Fawn Count!

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We stopped running our pens about two weeks ago. We were up to 314 fawns then. We know there have been some more since then but we will catch them when we sort the pens in the fall.



If anyone is looking for fawns we certainly have a variety of styles and pedigrees to choose from. We have more typical deer and then we have Ballistic. Check out our post on the Antlers 2012 thread, page 76, post 759.
 
Josh said:
I have no problem either way if a farm makes the choice to hand rear or not. I try not to bottle feed bucks if at all possible, but it does happen every year. Bottle fed males are dangerous regardless of what anyone says. No one will change my mind that they are not.



But again I have no issues with anyone doing it it is a personal choice.



The only other concern that I personally have, as the point I made above is really irrelevant, is that you have an industry like ours that has an end market. This is a great end market, different than most any other I know. In general our public relations as a whole is ok as we mature.



I will tell you that it is a hard sell, a near impossible sell, to the public, showing in one breath a farmer bottle feeding a buck and in the next breath showing pictures of harvest. Or even promoting that notion.



Regardless of how wild the animal is or anything to that affect this is a sticking point for many outside this industry.



I hope that is a fair assessment for you.
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Very well said Josh, perception is everything.
 
I dont feel like bucks should be bottle raised if there is a danger factor. Thats a personal choice. Does everyone have a good idea of millions of bottle raised calves and where they end up. This should not be an issue. The hamburgers we grilled yesterday were very tasty.
 
Circle I Deer said:
I dont feel like bucks should be bottle raised if there is a danger factor. Thats a personal choice. Does everyone have a good idea of millions of bottle raised calves and where they end up. This should not be an issue. The hamburgers we grilled yesterday were very tasty.
Click to expand...



Very true! A Many a bottle raised "Fair Project" or Bucket Calf will win tons of ribbons for boys and girls all across the country and will .............Taste a bullet on the way to the freezer!



If you are a "breeder" you bottle feed to protect your investment and keep it calm to "enhance" your herd!



If your main purpose is "stockers" would it not be to also protect your investment and "enhance" your bottom line ?
 
I'm done. 11 does, 24 fawns with one deceased. Hope to wean a 2.0/doe. Very happy to be done for the year...
 
We have 57 right now and have 31 on the bottle. We have about 50 more does to go. We bottle feed all of our does and all of the bucks that came from the AI buck. We have too much invested in the buck fawns out of the AI to take chances letting the mother raise them.
 
I have been following the conversation on this thread about dangerous bottlefeds and have found it very interesting. I have been aound bottle fed bucks since I was very small. They are very dangerous and are killers. But there is a way to put them in there place. We have found out that Pepper Spray or Chemical Mace works very well on the whitetail buck. It has been the only way for us to deal with them. Now the mace dose not make them like puppies again, you still can't turn your back on them. But it dose help.



Most of the time the bucks cant figure out how you can make them stop breathing and seeing from ten feet away. After a buck has been Pepper sprayed once or twice all you have to do is shake the can and they will leave. But all bucks are different. One of or bucks will leave you alone if you shake your hand or blow on him. Another buck took a full can of mace and still pinned my older brother to a tree. (he had his antlers sawed off at the time).



Just telling you what works for us.
 
There can be alot of differance in bottle feeding bucks vs does. When we feed bucks were basically all business. We make them go to the bathroom but spend very little time petting and playing with them like we do our breeder does. We also have some bigger boxes and from the very begining we keep 2 or 3 buck fawns together. We let them out together,feed them together and put them back away at the same time. Instead of creating a bound with us they tend to bond with each other. They look forward to the bottle but we find when the bottle feeding is over they act more like a cat. They merely tolerate us as a food source. They never really gain that trust factor and therefore usually avoid contact with us. With that said we still have pepper spray with us during the breeding season when ever we go into the pens.
 
Well the fawning season is amost over and I am looking forward to it! I have TAGGED 80 fawns 21 Does 59 BUCKS



This was a very good year JIM SIMONSON 507-227-9194
 
59 Bucks wow!! Yes it is almost over but those late ones keep us bottle feeding the older ones. Too soft I guess. Congrats on all those bucks!
 

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