Whitetail Deer, Mule Deer, Moose, and Elk
Life History:
- Whitetail deer buck will weigh on average about 200lbs and the average doe will weigh about 130lbs.
- Mule deer buck will weigh on average about 220lbs and the average doe will weigh about 155lbs.
- Both species will rut in November, peaking usually in mid-late November.
- Young are born in April to June.
- Fawns are born with no scent to help them hide from predators. To reduce the amount of scent in the fawns vicinity the mother doe will only visit during feeding time and will go so far as to ingest the fawns urine and feces to reduce its scent in the area during the fawns first month of life. So if a person finds a fawn alone, it has not been abandoned and mother doe will back soon!
- Moose are the largest member of the deer family, bull moose can weigh in at 1000lbs and cow moose can weigh in at 800lbs.
- Moose rut from mid-September to mid-October.
- Calves are born in April to June.
- Elk: a bull elk can weigh in at almost 1000lbs and cows up to 600lbs.
- During the rut they collect up in large harems that consist of more than 50 individuals.
- Elk rut from late August and through September.
- Calves are born in April to June.
Conflicts:
- Over abundant populations of deer and elk can change plant species composition through overgrazing.
- Destroy crops and hay bales.
- Urine and feces kill manicured grass.
- Destroy flower gardens, rub and strip bark off trees.
- Deer species find new growth tree seedlings
to be highly palatable and will consume a lot of new tree stock. - All deer species, but especially moose can be very protective of their young.
- During the rut, vehicle-ungulate collisions peak.