Haying - finally happened

H

Hogleg

Member

• Jun 15, 2012

• #1

Well it was bound to happen sometime. Been haying for 3 years and today I ran over my first fawn. Mower turned the poor creature into hamburger. Now, I did not get all choked up about it but did feel sad. Plenty of deer to go around. Glad I was no longer running the haybine, that would have been a real mess.

Dogone does put them out in a field and they stay put regardless of the threat.

Just glad my daughter was not mowing that time, she would have been very upset.

John

 

V

Vernon in Ks

Member

• Jun 15, 2012

• #1

Last year I saw three before I got them. was able to move them out of the way. This year isn"t over and hay is much heavier. We"ll see. I am not a big fan of "Road Goats" but all creatures deserve a fighting chance.

 

J

John in MD

Member

Location

Md

• Jun 15, 2012

• #1

Last count 8 fawns and 2 turkey nests,JD 1360 disc mower with flails sucks them right in, no rabbits or pheasants yet. Should finish this weekend, only have 10 more acres of grass hay to finish first cutting.
Getting all of the parts out of windrow before baling is the tough part.

 

K

Kippster

Member

• Jun 15, 2012

• #1

I haven't gotten any deer this year YET. Got 2 last
year and i'm the same way as you. I know there are
plenty of them around but I still feel sad. Kippster

 

M

mkirsch

Well-known Member

• Jun 15, 2012

• #1

You can't get too upset about it, if at all... The thing had its fighting chance, it just chose the wrong thing to pick a fight with...

If they all survived you wouldn't have any hay to make We'd be overrun with starving critters.

 

Tom in TN

Well-known Member

Location

Southern Middle Tennessee

• Jun 15, 2012

• #1

Hogleg,

I agree wholeheartedly. I haven't hit any fawns yet this year, but I hit two last year. My sickle bar mower just cuts their legs off. I have to shoot them then to put them out of their misery.

I know that there are too many deer around, but it still makes me feel a little bit sick to kill the babies.

Tom in TN

 

L

Leroy

Well-known Member

• Jun 15, 2012

• #1

If you had the haybine it probably would not have happened. With something like a haybine there is enough height over the crop that the animals can see something is there and they will move, with the bar mower they cannot see anything and think they are in the clear so they croutch down to hide.

 

onefarmer

Well-known Member

Location

6735 S Lowell Rd, St Johns, Mi 48879

• Jun 15, 2012

• #1

Have so many deer that this year was hoping to run a few threw the mower. There was one I didn't see but he jumped at the last moment.

 

F

Fordfarmer

Well-known Member

• Jun 15, 2012

• #1

I share your feelings about hitting them. I haven't
hit one with the mow-co yet, (my cousin did a couple
weeks ago, mowing for me) but I did pick one up with
the flail chopper a couple years ago. Had to dig
through the feeder wagon to clean out the parts.
Nasty.

 

W

wisbaker

Well-known Member

• Jun 15, 2012

• #1

One of the stories I got from the guy I milked for when I was in High School, he was
mowing hay over at our place with an 806 Farmall LP gas special and a Matthews roto-
scythe and hit a fawn, it didn't get in the mower but got one leg mangled up. He shut
everything down, dug it out and wondered what to do. He figures "I should put it out of
it's misery, but how" a quick inventory of tractor and operator pockets yields a log
chain, 6" crescent wrench, 1 pair of channel locks and a dull pocket knife and $.14 in
change. He goes at the fawn's throat with the pocket knife, when the deed is done he
lays the fawn down at the edge of the field. While making the next round he looks over
and the fawn is gone. Two years later his son shoots a buck at our place with a mangled
front leg and a pretty big hunk of scar tissue on his throat.

 

O

old

Well-known Member

Location

Camdenton Missouri

• Jun 15, 2012

• #1

You know I have been doing hay for some 30 plus years now and have yet to hit a deer be is young or older. I have found rabbits and that type of thing and a few snakes in a square bale but never hit a deer yet. I have heard of it but never seen it

 

Vito

Well-known Member

• Jun 15, 2012

• #1

Hit a baby rabbit this year while mowing the lawn.Always feel bad.

Vito

 

C

chevytaHOE5674

Well-known Member

• Jun 15, 2012

• #1

Got a fawn last year mowing, so far this year none. This year we switched to a self propelled haybine so the cutter is out in front of you and easy to see what is going on.

 

E

Errin OH

Member

• Jun 15, 2012

• #1

Never got one through the 1209. They generally jump and run within 10 foot or so.

Plenty of snakes and rabbits in the baler.

Couple years ago I did manage to get a family of skunks in the Moco. Moma and two of three babies. Few rounds later lost a knife. Boy that was fun.....

 

K

Ken Macfarlane

Well-known Member

• Jun 15, 2012

• #1

Yeah, used to have a lot more near misses with the haybine, now with the discbine its almost always a hit, moving faster and lower profile.

 

A

Anonymous-0

Well-known Member

• Jun 15, 2012

• #1

I don't give a darn about baby deer, but I sure hated killing 4 turtles with the drum mower, in this last batch of hay. You just can't see em, and the mower opens 'em up, like a can of soup.

 

K

Kerry50

Member

• Jun 15, 2012

• #1

Dad got a fawn while cutting with the 492 NH haybine. I was running fescue seed this week and jumped 8 fawn in one field.

 

dcarp

Well-known Member

Location

Schulenburg Texas

• Jun 15, 2012

• #1

I got one this year also. Didn't see it until next trip around. Got out moved it off the field. When I went back to bale 2 days later doe was looking for the fawn.

 

N

northvale-PA

Member

• Jun 15, 2012

• #1

I got an adult rabbit last week, which is rare. So a Turkey vulture had a nice lunch. The circle of life. I did see a toad and miss him.

 

showcrop

Well-known Member

• Jun 15, 2012

• #1

(quoted from post at 09:19:55 06/15/12) Got a fawn last year mowing, so far this year none. This year we switched to a self propelled haybine so the cutter is out in front of you and easy to see what is going on.

Click to expand...

Is it a Krone big M?

 

J

JRSutton

Well-known Member

• Jun 15, 2012

• #1

My buddy hit a fawn with the mower - but I got blamed for it the next day when I went to ted!

He told me where it happened - and sure enough, I went through there with the tedder and what I assume must have been the mother came running out of the woods right at me.

It's an odd thing having a deer run AT you. That video of the deer beating the tar out of some hunter with her hooves came to mind...

Middle of a sunny day, right at noon. She ran at me, stopped about 100 fee short and stared me down while I drove right towards her.

She turned and ran when I got to about 50 feet.

As I made my turn, she came back and continued staring at me.

We repeated that game two or three more times as I made my rounds.

*I* felt horrible and I didn't even hit the )(#*$# fawn, but I know she thought I did.

 

C

chevytaHOE5674

Well-known Member

• Jun 15, 2012

• #1

(quoted from post at 18:36:48 06/15/12)
Is it a Krone big M?

Click to expand...

Haha not quite. Just an old NH SP unit.

 

D

Don-Wi

Well-known Member

• Jun 15, 2012

• #1

Dad hit a fawn many years ago with our Ford 535 haybine, and then had to dig it out as it jammed it up.

I haven't had that specific pleasure yet, but i've gotten ducks, rabbits, a skunk or 2, red winged black birds, and even a turkey nest. The turkey just made it out in front of the knockdown bar. Scared the bejeezus outta me because I never saw it until that big clumsy thing made it's way out.

The hawks will now come within a good 20 feet or closer to the tractor when I'm out there, as they realize there just may be an easy meal coming...

Donovan from Wisconsin