Short deer

[Cicada]

I was on my way home from work last night at 5:00 and three deer ran in front of me on West Ave right here in Detroit Lakes. That was not so odd as I have seen deer crossing there in the past, but what made me curious was the fact that two of them were so short. They looked to be no higher than 26 to 28 inches high at the backs. Are those two just stunted or could they have been born late last year? No spots on them, but they didn't look like they were much past that stage by size. Opinions?

[hockeybc69]

Likely late fawns. I have one here at home thats just a twerp compared to many other deer.

Just a youngun that was the product of a very late rut is my semi educated guess.

Also have a pair of button bucks that are a little bigger, but not a lot.

The twerp next to some of the deer with some age, its not much over half as tall at the shoulders to some of the mature deer.

[Musky Buck]

We had 1 named Ruby, she'd run right through town with the rest of the gang to get to the bird feeder, she was a runt and fed so close to the house you could tell she was a doe to be. Good to know those DL runts are still kickin, snow is hard as a rock now making for tough diggin if they need to dig to eat. Milder temps coming will help but that crusted snow with more on the way tomorrow night and maybe Monday, anyway, those little goats are sure cute as ever.

[Spike76]

I used to bow hunt Crosslake game refuge, I would think a fawn was coming and there would be two real small fawns behind her. I asked the ranger by there about them and he said they were inbreeding, and becoming smaller. With only bow hunting on the refuge, this is what happened. I feel too many bucks in an area lets this happen.

[SmellEsox]

I've been hunting up at Cross Lake for 20 years and I haven't noticed this phenomena occurring. Body sizes on bucks seem normal to me. Antler size isn't all that special, but probably a function of soil productivity. Also haven't noticed an overabundance of bucks on the refuge. The refuge is much too small and deer freely move on and off so inbreeding isn't likely. Also plenty of wolves up there to keep deer numbers in check. Last fall I saw 4 deer in two weeks while sitting. Saw a few others walking around, but definitely not overrun with deer.

[InTheNorthwoods]

I used to bow hunt Crosslake game refuge, I would think a fawn was coming and there would be two real small fawns behind her. I asked the ranger by there about them and he said they were inbreeding, and becoming smaller. With only bow hunting on the refuge, this is what happened. I feel too many bucks in an area lets this happen.

This flies in the face of deer biology. More bucks would promote a wider genetic spectrum.