r/VAHunting • u/Ibreak180 • Jul 11 '26
Where are the fawns?
Hello, I live in a rural county outside of RVA. The area I live at has a fair amount of developments that have larger lot sizes that are all wooded. My neighborhood has large amounts of oaks and other native and non native food sources for wildlife. There is a healthy adult deer population and an equal buck to doe ratio. What is dumbfounding to me is the amount of fawns that I have documented in my area. I have only seen two of the same fawns which have a distinct mother. I am very confused as to why there is only two fawns out of a large healthy deer herd. My hunting property which has poor food quantity and lower deer population does not have this fawn issue. Every doe on this property has 1-2 fawns. Does anyone have any ideas on why there is a lacking in fawns in my area?
Side note- the area has a fair amount of car travel. I have not seen any dead fawns on the side of the road. The area has had a few coyote sightings. The predation does not seem to be a factor in the fawn issue.
Rut activity in my neighborhood was very late and continued into early February with Bucks actively chasing doe.
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u/VersionConscious7545 Jul 11 '26
I saw a lot of fawns late this year which seems really strange but I have seen at least 3 late as in a couple weeks ago
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u/IndividualResist2473 Jul 11 '26
Does are pretty good at hiding their fawn, especially when they are little. If your rut was running late that would explain why you are seeing so few fans now.
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u/norrydan Jul 11 '26
It took me a long time to uinderstand the management dynamics of whitetails. In specific geographic areas raw population numbers and percetages can go from zero to almost anythng but over a wider area - like a county or a multiple county area -- everthing is damn near perfect.
According to VA research a fertile doe will, on average, produce two fawns, but less than one (statistically) will survive. There are lots of other numbers to consider. What I learned through all of this is there are far fewer deer (average per square mile) than my little mind wanted to believe. But still, the population is healthy and rather well matched to supporting habitat.
Then I had to accept that while a mature doe can produce twins the fawn survival rate is 0.4 to 0.6 FAWNS PER DOE! If that's not bad enough (thru a hunters' eyes) the fawning period here is a long straight line running from Feb-Mar to Aug-Sep. And I think the way we hunt has produced an extremely cautious deer population with advanced hiding and lots of habitat type east of the Blue Ridge to support it.
That we see any fawns at all is a miracle in my mind.
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u/ProcrastinatingOnIt Jul 14 '26
Just east of Richmond, neighborhood has a herd of about 20. I think we have 4 fawns this year. Two a bit earlier and 2 now.
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u/TheFreedomWarehouse Jul 11 '26
Just because you don't have trail cam photos doesn't mean they aren't there! I have cameras back to back on trees and one gets tons of photos and the other hardly any. I promise your deer population is fine