Ohio Valley Outdoors Magazine

The fawning season

By Tommy & Marie Kirkland

During the summer season, white-tailed does that have given birth are preoccupied with raising their young. The maternal females are always-wary as the instinctive behavior to protect their offspring unfolds.

The early morning fog shrouds the open fields on a summer day. Amid the dewy grasses, a white-tailed doe and her fawn are consuming succulent forbs. The parenting doe is very attentive to her growing offspring – closely watching a curious buck scent the little deer.
As the fog burns off and gives way to sunshine, the pair ventures into an adjacent plot. With the fawn near her side, the doe occasionally looks up from grazing, extends her head, and uses her oscillating ears to listen for roaming predators. The fawn is keen to her every move. When the mid-morning heat gets intense, the doe leads the fawn to high grasses, and with a firm nudge commands the little deer to bed while she treks into nearby woodlands.

Although older does are known to be more experienced than young mothers, a maternal female will use various tactics in order to protect her young. As a newborn, the fawn is left alone, relying on camouflage, motionlessness, and lack of odor for survival. The parenting doe is not far away foraging or bedding, coming to the fawn intermittently to nurse and groom. If the fawn is in trouble and lets out a distress “bawl”, the mother deer usually responds to its rescue. When the fawn is stronger and older, the offspring can be seen trailing its mother; but she is always alert and cautious – using additional ploys to protect the fawn from danger.

For example, when protecting twin fawns, a doe usually beds the youngsters separately. Along with her offspring, a parenting female may hide while bedding – laying her head flat on the ground. Since predators tend to avoid exposed sites, a doe can bed her young in open areas with blazing sun even though she retreats into more shaded cover. At times, instead of snorting and fleeing to draw a coyote away from a bedding area, the mother deer may charge and flail the canine. Yet, the method of protection most used to deter predators is to gently nudge the fawn to bed while she attempts to draw attention away from the young deer.

The relationship between the fawn and its mother not only involves scent communication, but the use of certain secluded areas chosen by the parenting female. Here, amid natural foliage, the mother nudges the infant, making it bed, remain motionless, and hidden while she forages nearby for the nutrition to sustain herself and the newborn.
The fawn’s coat design is excellent for camouflage. Even upon the open forest floor with decaying leaves, a bedded fawn is extremely difficult to spot. As for open fields, fawns are more vulnerable simply because of the brown colored coat contrasting – making it easier to detect in short green fields. Yet, high grasses next to open fields or plots provide seclusion and protection close to feeding areas. Following its mother’s commands of when to move and when to stay low are crucial for newborns around agricultural fields and working food plots.

On rare occasions, we may unexpectedly find a newborn – motionless amid the outdoors. Our first inclination is something is wrong, so we may physically intervene to rescue the supposedly abandoned fawn. However, unless we are positive that the infant is orphaned, it is best not to handle newborn fawns. There is a small chance that when the mother returns she could then abandon the fawn due to human activity. The best thing if you stumble across a deer fawn is just observe and enjoy realizing the cycle of life and how we are able to enjoy our hunting heritage.

Whether a doe leaves her newborn in seclusion or the spry youngster is following her across an open field – the doe’s maternal nature is crucial for the fawn’s survival. All in all, the behavior of a parenting female may appear peculiar at times, but she is diligently focused on rearing the new addition to the deer herd.