fawn survival

[coyoteslayer]

Here is a question for you.

Do you think that buck to doe ratios effect fawn survival rates? Talking with a guy the other day, and I thought he had a legitimate point. He thinks predators are taking a toll on the fawns because, the fawns are being born at different times during the summer/spring, because of the lack of buck to doe ratios. His thoughts were if you had a higher buck to doe ratio, that the does would all be bred at the same time, and that fawns would be born at the same time, causing less predation. What do you think?

 

[elkassassin]

Well!

When I see 'Spotted' Fawns in October that have been killed by Coyotes what do you think?



The Dew I had for Breakfast wasn't Bad so I had one more for Dessert!

 

[tx_packmule]

The short answer is Yes. A more balanced ratio will generally increase the fawn recruiment rate and decrease the fawn predation rates. It also helps you retain more mature bucks from them not having a long drawn out rut to really tank their fat storage.

 

[odocoileus]

Lower buck to doe ratios (at least among those currently managed for around the west) don't change fawn survival rates. This is pretty well documented. The paper is titled "effect of limited antlered harvest on mule deer sex and age ratios"

 

[mnmthunting]

During the rut a mature buck will be on the move. Servicing half a dozen or more does is normal and no problem.
And remember that forkhorn will also be on the move servicing any doe that the mature bucks happen to miss.

 

[Tristate]

No. Changing Buck DOe Ratios will not effect fawn survival in the least bit. Lots of "theories" such as these are based on poor and outdated science that people latch onto after they read it on the internet.

With what we know right now about the breeding/estrus cycle for mule deer even if the breeding where to be as spread out as what some are saying, within a few generations it would be accute through select mortality competition and predation.

 

[nripepi]

It probably depends on what ratios you are talking about. Unless things are really out of whack, let's say 5 per 100, then you could be right. Based on typical ratios, I don't think it matters and all does will be bred successfully.

 

[utahbigbull]

Not a biology expert here but this is my take. No matter if you have three bucks, or three hundred, does that make every single does estrus cycle match within days of each other?

I bet if your wife has one man or five, she still ovulates when she ovulates.

 

[BBB]

Dang, I'm still reeling in the idea of my wife having 5 men!

 

[cannonball]

With the criteria you have, that is an open ended question at best. the question should be whether the low fawn survival rate today is because all of the would-be coyote hunters are sitting in front of the MM website site or is it because you are home playing video games? When I was a young man we had our 22's in hand and were out either hunting rabbits or hunting something else including coyotes and even spotlighting them.

Now that brings up the second question - - is the low fawn survival rate because we shot all the rabbits and the coyotes have nothing to eat, but fawns?

 

[Tristate]

"Now that brings up the second question - - is the low fawn survival rate because we shot all the rabbits and the coyotes have nothing to eat, but fawns?"


That is a very interesting question. I think the answer to that question can varry widely. I can tell you that on one property I have been on for years the coyotes specifically start to target fawns when the fawns begin to drop. If you watch the coyotes. on the ranch their shift their hunting tactics. You can tell they are specificaly trying to kill fawns. This is on a place where no one shoots rabbits. I think the last time I saw a rabbit shot on the ranch was around 10 years ago. If you drive around you will actually see quite a few rabbits. On a side note there was one time during the fawning season that I started finding dead fawns in one field. Only little bits of them were being eaten. I tried to find the culprit but never did. Any evidence I could find pointed to a coyote, but I never caught up to him. I think this was an abnormal event though.