male and 14 female fawns for an average of two fawns per doe.
Those does were old, but hardly barren and dry. In fact, one of them conceived 32 fawns during her lifetime, including four sets of twins and eight sets of triplets. She raised 31 fawns, and still produced healthy twins when she was 14 years old.
Here’s a look at some other white-tailed does that remained productive well after hitting old age.
As long as they are well-fed, does can remain in top shape — physically and reproductively — well beyond 10 years of age.
Ralph S. Palmer published an enlightening chronicle of a semi-tame doe named Diana in the Journal of Mammalogy. The doe was supplementally fed, but it traveled freely about the unhunted grounds of Maine’s Tomhegan Camps. The record detailed Diana’s reproductive history during her first 15 years in which she raised 19 buck fawns, nine doe fawns, and had at least three other fawns that died.
Palmer also tracked Diana’s reproductive performance when she was 16, 17 and 18 years old. She successfully raised twins when she was 16, and she had fawns at 17 but didn’t raise them. She produced no fawns when she was 18. Diana died from wounds inflicted by an amorous buck when she was 18½.
Mommy was a doe raised by Joe Taylor, a good friend of Leonard Lee Rue III. As in the case of Diana, Mommy spent much of her old age wandering freely about unhunted campgrounds. The following is taken from Rue’s book The Deer of North America.
“Mommy gave birth to a single fawn when she was a year old and to twins every year thereafter until she was 17 years old, when she reverted to bearing a single fawn. She lost that fawn due to a prolonged cold, rainy spell. At 18, she gave birth to a single fawn and later adopted a wild fawn. She nursed and raised both fawns that year. In her 19th year, she gave birth to a single fawn, which she raised.
“When Mommy was 20, she was barren for the first time, and her advanced age showed in her gauntness. She died in December 1980, having lived to be 20 years and 7 months old.”
tailed does reach maximum productivity by age 7. I disagree.
In addition, some researchers believe old does presumably suffer more from the effects of winter malnutrition and, therefore, are less likely to raise fawns. If this is true, one might predict old, free-ranging females would be in poorer physical condition, weigh less, produce fewer fawns, be more susceptible to predation and have lower survival rates than younger females. Nelson and Mech say that’s not necessarily true, even when old does are exposed to predation by wolves. To the contrary, old does in northern Minnesota appeared to be as healthy and productive as younger does.
Based on examination of dead deer, Nelson and Mech found old does to be at least as nourished as younger deer, if not better. In fact, old does had an average of 88 percent femur-marrow fat compared to 72 percent for younger does — a good indication that old does accumulated and maintained good fat reserves.
Body weights of old does were also respectable. Nelson and Mech live-trapped 14 old does in winter. The average weight of the does was 145 pounds on the hoof. This compared to an average weight of 136 pounds for 51 younger does handled during the same period. Fuller and his crew found a similar relationship in northcentral Minnesota where field-dressed weights of old does were equal to those of younger adult does.
studies conducted by Nelson and Mech.
The researchers followed the reproductive success of 11 radio-collared old does. These 11 old does were observed with at least 20 fawns during November. This amounted to an average rearing success rate of 1. 1 fawns per doe, identical to 53 younger adult does studied in a similar manner. Does 14, 15 and 17 years old were seen with one fawn each during the study. Two road-killed does, ages 11 and 13, also carried twin fetuses, which indicates above-average productivity.
In northern Minnesota, old does did not survive annual natural rigors as well as younger does. Annual survival of 10 old does was 56 percent, significantly less than the 81 percent survival rate of 71 younger adult females. Nelson and Mech determined that old does were more likely to die from June to October and during November. Most were apparently killed by wolves.
Truly old dry does, those too old to bear young, might exist. But if they do, they must be extremely old. Because it’s unusual for a free-ranging doe to live past 10 years, it would be extremely rare for a hunter to kill a dry doe.
In fact, a hunter would have better chances of tagging a Boone-and-Crock-ett buck than a bona fide old, dry doe.
— John Ozoga has been a D&DH contributor since the 1980s. This article, which first appeared in the August 2000 issue, is still ranked by readers as one of their favorite D&DH myth-busting pieces of all time.
Some researchers suggest white-
OK, so research tells us old does appear to be just as heavy and healthy as younger adult does. However, can they conceive and rear fawns in the wild? You bet they can, according to radio-tracking
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