About 1 p.m. today while making my rounds I started to pull into the gate of one of the places my boss owns, about 6 miles or so spouthwest of wherre Lora and I live, and I saw something walking in the middle of the country gravel road about 150 yards or so west of gate.

The way it was walking I at first thought it was a sick coyote or a really skinny dog someone had thrown out.

I grabbed my binoculars and saw that it was a really young whitetail fawn, 3 maybe 4 days old.

I finally spotted the Mom over in the ditch in the shade calling to it. She spooked a little when I got out to open the gate, but by the time I got the gate open and got back in the truck she had came back out and was getting the little critter off the road.

Has anyone else been seeing any new fawns?

They are just starting to drop in the northern states the last week or so, which is right on schedule for up in these parts.

I was mowing at my place in E. Texas a few weeks ago. I usually do not mow this time of year because the concern of running over a fawn. The grass and brush had grown up so much I had to knock out some of the thick areas. Probably bush hogged about 10 acres. I usually will mow in second gear which is pretty slow as to see any fawns or allow them to scurry away. They will run away about on their belly's when very young. I scared up 4 but luckily did not run over any.
Really cute at this age.
I have noticed the Does like to put the fawns in high grass within 20-30 ft of the timberline. Seldom do you see them in wide open pasture(my experience) I try and stay pretty clear of the timber lines when mowing this time of the year (if I have to mow). 50' back.

EZ

I feel that there are plenty of fawns on the ground around here, this is just the first I have seen this year, most of the time in this area we start seeing them about mid-April.

quote:

Originally posted by Crazyhorseconsulting:
I feel that there are plenty of fawns on the ground around here, this is just the first I have seen this year, most of the time in this area we start seeing them about mid-April.

You must have an awful early rut if fawns are dropped that early. The rut down in south Texas is well into December and January way down there.

The Rut in E Texas is typically late Octonber to early November. I hunt in S Texas as well. The fawns have not yet dropped down there.

Supposedly from what I have heard/read/seen rut starts around the second week of November in this part of the state.

I have seen bucks chasing does at the end of October.

Over the time I have been hunting I have personally seen and talked to others that have seen and taken pictures of spotted fawns as late as December and as early as February.

I always know when the fawns are hitting the ground at my place. The does are always sneaking around the front field day in and day out. I keep that field as native prairie which seems to attract the moms. Plus, they know the dogs guard for predators and won't come after the deer.

quote:

Originally posted by Aspen Hill Adventures:
I always know when the fawns are hitting the ground at my place. The does are always sneaking around the front field day in and day out. I keep that field as native prairie which seems to attract the moms. Plus, they know the dogs guard for predators and won't come after the deer.

Good to see here Ann.

I hope nothing serious kept you away.

They are out and about here in NW Wisconsin also.

Saeed, I have been dealing with a lot of orthopedic surgery. So yes, actually, several years on now of a life-crushing situation but, I am still around. Not able to hunt much at the moment either though!

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:

quote:

Originally posted by Aspen Hill Adventures:
I always know when the fawns are hitting the ground at my place. The does are always sneaking around the front field day in and day out. I keep that field as native prairie which seems to attract the moms. Plus, they know the dogs guard for predators and won't come after the deer.

Good to see here Ann.

I hope nothing serious kept you away.

Last weekend on the way up to Quebec City we saw a newborn moose calf with mother who incidentally was collared. Good to see new life.

That is special.

We have one of the earlier ruts in the state, and most fawns here hit the ground the first couple weeks of April. I have seen them as early as mid-March before -- and on multiple occasions.

The youngest does have been dropping theirs the past couple of weeks and should be done now.

quote:

Originally posted by Aspen Hill Adventures:
Saeed, I have been dealing with a lot of orthopedic surgery. So yes, actually, several years on now of a life-crushing situation but, I am still around. Not able to hunt much at the moment either though!

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:

quote:

Originally posted by Aspen Hill Adventures:
I always know when the fawns are hitting the ground at my place. The does are always sneaking around the front field day in and day out. I keep that field as native prairie which seems to attract the moms. Plus, they know the dogs guard for predators and won't come after the deer.

Good to see here Ann.

I hope nothing serious kept you away.

I hope you are on the mend.

I think we all start suffering once the years pass by.

We have been very lucky, as we have seen babies being born several times while hunting in Africa.

And sometimes fascinating incidents happen too.

One time we saw a baby impala, could not have been born more than a few minutes. Still wet and groggy to stand up.

As we got closer to take photos, we got chased by a warthog away from it!

This was taken in June last year. I'd have to look back to find the exact date, though.



This one was taken in 2013 in early May. I posted it on the 12th of that month, and as you can see, the fawn is already fairly solid. Maybe I can get a few snapshots of the current fawn crop here one day.

Nice pix, Bobby.

I second that on the pictures Bobby.

Haiku - The fence I left untended for the fawns I have befriended !
That's not mine but describes the stone wall that I put a notch into it for the fawns .

Ann, best wishes, take care.

The problem here in this area concerning fawns, are predators, primarily bears & cougars.
Immediately after seeing this fawn, I encountered a bear & almost daily while riding.
Last spring ( 2017 ) 42 fawns were captured & collared in this area. As of almost 2 months ago, only 14 were still alive. Again, primarily bears & cougars according to the biologist I met in the field tracking them.
The year before, of the collard fawns, only 2 (2!) lived the first year.
I have friends who have been volunteering in this effort for 30yrs.
With the elimination of effective control hunting ( hounds ), the deer population suffers.
They are reproducing, but the overall, sound population is very questionable at the least.

Down here hogs are becoming or have became the big threat to fawns.

Lora and I have a friend that worked for Texas Parks and Wildlife for years at one of the TP&W's Wildlife Management Areas and he told me about seeing a really large raccoon dragging a weeek old or less fawn that it had killed.

Coyotes & bobcats also. Again, there is no control of these either. Trapping is banned also.
So, to enhance the diversity, let's introduce more wolves AND throw in a few grizz also.

Luckily here in Texas our Predators including pigs are shoot on sight if possible, even mountain lions.

This was taken tonight just before dark. They are growing well. Pardon the hand-held, less-than-sharp image, but this was a quick snapshot taken at a rather low shutter speed and wide-open aperture due to virtually no light remaining.

Looks like a dang good picture to me Bobby.