Story shared from QDMA by Brian Murphy

Deer Friends,
Shared from QDMA by Brian Murphy June 3, 2016
It’s early June and social media is abuzz with photos of recently born fawns from across the country.
While we love seeing these reports of successful whitetail breeding efforts, the ensuing discussion
often leads to misinformation regarding whitetail fawns.
So today we wanted to address five of the most prevalent fawn myths.

1.  A fawn is abandoned because there is no doe in sight.
This is simply the whitetail’s predator avoidance strategy.
Fawns spend their first 3-4 weeks hiding before they routinely follow their mothers.
2.  Fawns are odorless.
This is false, as their unique scent is how their mothers identify them.
In fact, they urinate on their tarsal glands daily, even when just a few days old.
3.  A set of twin fawns are always from the same father.
This also is false. Research has documented that about 25 percent of all sets of
twin fawns come from different fathers. There has even been a case of triple
paternity documented where a set of triplets was sired by three different bucks.
4.  There are more female fawns born than males. Again false.
In fact, male fawns tend to slightly outnumber female fawns.
5.  Once you pick up a fawn its mother won’t take it back.
Research has clearly shown that handling a fawn, even for several minutes, has no impact
on whether its mother will accept it. Just return it to where you found it and leave.

So, next time you are discussing fawns with your family and friends,
please share these fun facts. We also hope you spend more time thinking
about the fawns on your hunting property and, importantly, their survival
during their first few weeks when they are especially vulnerable. Not long ago,
the topic of the day was how best to protect yearling bucks.
Today, and into the foreseeable future, it will be how to increase fawn
survival in areas where predators have become the norm.
It’s definitely a new day in the world of the whitetail.

Deer Friends,

How to prep for a successful deer season.

Establish a known sanctuary for deer..........

Creating a sanctuary can mean a variety of things. When I say establish a known sanctuary, I mean pick a part of your hunting property that you will never touch. No exceptions, no just taking a quick walk through to see if there is sign, or to have a trail camera in there. This summer, find a spot on your property, it doesn’t matter if your property is 1,000 acres, or 40 acres. Pick an area you are going to leave alone. That means no hunter intrusion, no scent, nothing. What this does, is it creates an area deer will feel safe. Survival is the number one deer motivator. Survival comes before anything else, and having a sanctuary will provide an area deer will want to use.

This will help you hold bucks that maybe you don’t want to shoot, but you don’t want other people shooting either. What it will also do, is when there is a lot of deer hunting pressure around you, deer will move to where they feel safe, which will be on your property. You then can plan your hunting attack around that. Having that sanctuary in the middle of your property will be more beneficial, because it will pull deer further into your property, and you can hunt all sides of it. There is a lot that goes into establishing a sanctuary, but being disciplined will be the most important part of it.

So when thinking of what you can do on your property to increase your chances of success this fall, put these three things into consideration. They may just pay big dividends.

From News & Views The Voice of Texas Hunters