Age of Fawn

[farmerjim]

How old does a fawn need to be to survive without it's mother?
I have 4 does inside the fence of my garden. There are places for them to hide, but I can easily find them. I know that they have some fawns, but they are impossible to find unless I almost step on them.. I have tried to chase them outside of the fence, but it is a no go as they circle back around and will not exit the wide open gate. I can kill all of the does, but would like to wait till the fawns can survive. The ones I have seen are quite small and covered in spots.

[mdi]

Would a dog keep them out of the garden?

[farmerjim]

Would a dog keep them out of the garden?

Yes, but I don't have a dog anymore. SWMBO too broken up over the loss of the last 3 to get another.
The garden is inside 8 acres with a 8 1/2 fence all around. I have put electric fences all around to keep them off of my crops, but many of the plants are too large now to protect them. The deer can jump the 8 1/2 foot fence, except where it is backed up with a 3 foot fence 3 feet away. I am working on getting this done, but I still need to remove the deer that are already inside. There are houses all around, so a gun is out, but I do have a crossbow, dead on at 50 yds.

[Lloyd Smale]

we do crop damage and shoot many does this time of year with small fawns. We also get a chance to watch them later. If your in an area with good feed they will do just fine. I see no difference in there size come fall then the ones with there mother. Most of the time there right out in the field with the rest of the local deer. Once there weened there mother is only a companion. They learn where the food is real fast. As a matter of fact where we shoot they probably eat better because there less fearful and go where the best crops are and go there earlier in the evening then fawns with there mothers. We don't shoot any on purpose but once in a while a fawn at 200 yards looks like a doe at 300. the farmer absolutely hates fawns. hed rather have us shoot them then any deer. He says there the worse at just ripping up areas and not even eating. they play by tearing up potatoes and like I said tend to go for only the best quality. He kind of gets mad at us for not shooting them. Even my dad pesters me to shoot them. He will tell you theres no better roast on earth then a fawn hind quarter. Hes right they are tasty and I don't really have any moral qualms shooting them. It just to much work for the 20 lbs of meat you get off one.

[farmerjim]

Thanks for the answer Lloyd.
Two years ago I shot a big doe with 2 large fawns. I killed the doe DRT. I figured they were big enough to survive on their own. We are infested with deer, so I shouldn't worry about them. This is in a 6 acre field in my back yard on the side of my garden. We have killed over 100 deer in that field in the last 20 years.

[MT Gianni]

If you need the deer out shoot them all. Assuming a legal option and you depending on the garden's income.

[fiberoptik]

Do I hear the dinner bell ?


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[Iowa Fox]

Veal Chops. Never saw so many twins and triplets as this year.

[Hossfly]

We’re not short here either on deer. Louisiana harvest about 1/4 million a year, and I think about that many are killed on the roads. I’d rather shoot them and use the meat rather than see em on the road dead and bloated. Buzzard buffet.

[JBinMN]

How old does a fawn need to be to survive without it's mother?
I have 4 does inside the fence of my garden. There are places for them to hide, but I can easily find them. I know that they have some fawns, but they are impossible to find unless I almost step on them.. I have tried to chase them outside of the fence, but it is a no go as they circle back around and will not exit the wide open gate. I can kill all of the does, but would like to wait till the fawns can survive. The ones I have seen are quite small and covered in spots.

Perhaps a call to your local or state wildlife office or Dept. of Nat. Resources, a Game Warden/Conservation officer, or whatever agency is in charge of wildlife in LA., and ask them about this?

Around MN., you can apply for a license to take deer year round " on YOUR land", if you are a "rural" landowner & you can demonstrate that the deer are damaging or eating your crops, be it garden vegetables, corn/soybean crop, fruit trees , etc.. Particularly, if you have already made efforts to stop them such as fences, etc..

That is my opinion/suggestion for this situation.

I think you are doing the right thing by trying to get more info & not taking out the lil ones or the mothers before their time, if not necessary. Respecting the game is a big part of the hunt, IMO.


G'Luck!

[jednorris]

I would think that if the state wildlife agency starts a big Deer hunting season, it would be a reasonable assumption that Fawns can survive on their own.

[wv109323]

Add an electric fence about 4 feet outside your 8 foot fence. Tie surveyors tape to the electric fence or anything that moves in the wind.Take aluminum foil and smear peanut butter on it. Then fold the aluminum foil up and hang on the electric fence. The deer will smell the peanut butter and lick the aluminum foil with their tongue. Best deterrent I have found.

[farmerjim]

Add an electric fence about 4 feet outside your 8 foot fence. Tie surveyors tape to the electric fence or anything that moves in the wind.Take aluminum foil and smear peanut butter on it. Then fold the aluminum foil up and hang on the electric fence. The deer will smell the peanut butter and lick the aluminum foil with their tongue. Best deterrent I have found.

I have put a electric fence on the outside everywhere I can and it is on my property. Where I can I put electric tape fence on the inside. It does work to stop them from jumping. I have places that are too grown up to put a fence. I am clearing this out where I can. I tried the Peanut butter about 10 years ago but it didn't work on these deer. I watched a deer jump from the inside to outside a couple of weeks ago. I had a single strand electric wire fence on the outside. I guess the deer couldn't see it as she came down on the fence, tripped, tumbled over, got up and ran away. I will put some tape on the wire as it pulled a bunch of the insulators off of the fence when she hit it.
The other problem is the deer will continue to ram the fence in the same place with their head until they open up the wires enough to jump through. I cought a doe with a fawn eating my okra and ran them off. The fawn ran straight at the fence full speed without slowing down and went through without slowing down. The doe tried to go through where the fawn did , but crashed back down, got up and ran out the open gate 50 feet away. There was a hole in the fence where the fawn went through that was not big enough for the doe.