New Fawns?

[dogdoc]

number of possibilities---younger does might not come into estrous at the same time as older does. In areas where the buck to doe ratio is out of whack and there are too many does the bucks can't breed all the does during their first estrous cycle.

todd

[ranchand99]

Re: New Fawns?

I have seen does in august that were still pregnant.That's only happend 2 times,and I'll admit that's rare.Gestation period for deer is around 200 days.If those fawns were 3 weeks old.That means the doe would have been bred in the last of Jan,or first of feb.Our rut in the coastal area of Ga. starts in sept.and usually you can find deer breeding all the way up to jan.Like dogdoc said sometimes when there are too many does,or if the doe just wasn't able to breed for a number of reasons.Some areas not even 300 miles from me,have peak ruts in jan.So it depends on your area.Fawns usually start to lose their spots at 3 months old.So,yes it is very likely you are right about the age of the fawns.Keep an eye on them,and when their spots start to come off you'll have a better idea.Oh yeah,and another thing.Areas that green up later in the year usually have later ruts,such as some areas have later peak turkey breeding times.That way there is an abundance of food for the young.We green up in the last of feb.,and early march.That's another reason why I believe we have such an early rut.Sometimes,way earlier than the rest of the state.There needs to be adequate cover available for the fawns.Hope I helped.

[ranchand99]

Re: New Fawns?

I understand,but breeding dates vary everywhere.I'm using examples in Ga,but have heard from friends in Ill,that they too have seen rutting activity in Jan.It doesn't matter where you are geographically.There are simply some does that are bred late,and I don't think it is uncommon for you to see fawns such as you are.The "peak" is just that.Not the only time deer breed.I'm assuming peak in your area is in Nov.That doesn't mean a deer won't breed in Jan.

[buckee]

Re: New Fawns?

Like dogdoc says, the secondary rut can go until the end of December and even into January. Some folks call this the 2nd, 3rd or even 4th rut, but I prefer just to call it the secondary rut. The main rut usually takes place around the middle of November (15th or so), but I've seen it as early as Nov 1st and as late as Nov 22nd. As a rule, the main rut starts between the 10th and 15th.

It's the secondary rut that goes on after the main rut, where all the younger does, (with unregulated estrus times) go into estrus. That puts the birth time, around June or the first of July instead of May.

We get a lot of late fawns here all the time. It's not unusual to see fawns, just losing their spots, at the end of August here.

[wtnhunt]

Re: New Fawns?

The rut here last year was almost non existant. There was no signifcant rutting activity during deer season. We are seeing a lot of fawns born later than we usually do.