Tips & Tactics

Foil the Fawn Killers

Foil the Fawn Killers

By Mike Scott

Photo: Mike Scott tells of a trail camera capturing a coyote bringing 27 fawns into its den within a four-week period!

The damage coyotes and bobcats inflict upon fawns and young deer is much higher than most hunters realize.

For instance, in my hunting area coyotes kill 17 percent of newborn fawns within the first four weeks of life.

Fast-forward another four weeks and remove an additional 30 percent. That’s nearly half of our fawns gone in two months.

By the time another month rolls by, between 60 and 70 percent of remaining fawns have fallen victim to a predator’s jaws.

I was shocked when a buddy told me what his friend’s trail camera captured in Vermont. He counted a mother coyote entering the den with 27 different fawns over a four-week period!

Here’s something we as hunters can do to aid fawn survival.

The best protection from predators is a mature doe. She has all the tools to help her fawns survive predator attacks. Without her, odds are they won’t make it a year.

In early bow season, when fawns might be weaned but not old enough to survive their environment, give mature does a pass. They are nature’s bodyguards, and show little ones the ropes.

If you save mature doe harvest for later in the season, you’ll see an increase in fawn survival.

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Copyright 2020 by Buckmasters, Ltd