This page is used to list literature and reference material that may prove useful, I certainly found it interesting. By listing the documents and the corresponding URL, I am only providing a link to the site the document resides in. Please observe any site restriction for their use and distribution.

Publication on Feral Hogs from TAMU      Recurve Archers Reference Guide      Feral Hogs in Oklahoma.
Haggerman NWR 2007 Hunt Regulations      TAMU Dept of wildlife and fisheries science website.      TPWD website Feral Hogs.
Living with Overabundant White-tailed Deer in Texas      Local Deer Control Methods.      Deer Management Within Suburban Areas.

Taken from Whitetail Journal, latest edition.

FAWN MORTALITY RATES
Two new studies published in the Wildlife Society Bulletin provide answers to fawn mortality rates in Pennsylvania and Minnesota. Researchers followed 218 fawns from birth to 34 weeks. Here are the results of this study after nine weeks of tracking in Pennsylvania. 73 fawns have died. Of those, 25 died of natural causes ( like failure to nurse, sickness, infections, diarrhea, tapeworms, gangrene and other problems). Black bears got 16, coyotes got 15, other predators took 10, and seven died from cars, farm machinery and poaching. Bears ceased killing fawns after the ninth week and coyotes took another 4. But after the 12 week of tracking, bears and coyotes took none. Mortality varied by habitat. By Feb, 47% of the 110 fawns (52) captured on the agricultural area were dead, and 62% of the 108 fawns (67) captured in the forested area were dead. They started with 218 fawns collared in June and by Feb had only 99 alive. Predators were much higher in forested areas and because coyotes and bears lived there. Natural causes were twice as high in agricultural areas.

Bottom line from this study. Predators take a bunch of fawns, especially in the first three months of their life. Black bears and coyotes took the majority, but again, after the fawns reach nine months that stops totally.

The Minnesota study was completely different from Pennsylvania because of much less bears and coyotes. The resulting fawn deaths were: 16% of the fawns died. Iowa had 21%, Illinois 30% and Missouri had 33%. Minnesota proved this by laying out 1350 coyote traps and only one was trapped.

Here is the same study in Texas. Coyotes are everywhere and they killed 72% of the fawns. Bobcats and foxes in Texas took 0 fawns. Another study about Fawns taken in when young and nursed by humans and then released. This is only done when the mother dies, or is killed, or has abandanoned the fawn. In Missouri 22 of the 42 fawns released died with in 30 days. After 100 days, 30 of the released fawns had died. It proves that the money and time that goes into taking care of these abandoned or orphaned fawns does not lead to any long term survival. What happens to the orphaned fawns when released back into the forest, they die and they die very quickly.

Steve Jones 3/23/05

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