Imagine you had two buck fawns with equal genetic traits. If one buck fawn starts life in good standing with ample nutrition and low stress but the other doesn’t have those benefits, as an adult the fawn that started off well will always have the potential for a better set of antlers - even if they eventually live on the same property. A good start is very important to a whitetail’s life. There are several things we can do to get our fawns off to a great start.
Make it easy for the doe to intake the necessary nutrition. Right now, a doe needs plenty of protein rich milk for her fawns. A whitetail doe’s milk contains over 30% crude protein and over 30% crude fat…that takes some nourishing groceries to generate. Perennials like CLOVER PLUS and annuals like BioMass and BioMass All Legume are an important part of a nutrition program.
Make sure you have ample security cover. Diversity and edge cover are important. NATIVE WARM SEASON GRASSES will help with security cover. You want thick ground cover that will keep fawns hidden, and if necessary, help them escape predators.
Remove any predators. This goes hand in hand with the security cover point. Trapping and hunting predators is important, especially during the late winter heading into fawning season. Coyotes, bobcats, coons and hogs should be removed whenever possible. Predator control can have a HUGE impact on fawn recruitment.
