NEBRASKAland Magazine is dedicated to outstanding photography and informative writing with an engaging mix of articles and photos highlighting Nebraska’s outdoor activities, parklands, wildlife, history and people.
Issue link: http://mag.outdoornebraska.gov/i/581251
NOVEMBER 2015 • NEBRASKAland 25 not bred, they will go through up to three more 28-day estrus cycles until they are. Breeding is one of the biggest differences between Nebraska's deer species. About 60 percent of whitetails are bred in their first fall, compared to only 7 percent of mule deer. Those yearling white-tailed does occasionally have twins, and regularly do the rest of their lives. Mule deer are much less likely to have twins. These differences have made it easy for whitetails to expand their range and numbers, and also make it difficult for mule deer populations to grow. Most mule deer fawns are born in June, about 200 days after breeding, weighing 5 to 7 pounds. To help protect them from predators, especially coyotes, they are camouflaged with white spots on their coat, are relatively scentless and spend their first few weeks laying in tall grass or brush. They begin eating grass and other vegetation at about three weeks and are weaned at four months. They begin traveling with their mothers in August, and stay with them until the following spring when does are preparing to deliver their next fawn. By November, fawns weigh about 70 pounds. While weight varies with age and diet, a 3 ½-year-old buck will weigh about 200 pounds and a doe 125. Mule deer can live to the age of 10 or so in the wild, and up to 20 years or more in captivity. Most male fawns grow button antlers their first year. Antler development begins in the spring for mature bucks. By September, they begin to rub the soft velvet covering, which contains blood vessels that fuel antler growth. In winter, bucks shed their antlers and soon begin growing another set. History The range of mule deer across Nebraska has declined from historic times, and even from the middle of the last century. Lewis and Clark reported an abundance of white-tailed deer along the Missouri River in eastern Nebraska. Their first report of a mule deer came near the mouth of Ponca Creek in Knox County. Trappers reported seeing both species in the 1800s. Emigrants on the Oregon Trail saw few deer of any kind along the Platte and North Platte rivers between Grand Island and Scotts Bluff County, and ate all they found. James Clyman, a mountain man who explored the mountain West in the 1820s, was part of an Oregon Trail wagon train in 1844. "Supped on a most dlecious [sic.] piece of venison A mule deer doe and fawn survey the landscape at sunset from a Sandhills ridgetop in Cherry County.