition to pulling the mother down during the winter.

The only time I have had this happen is when I killed an axis deer. They breed year round, like a cow. If fact, one time I shot a big axis doe in December and while I was gutting her, a small fawn got up and ran off. He was too small to make it on his own, so I really felt bad.

RE: gestation for whitetail?
 

Thats crazy..at first I thought you meant the fawn was inside the doe and when you gutted her it got out and ran off?

RE: gestation for whitetail?
 

I beleive seeing 25 does but do u think they could have been the same ones. Deer usually go back to the same place night after night if the feeding has been constant at that place for over a few months. its easier to tell bucks apart. There was this one buck on our place along time ago and his horns were oneside up and oneside down. He went to the exact same fallen over log every night at the same time for over weeks and we didnt want him spreading his genetics more than he had. My dad shot him one night because he was hiding behind the log that the deer went to every night. the deer was about 7 years old, an old geezer that had spread his genetics way to much.

RE: gestation for whitetail?
 

Joe: LOL. Sorry about the confusion. The fawn was probably 2-3 weeks old and was lying in the grass near where the mother fell. Axis are herd animals, and this doe was by herself, so I made a mental note not to shoot one by herself anymore. Another intersting thing about axis deer is that they grow antlers by age, not season, so you can have hard horned, in velvet, and just shed antlers bucks all at the same time. That means you have to be sure the " doe" you are shooting isn' t a buck that just shed his antlers!