Do deer breed every year?

[CutterRMH]

I've been looking for information regarding breeding of deer but have come up short on my search.

Reason I ask the question is that I've been finding areas where there have been lots of does with fawns but none or next to no bucks in the area. Should I be looking for areas with does without fawns??

Here's the real question, is a doe bred every year or every other year? If they are bred every other year, then I would know to give up on an area that has does with fawns as opposed to one that has does without fawns.

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.


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[Slicktricker]

Yes they breed each year

[Dick284]

Unless something is wrong with the does world, or the availability of a mature buck, almost every mature doe will get bred annually.

Bucks and does don't always hang out in the same area year round either.

And quite often does and fawns will change areas as the seasons progress, and food sources change, there's also predator pressure will move them around quite a bit too.

Stick to scouting closer to hunting season, and remember once November rolls around, the girls will draw the boys near.

[dustinjoels]

The bucks are in the area. They're either just using a different bedding area that's probably more secluded or more likely, they're just coming out to the fields after dark.

Try setting up a few trail cams. You'll probably end up being surprised by what's around.

[Red Bullets]

Dominant bucks are usually solitary in nature. They will their own system of obscure trails and beds away from the does. Still in the vicinity though. When scouting really watch the deer scat. Bucks leave a loaf and not pellets like the does. This gives a better idea of the bucks travel places.

[stob]

only the lucky ones

[slough shark]

Originally Posted by CutterRMH

I've been looking for information regarding breeding of deer but have come up short on my search.

Reason I ask the question is that I've been finding areas where there have been lots of does with fawns but none or next to no bucks in the area. Should I be looking for areas with does without fawns??

Here's the real question, is a doe bred every year or every other year? If they are bred every other year, then I would know to give up on an area that has does with fawns as opposed to one that has does without fawns.

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.


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There will always be Bucks, how do you think fawns come into existence? You need to remember that bucks are much more Wiley than does usually especially if you're in a high hunting pressure area. Even during hunting season I end up seeing far more whitetail bucks once the rut kicks in, until that they are pretty elusive.

[Homesteader]

Do deer breed every year?

Same answer as, do bears **** in the woods?

[sgill808]

Not all does breed each year. Some does like other does...

[stob]

you mean ungulate fluidity

[Big Grey Wolf]

If your not seeing fawns you have high wolf and bear population. They are eating the fawns, first ones to come to supper. It is easy way to determine the preditor pressure in a particular area by counting calf/cow or doe to fawn ratio.
Also a indicator of tough winter as they are first to go.

[West O'5]

If you are seeing lots of does with fawns/most does have fawns in your area,then you definitely have a good,healthy Buck:doe ratio.More specifically,if most of those fawns in summer appear to be about the same size,indicating that they were all born at the "proper" time of late May/early June,that is an even better indication that you have an excellent and desirable buck:doe ratio of between 1:2 and 1:3 ideally,and that most of the doe in your local herd are being bred at the proper time,that of course being the peak rut in November.
When you have lots of dry does in summer,that could be an indication as posted previously of high fawn predation and/or a skewed buck:doe ratio of 1:5 or greater.If a lot of those fawns are different size in late summer,ie;most born in June,some born in July,some born as late as August,that is a definite sign of a skewed and unhealthy buck:doe ratio,and some does need to be taken out of the herd.
Many hunters are under some false impression that a WT Buck runs around the woods breeding as many does as possible in Nov.,and that the dominant bucks earn the breeding rights over all others.This is partially true,yes,he will breed as many does as he can,but the reality is,even the most mature/dominant Buck in an area will only breed 2-3 does during the very narrow window of 6-7 days of peak breeding season.WTs are not elk which have a very different social structure wherein the herd bull gathers a large harem and does most of the breeding.
1st,a WT Buck must locate a hot doe,then he will tend her 24hrs/day in a courtship until she allows him to mount her.He will stay with her and mount repeatedly until she will no longer allow it,which may be up to 48hrs or more of deer love....then he runs off to find another and the ritual begins again....what a dog,eh,lol.
At the end of the week,again,even a dominant Buck does well to successfully breed 3 does during the peak estrous in Nov. Lots of less mature/less dominant bucks are the benefactors of this biological fact,and are thus able to get in on the action as well,especially when there is not much competition and skewed buck:doe ratios.
The result when you have a buck:doe of greater then 1:3 is that many does will not get bred during the ideal time in Nov.,and will come into estrous again in Dec.,triggering what some hunters refer to as the 2nd rut.In a heavily skewed population,some does may not even get bred then,and a "3rd rut" can occur in Jan.
When you have these 2nd and even 3rd ruts as a result of an undesirable buck:doe ratio,it leads to all sorts of other problems beginning with late born fawns that go into winter with lower pre-winter weight and less survivability.If they do survive winter,they may be excessively weakened and longer recovery time in spring.Longer recovery time for these 1yr old bucks means less nutrition will be directed towards antler growth,and you'll see more 1.5yr old spikehorns in the herd as opposed to forked antlered and even 3x3 basket rack 1.5yr olds.It takes those late born buck fawns at minimum 2.5 years if ever to "catch up" to their local cousins that were born only a month sooner and on time.

In a nutshell,if you are seeing lots of does with fawns,then you definitely have a good number of bucks around.....and don't forget,many of those 6mth old fawns you see in the fall are actually buttonhead bucks,as WT deer are born much like humans in an almost exactly 50:50 male:female ratio.In a perfect world,say without human interference,namely hunting where we tend to target bucks more then does,or in a true wilderness environment that sees little to none hunting pressure,that buck:doe ratio eventually would become a perfect 1:2 as in nature,again like humans,females live longer on average,which in the WT world can be attributed to added stressors on the bucks like rigors of the rut,battle injuries,depleted fat reserves from rut,heavier average weights that leads to joint problems sooner in life etc etc.

[Little red riding hood]

Are you sure that the does without fawns are does? They start dropping antlers in January, and young buck can be difficult to distinguish from a mature doe this time of year... Something to consider.

[CutterRMH]

Originally Posted by dustinjoels

The bucks are in the area. They're either just using a different bedding area that's probably more secluded or more likely, they're just coming out to the fields after dark.



Try setting up a few trail cams. You'll probably end up being surprised by what's around.

That's exactly what I did. I had 4 trail cams spread across about a 1 square mile area. I found nothing but does with fawns with exception of one young buck that tripped the camera only once. The area sees next to no pressure until late October and then a big number of hunters in November.

I had my trail cams setup from the beginning of June through late November. All the fawns were of the same size from what I recall as well. They stayed at one spot for 3 weeks then moved them at least a half mile where I was seeing more sign.

Those bucks must have been back in the nasty stuff that I had a very hard time getting into.

I know there are wolves and bears in the area so that could have affected what I was seeing I guess.


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[West O'5]

Originally Posted by CutterRMH

That's exactly what I did. I had 4 trail cams spread across about a 1 square mile area. I found nothing but does with fawns with exception of one young buck that tripped the camera only once. The area sees next to no pressure until late October and then a big number of hunters in November.

I had my trail cams setup from the beginning of June through late November. All the fawns were of the same size from what I recall as well. They stayed at one spot for 3 weeks then moved them at least a half mile where I was seeing more sign.

Those bucks must have been back in the nasty stuff that I had a very hard time getting into.

I know there are wolves and bears in the area so that could have affected what I was seeing I guess.


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Interesting and relative bit that I read this morning on QDMA website and instantly thought of this topic and trail cam surveys.

12, 20 and 25 ....Percentages of unique bucks photographed in three separate, pre-season, baited trail-camera surveys that did not continue to appear in non-baited trail-camera monitoring during hunting season on those three study sites. Additionally, James Johnson of the University of Georgia reported significant numbers of unique bucks detected during hunting season that never appeared in the pre-season surveys. Pre-season, baited trail-camera surveys are valuable for a number of reasons, but they are not necessarily good at forecasting every individual buck that may be encountered during the rut. - See more at: https://www.qdma.com/new-deer-knowle....FqEhKeZ9.dpuf