For me, it just doesn’t seem right based on the amount of meat that a fawn will yield. I’m guessing that the one I saw today will produce maybe 15 pounds. In my mind, it’s pointless to take a fawn. I always assumed it was illegal, but I think that I’m wrong based on what I’ve read.
Never thought of this until today…Is a fawn considered an anterless deer?
- Thread starter OkieJoe72
- Start Date
I don’t agree with what a lot of people do hunting-wise, but if it’s legal, it’s none of my business.
A friend on this board texted me earlier this evening a screen shot from a FB hunting page of a group with three bucks that were probably 2.5 years old with the caption “filling the freezer”.
What they did is perfectly legal, and something that’s not all that uncommon. I always ask myself though why the heck someone would kill little bucks instead of does for freezer meat?!?
I’ll repeat the statement I made earlier. IT’S NONE OF MY BUSINESS.
Here is the actual ODW reg for doe or fawn.
Antlered Deer Definition
Any deer, regardless of sex, with at least three inches of antler length above the natural hairline on either side.https://wildlifedepartment.com/hunting/regs/deer-big-game-season
I'm trying to understand how shooting a fawn on the same day every year proves anything about the health of the herd?
There can be two to three breeding cycles with deer depending on the buck vs doe ratio.
If the ratio is skewed toward lots of does, they can be bred in October through January.
Fawns the following fall would be three different age groups.
If the guy has the perfect 1-1 ratio, He would only know that by doing spotlight surveys and counting deer which would actually be the method to determine if the deer herd was proportioned appropriately.
If he did the spotlight surveys and determined it had the correct ratio there would be no need to kill a fawn that has the potential to be a trophy buck.
Weight is also not a way to determine the health of a herd. Sickness of the fawn, younger or older bred, type of habitat/food sources all plays into the weight of a deer at any time of the year.
I just don't understand.
When clicking on the link Dennis posted, this comes up also…
I heard the backstraps makes good breakfast steak, but that was from a kid in high schools. Who intentionally shoots a dawn, good grief man.
A lot of fawns are killed unintentionally. Prior to the rut does kick out the buck fawns they spawned. Most have nothing more than a bump on the top of the heads and they are typically seen alone on the food plots.
Rifle distance ranges on a food plot, it's hard to tell if its a full grown doe or a fawn buck as there is no other deer around to compare body size to.
After about 15 or so years give or take a year or two on a DMAP we have taken hundreds of does. We look for single animals alone with short snouts and consider them button bucks. Does always hang out in family groups, never alone in our area anyway. A long nose and a sagging belly is a pretty good indication of a mature doe which the ODW biologist tells us to focus on.
At bow ranges it's pretty obvious what is a doe and what is a button buck.
If you have the DeerCast app, it is an article from July 20th written by Zach Vuvurevich. It is called “Why fawn harvests are ok”.
I will try to post it when I get back home tonight but I think it is a protected site and can’t be cut/pasted.
let them grow up
I was watching 8 deer at Lexington during bow season years ago.
Started out as 8 and by the end of 2 weeks it was down to 1 deer left and I assume all the others got
harvested.
It was a small deer and having a good time by itself running across the small clover field.
I have seen small deer all alone and they are curious and will walk right up to you.
Will it survive the winter with predators around that would like to eat it?
Yea i know the mother deer will leave the fawn alone sometimes.
If you see one alone for a few days walking around looking for a buddy you think it will survive.
I still would not want to kill it. I do not want to see if eaten alive either.
Started out as 8 and by the end of 2 weeks it was down to 1 deer left and I assume all the others got
harvested.
It was a small deer and having a good time by itself running across the small clover field.
I have seen small deer all alone and they are curious and will walk right up to you.
Will it survive the winter with predators around that would like to eat it?
Yea i know the mother deer will leave the fawn alone sometimes.
If you see one alone for a few days walking around looking for a buddy you think it will survive.
I still would not want to kill it. I do not want to see if eaten alive either.
