Thread: Telling if a hind has a fawn.

It's always a dilemma, eh. Deciding if a hind has a fawn and whether to shoot or not.

My approach is to er on the side of caution through to April or so. Although I have been known to shoot the fawn first, and then the hind - but that was when they had a price on their head.

I watched this one for quite a while:

She was out at 5pm which sort of said she had fawned and was hungry
She was on her own, another sign she might have a fawn
Her hips were a bit pronounced and slightly hollow gutted like she had fawned
I couldn't spot an udder
Her head and stature made her look like she wasn't very old - but over 3? if under 3 she probably didn't have a fawn.
She didnt look back to the bush like they do when they have planted a fawn
She didnt stay out very long, maybe an hour, then she went back into the bush and disappeared. Back to a fawn?

The young bloke with me was busting to shoot her but I made him hold off. I was pleased when she disappeared back into the trees. He got a spiker later.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XF1hOK05snA

What do others think? How do you make the decision?

the last couple years, I just shoot the fawn then the hind- or shoot the hind first. If there's a fawn that I don't see, then it doesn't get a bullet< all because of high-higher than ever numbers in most places.

I only started hunting a few years ago and I'm still learning and trying to get more successful on public land so if i saw a hind I'd take her, unless she had an obvious fawn in tow.

I generally avoid hunting the December January period when the Fawns are very young and spend most of their time in hidden If I do hunt it tends to be spikers only. I'd like to know what peoples thoughts are on when a fawn can look after itself if the mother disappears, My thoughts are the fawn will survive from say the beginning of March on. They will still be suckling if they can but are also eating grass.

Originally Posted by zeropak

I generally avoid hunting the December January period when the Fawns are very young and spend most of their time in hidden If I do hunt it tends to be spikers only. I'd like to know what peoples thoughts are on when a fawn can look after itself if the mother disappears, My thoughts are the fawn will survive from say the beginning of March on. They will still be suckling if they can but are also eating grass.

Yeah.March/April

@Tahr I always remember when I shot that hind up on the Rangi tops. Tony told me to shoot the fawn that was with her. There was a yearling hanging around too. Now I can’t even remember if I shot it or whether Tony did. I suspect he shot both the yearling and fawn. I also remember that you both explained that fawns don’t do very well if left to their own devices at that age. That was early March from memory.

Of note my brother and I shot a fawn (stag) on the 27th of December in the Ruahines in a river bed. We had this very conversation. On inspection of the gut bag it was very full of grass (or similar). At the time I thought it was a lighter looking green than usual and I presume that would be due to milk from mum.

I don't shoot hinds until mid Feb and won't let anyone I have with me either.
If its a yearling maybe.
And Sika and Fallow I'd be very cautious about shooting one at all in February as their fawning is usually a month or so later than reds.
Shooting a hind and leaving a fawn to starve is an animal welfare issue.
If I were to put a fawn (or any animal) in a pen and starve it to death I would be convicted.
No difference.

Interesting. From the people I've spoken to – and that's only the people that I know who hunt a lot – they have no problem shooting a fawn. Reason is mainly due to pest control. They would prefer to do that than leave a fawn if they shot the mother. I'm not judging either way just conversations that I've had. I'm not sure what I would do if I was in that position but I guess I'll find out.

Originally Posted by 7mmwsm

I don't shoot hinds until mid Feb and won't let anyone I have with me either.
If its a yearling maybe.
And Sika and Fallow I'd be very cautious about shooting one at all in February as their fawning is usually a month or so later than reds.
Shooting a hind and leaving a fawn to starve is an animal welfare issue.
If I were to put a fawn (or any animal) in a pen and starve it to death I would be convicted.
No difference.

Give it a feed of 1080 and blame DoC!!

From a physiological point of view any mixed age hind in reasonable condition is very likely to have a fawn. I don’t have any real knowledge on wild deer, but in farmed deer mixed age hind conception rates should be 95% plus unless you’ve had a shocker of some kind and survival rates in scrubby country should be 93-96%. That’s for a red hind mated to a red stag. So roughly there’s a 90% chance a hind that’s between about 3 and 9 years of age will have a fawn at foot from mid December onwards. Prior to about 90 days of age fawn survival after weaning is not that great and it’s safe to say any fluffy, potbelly yearlings you say later on are early weaned fawns. Yearling hinds (R2’s) are very much able to get in fawn and raise a fawn though body weight and condition at the rut is a determining factor as to wether they go through puberty and are able to get pregnant. I would guess conception rates in yearling’s in the bush would be much lower and their ability to raise a fawn would also be much lower. Maybe 30-40%? After about 10 years of age hind fertility starts dropping off, the older the quicker. I would guess older hinds in the wild would have reproduce at similar rates to farm deer with fawning more spread out, probably later starting and much later finishing. So mixed age hinds in the bush are probably going to have a fawn on them throughout the summer and autumn period. How can you tell for sure? If you can see an udder is the only sure way. In saying that they are difficult to see, deer udders are very small unless they are very well fed, though if you can see between the back legs they will either have a little bag or absolutely nothing at all. Like tahr said if they are by themselves there’s probably one hidden and if you think you will be able to see one forget it. They’re bloody hard to see in a flat paddock with grass 6 inches long, they are the masters of hiding.

If the freezer was low,I'd shoot the fawn first,then hind if possible.But I do like to watch them as well.My freezer is pretty fall so fawns and mums are pretty safe from me for the next couple of months.

Would rather shoot them when pregnant , got know issue with that . Let them walk once junior is out.

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Fawns taste great. I don't usually bush hunt over summer. The fawn,velvet issue plus it avoids wasps worst season.

Originally Posted by zeropak

I generally avoid hunting the December January period when the Fawns are very young and spend most of their time in hidden If I do hunt it tends to be spikers only. I'd like to know what peoples thoughts are on when a fawn can look after itself if the mother disappears, My thoughts are the fawn will survive from say the beginning of March on. They will still be suckling if they can but are also eating grass.

Taken from their mothers milk too early they turn out runts the size of large hares. Pitiful to see.