On the way home tonight before dark, there was a spotted fawn standing in a field 15 ft off the road. I had to go turn around and make sure I wasn't seeing things. She wasn't newborn, probably 60 or 70 lbs, and no it wasn't a piebald or fallow deer. She had 3 full row of spots on both sides.

I've seen spotted fawns down south in Dec., but Feb. 13th? in NY? I can't believe it's lived this long with our weather. What's the latest you've seen a spotted fawn?

In the south we sometimes see them at odd times also.  In fact, biologists in south Florida will tell you that some of our deer can and do breed year round.  It is not that big of an issue in the south, but can be a big deal in the north as the later deer are born the less likely they are to survive harsh winters.  I saw a large fawn that still had spots on it during the last week of gun season in Georgia this year which was around a month ago.

An exception here or there is one thing, but on a large scale, it is not a desired thing because it disrupts the natural rutting process and could put a strain on breeding bucks by drawing the process out over a longer period of time.

i dont think ive ever seen one this time of year near the black hills....

I never seen a deer with spots this late but some years ago, I bowkilled a 4 pt late november here in NY that was still in velvet.

Were any of the spots in the kill zone  

Maybe the spots are a new breed designed especially for instinctive shooting.  

Snow Camo!

Must be the the water, are you sure it wasn't goose droppings?

Bill

A cause of this could also be the herd ratio of bucks to does is way out of skew. A doe will keep coming into heat until she is bred and so long as a buck has hard antlers he can breed. Much of the second rut is younger does who have hit enough body weight coming into heat for the first time. In this case you may need to be stepping up the doe harvest.

Ive killed 3bucks with spots .They were very faint but still had 2 rows.They were all 3 1/2 year olds.Ive seen little ones up to November covered in spots but never this late.

:confused:

QuoteOriginally posted by Stone Knife:
Were any of the spots in the kill zone      

Now thats funny right there!!

You on any meds?  :D  
In all seriousness....I have never seen a fawn with spots past November around here. Sounds like Vmonster has it pretty good though.
See you this weekend, I will have some rock with me btw.

Never mentioned this myself cause I thought folks would think I'm crazy but for a couple years in one area I used to see a deer the size of a yote in December.  I believe it was a midget deer kinda like humans can be...it was really wierd to see.

This deer was in a 5 mile sq. county park with no hunting allowed and a definite deer problem. There are a ton of does and that would be my guess to Vmonster, but it surprised me it would still be alive with the snow and cold. It hasn't been too bad this year but it was small enough I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it.

There hasn't been an extended cold snap and there was a lot of feed this fall. Still to early to tell though, yotes might get it or a deep snow.

does are no different than dogs...they will continue going in heat until bred.... obviously the numbers of days between cycles are different......so it is possible that some does get missed or some yearlings are receptive much later...say they get knocked up in late january... and may not drop there fawns until mid summer...it is rare but it happens...i dont think buck antlers have any impact on whether he can do the deed...i think if there is a doe in heat..then the buck will do his job...anytime of year.....

Pick a Spot!

Not true. A buck needs his antlers solid to breed. His testosterone drops with the antlers.

Are there any exotic ranches or game farms nearby?  It could be an axis deer.