February 27, 2013

A Good Beginning

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A good beginning to a fawn’s life is important and now is time to prepare for fawning season. Most do not realize that if you had two buck fawns with equal genetic traits, but one buck fawn starts life in good standing with ample nutrition and low stress, and one doesn’t, as an adult the buck that began life well off will always have the potential for a better set of antlers - even if they eventually live on the same property! A good start is very important to a whitetail’s life and now is time to prepare.

guy-sagi-wo-doe-and-fawn There are several things we can do to get our fawns off to a great start. Make it easy for the doe to intake the necessary nutrition. A mother doe will need plenty of protein rich milk for her fawns. Their milk contains over 30% crude protein and over 30% crude fat…that takes some nourishing groceries to generate. Perennials like CLOVER PLUS and annuals like BioMass and BIOMASS ALL LEGUME are a very important part of a nutrition program.

Make sure you have ample security cover. Diversity and edge cover are important. Native warm season grasses will help with security cover. You want thick ground cover that will keep fawns hidden, and if necessary, help them escape predators. You can also help by removing those predators by hunting or trapping. Coyotes, bobcats, coons and hogs should be removed whenever possible. Predator control can have a HUGE impact on fawn recruitment.

Photo credit: Guy Sagi

This tip is courtesy of the Wildlife Obsession Newsletter, a weekly wildlife and land management email newsletter produced by the Mossy Oak GameKeepers.

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