Using Advanced Doe Management Strategies to Manipulate Fawn Sex Ratios

Despite its long, hot days, summer is a time of renewal within the whitetail world. Throughout North America, most does give birth in May or June, following a 195-day gestation period. At birth, whitetail fawns are hiders, and they don’t begin traveling with their mothers for about 30 days. This is why fawns begin to become visible in most areas in July or August. Most hunters and deer managers give little thought to this important time of year. Sure, many plant food plots for summer nutrition or create patches of dense, low-growing natural habitat for fawning cover, but few consider the sex ratio of the fawns being born. You may wonder why you should be concerned with this, and...