Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 54
I
Spotted Crop
T'S A CROP that peaks about Memorial Day. But its size might surprise you.
Scattered across the Commonwealth in forests and fields, hundreds of
thousands of whitetail fawns are fitting into Penn's Woods. Conceived in last
fall's rut, they are birthed about as early as the landscape can hide them, but with
enough time to grow up sufficiently to handle the rigors of winter.
Timing is everything to a fawn, right down to the being born en masse. They
overwhelmingly drop within the two weeks on either side of Memorial Day, creating a prey base that larger predators try to exploit. But their excess is a strategy
that helps most of them make it the week or two they need to grow enough and
develop sufficient agility to elude predators.
Coming in at about 10 pounds, a newborn fawn is prey for everything from
feral dogs and bobcats to black bears and coyotes. If it's detected by a predator,
it's usually over.
But for every fawn predators might take, two others survive. And the meals
they become sate predators, often reducing their urge to push on for more food,
unless there's young to feed. Even then, it's just not that easy to find a tight-sitting
fawn. Or getting past the doe that might be protecting it.
Fawns also benefit from the cornucopia of prey and fruits available to the
largely omnivorous predators that pursue them. There's other young wildlife,
berries, insects, roadkill, even edible litter. They all help to distract - and satisfy
- predators that could have started out looking for a fawn or two.
Recent fawn-mortality studies have concluded that predators tend to be a
problem for fawns during their first two months. But fawns also run into trouble
crossing roads. The same applies if their parent is highway-struck. Disease also
is a factor.
But what's fascinating about whitetail fawns is their success. Despite their
limiting factors, most fawns make it to the doorstep of hunting seasons. From
there, losses come. In our most recent deer season, button-bucks comprised 19
percent and doe fawns made up 17 percent of the total kill.
Some of those female fawns making it to December will become mature enough
to contribute to next year's fawn crop. They're the ones we see bucks following
when we're afield during the firearms season.
There's no denying whitetails grow up fast. Think about that when you see
your first fawn exploring or following a doe over the next several weeks. It's a
transformation that exemplifies why whitetails are so special to so many of us.
Joe Kosack
54
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018
Contents
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - Intro
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - Cover1
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - Cover2
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - Contents
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 2
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 3
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 4
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 5
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 6
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 7
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 8
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 9
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 10
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 11
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 12
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 13
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 14
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 15
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 16
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 17
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 18
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 19
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 20
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 21
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 22
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 23
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 24
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 25
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 26
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 27
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 28
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 29
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 30
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 31
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 32
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 33
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 34
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 35
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 36
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 37
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 38
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 39
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 40
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 41
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Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 53
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 54
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 55
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 56
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Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 58
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Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 60
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 61
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 62
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 63
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - 64
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - Cover3
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2018 - Cover4
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