First fawn of the year

[richhodg66]

Wife and I moved out on this place about two years ago and have enjoyed watching the deer. For the past two years, there's been a mama that had triplets fawns both years and usually a few yearlings. I kind of figured the yearlings we saw last year were the first fawns we saw when we moved here. This morning I saw what appeared to be a young doe with one fawn scampering along behind here, I have to assume I'm seeing the third generation of this family group that hangs around here. I kind of feel like a grand parent.

This place is 18 acres, but no houses for a long way in any direction. I've chosen not to hunt deer on my place so far and I'll probably keep that policy. Not sure how I'd feel shooting one I watched grow up.

[lightman]

Cool story! They sure are fun to watch.

[farmerjim]

Cool story! They sure are fun to watch.

Till they destroy $2,000 worth of vegetables overnight.

[richhodg66]

I only have a very small garden, but I'll eventually expand that in future years. I think I have more to worry about from the rabbits here than the deer. I like watching them too. Squirrels are about all I've hunted out here so far.

[farmerjim]

We are infested with deer down here. Yes the fawns are cute. I see them in my front yard all the time but not one so far this year. Squirrels can do a lot of damage to a small garden. Coons are in the sweet corn now, they are trap smart and hard to catch. I may have to loose some sleep and try to shoot them.

[too many things]

well good luck with garden . in WV i have 175 ac and we cut hay this week thats where the deer have young. killed 2 and seen about 8. Oh well will be good hunting in fall
Oh 2 deer can eat more over night than 20 rabbits or 5 ground hogs/gofers/prairie dogs --or want ever they are called where you live . Deer eat from the ground to 6ft.

[dbosman]

There is a 39 acre Natural Area, behind the houses across the street. One morning I saw six deer in my back yard. Beautiful sight. We've had turkeys in the back yard eating berries and seeds. Again, beautiful.

The drawback is that for some reason I can't have tomato plants. Something keeps eating them. Cages didn't help as they just ate the tops. Ground squirrels ate four trees of cherries for moisture last year and gray squirrels ate all the apples and Asian pears for moisture. The deer even keep zuchinni in check.

Discharge of firearms is of course prohibited as we live in an incorporated township. On the down side, I live in the first township in Michigan to have wasting disease. So we may or may not be able to eat the deer anyway. Sigh.

[richhodg66]

I can shoot anything I want out here, just not real wild about deer hunting on my place. Besides liking the deer, my place is fairly small and I'd have to kill one fast before it got on someone else's property, which still probably wouldn't be too mush of a problem, but I have a big tract of public land I've hunted for 20 years and am comfortable with not far away.

When I get serious about gardening, I'll start being more concerned with varmint control. I'd also like to try raising chickens at some point and that will bring a whole different level to critter problems, I'm sure. We have a lot of coyotes out here.

[dbosman]

Purchase poultry fence, not poultry netting. Poultry fence is wrapped wire just like cattle fencing, just a thinner gauge. Small spaces, roughly one inch for the first six inches, then progressively larger as you go up. With proper posts, and a net top, you'll have a better chance of keeping the birds. For maximum protection, lay 36 inch vinyl coated poultry netting on the ground all the way round. That will last a decade or more.



When I get serious about gardening, I'll start being more concerned with varmint control. I'd also like to try raising chickens at some point and that will bring a whole different level to critter problems, I'm sure. We have a lot of coyotes out here.

[bayjoe]

I love strawberries but so do the quail. The local quail eat the berries and then start in on the plants.

[richhodg66]

I wish we had enough quail here to be pests. Have hardly seen any around here for quite a few years now. Actually did have a small covey of them on my place this past Winter, I flushed a half dozen or so several times, but haven't seen them lately. I miss the little guys.

What we do have a lot of is doves. I was never much of a bird hunter, but I'm going to take that up this year.

[Big Boomer]

This thread reminds me of something that happened here last year. My wife owns a few hundred acres of land here in southern Ky. and her son runs 75+ head of cattle on the place and uses an electric fence to keep the cattle on the place and out of the hay fields. We have a nice, small garden and the electric fence keeps the cattle out of the garden. Last summer when our corn was coming on I put an extension of the electric fence around the corn, only down low to the ground to keep the raccoons and skunks out. One morning we awakened to the awful stench of skunk that hung around like a fog. At first, it didn't register with me. Then the light came on. I would pay good money to have been able to see the moment when that skunk touched the low electric fence with its nose. I have been into that electric fence a time or two and it always gets an uncontrollable surprised yelp out of me. It must have been especially hard on a critter with all 4 feel on the ground to get a large charge from the electric fence. Big Boomer

[tdoyka]

i seen a fawn(1st this year) saturday evening(6/10/17).

[dogrunner]

Guess I have about ten regulars here..........only see the doe's tho......one old gal showed up last week with twins just losing their spots. Bucks are amazingly invisible till mid fall.....like the OP I don't mess with them on the home place but I do have a bunch of walker hounds that I use for deer...........they drive those dog nuts....they'll feed within ten feet of the pens and show utterly no fear. Had the dogs get out in the past and it's a real eye and ear opener when they rip thru the subdivision occupied by those New York transplants.........course it takes me a day to get 'em back! Worst event was one escape when about four of those dogs entered a screened in deck where those folks were having a homeowners meeting...........lady told me they knocked over a huge popcorn bowl, ate most of it and left by going thru her screen!!

[No Blue]

Saw a fawn a week ago, last 3 days only seeing mom, so something else must of had a meal.

Now if I can just get Heckle and Jeckle to stop attacking the glass door on to my balcony, soon as it gets light they're up there.

[richhodg66]

Guess I have about ten regulars here..........only see the doe's tho......one old gal showed up last week with twins just losing their spots. Bucks are amazingly invisible till mid fall.....like the OP I don't mess with them on the home place but I do have a bunch of walker hounds that I use for deer...........they drive those dog nuts....they'll feed within ten feet of the pens and show utterly no fear. Had the dogs get out in the past and it's a real eye and ear opener when they rip thru the subdivision occupied by those New York transplants.........course it takes me a day to get 'em back! Worst event was one escape when about four of those dogs entered a screened in deck where those folks were having a homeowners meeting...........lady told me they knocked over a huge popcorn bowl, ate most of it and left by going thru her screen!!

That was probably the most fun/excitement those folks had had in their lives in years. I bet half of 'em are secretly hoping it'll happen again sometime.

[leeggen]

We had some real nice sweet tomatoes that disappeared just as they were getting ripe. Those deer that sampled them decided the same thing that they were sweet to eat. Have not seen any fawns this year yet but should see some soon.
CD

[bayjoe]

We have an old smart doe that has been around for a couple years. She showed up yesterday about 200 yards from the house she had twins under an juniper tree. I like watching her, she is a really cagy old girl.

[FISH4BUGS]

We have virtually everything here in rural New Hampshire. Deer, bear, coyote, bobcat, fisher cats, weasels, 'coons, skunks, and yes, even a mountain lion. I saw him/her with my own eyes so it is a positive ID.
I have a 50x50 garden surrounded by chicken wire. Never had a problem with critters. I only had one woodchuck show up and he went away with a case of acute lead poisoning from a suppressed Ruger 22.

[Iowa Fox]

We are infested with deer down here. Yes the fawns are cute. I see them in my front yard all the time but not one so far this year. Squirrels can do a lot of damage to a small garden. Coons are in the sweet corn now, they are trap smart and hard to catch. I may have to loose some sleep and try to shoot them.

Jim sounds like you might have animals almost as bad as we do. Deer by the hundreds, squirrels by the thousands. all animals and insects are out of control.

[richhodg66]

I was mowing the grass at my other house which is actually in a small town, not out in the woods. Ran the riding mower over a rabbit nest, saw this little guy shoot out from under the mower. Got stopped and went to check on him, he froze like they do but not a mark on him, so I picked him up and showed him to the neighbors and we all agrees the best course of action was to put him back as close to the old nest as possible in hopes mama would find him so that's what I did. Covered him up with a few grass clippings to conceal him a little. Hope he makes it, gosh he was a cute little guy.
197590

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

In regards to bunnies and fawns, I seem to be surrounded by death.
My Cat has killed 4 bunnies in the last two weeks.
I did a couple road trips around MN last weekend, and put on about 450 miles. I seen several dead fawns on road shoulders during these trips.

[richhodg66]

Our big outside tomcat disappeared a couple of months ago. He had done that for as long as six weeks before, we have a suspicion he had another family at the nearest house about 3/4 mile away, but I haven't gone to ask if they've seen him. I hope he's OK wherever he is.

That said, he was as friendly a cat as I ever knew and liked our dog, but he'd kill all kinds of stuff. He killed a baby rabbit one day just minutes after he scarfed a big meal of canned food. It upset me more than it should have, but I couldn't hold being a cat against him.

Haven't seen any road killed fawns yet. Did have one on the shoulder just up the road last year. It was probably breaking the law, but I stopped and moved it off the road into the woods so my wife wouldn't have to see it, she loved watching the little ones in the yard and it would have broken her heart.