Hit a baby deer mowing hay today

I would rather kill them, than make them coyote food by cutting off their legs. Winter is hard on three legged deer.
 
My grandpa ran one thru the new holland haybine....came up on him bent over retching...and he had a pretty iron stomach and will..he shut whole operation down while we walked hayfeild...he knew the doe always had twins
 
Hit up to a half dozen a year with the discbine. Much cheaper than the couple a year I hit with vehicles. Thick as flies here with deer everywhere. Some mornings look out and there?s a couple dozen on the lawn or blocking my driveway.

Can get permits to shoot extra but makes no difference. In spring groups of hundreds of them hanging out in fields.
 
I have come very close a few times and luckily avoided baby deer. They just sit there until last second when you suddenly see them, or are right on them. Not much you can do.
 
I've hit a few birds while cutting hay but never a deer. I did run over one with the tractor while summerfallowing a few years ago. Should not be a problem this year as the dried out grass is barely high enough to hide a gopher.
 
I hit one with a rotary cutter doing a custom job for a guy down the road. He was pretty upset over it. Now that I think about it he hasn't called me again. Being a neighbor I didn't charge him much anyway so no big loss. Although I did feel bad its just the way it goes and can't be help. As much as I hate deer and the damage they do to my crops I wouldn't hit one with a cutter intentionally.
 
I hit one 20 years ago mowing with a new idea flail mower, came in next day to rake hay and there was a dead fawn laying on the hay, the mom was pacing around the field the day I was mowing, I dident know why until I found the fawn, I also hit a turkey with my haybine.
Just can't see them in the talk hay.
 
I hit a box turtle while bush hogging super tall grass and felt like poop about it for the rest of the day. Still not pleased with it, but no way I could've seen it. :(
 
I had that happen about 50 years ago, ran one through the haybine, what a mess. I have come close to running over them with the tractor, they just hunker down until the last minute.
 
I ran my favorite pet tom cat through the haybine. I was really sad and really disgusted with myself for not locking him up before I cut the hay. At least the end came quickly. And it never happened again.
 
That SUCKS, as I am not into hurting animals.

On the other hand, it doesn't suck as much as running a skunk (partially) through an older combine that couldn't handle such a thing in a single gulp. YEEEECH!

When I was (probably too young) to be running a sickle mower I cut the legs off of my favorite mama cat that was mousing in the tall grass. I puked while my late Uncle "dispatched" the poor cat.
 
Sad but better the little fawn was killed outright. Much worse to have a hurt and suffering animal you can't do anything for. It happens, don't beat up on yourself.
 

I seem to hit a few brush hogging fields every few years, one day I got 3. Makes for a bad day for me. The worst was the one that got the hind legs chopped off and I had to make a U-turn to finish him off as he was dragging himself away. Worst part of my job.
 
First year farming on my own I ran a fawn half way through my haybine. It peeled all the hide off and jammed in between the rolls. Not fun at all. I almost got one with the tractor today but he jumped up just in time. Tom
 
I once a had a groundhog commit suicide by turning back from running away and run straight into the flail chopper. Darnedest thing I ever saw. Luckily he didn't plug the chopper.
 
neighbor cut all 4 legs off a fawn, accidentally. It feed the whole haying crew for a couple of nights. What else can you do?
 
I'm sorry to hear that, I know the awful feeling as well, hit one with a rotary cutter, while the doe and the twin to the fawn were in view. It truly is one of the worst feelings, they are pure innocence. I raised one, was quite an experience.
I saw the grass moving ahead, thought it was a rabbit and looked like it was clear ahead. I should have stopped the tractor and walked it, I knew something was ahead, saw the grass move. A terrible mistake on my part, hearing that thing go through the mower was enough to put me over. I just stopped the tractor, left it where it was and carried the remains away from the doe and twin who watched me the entire time.
Work has kept me busy and later today, I'll finally get to mowing, last year I had cut weeks ahead of this year already, I will be standing up on the first round, going very slow, this is when they drop the fawns and they love the tall hay grasses like this field is. Walking it would be fine, just that the ticks are so thick, I cannot walk to my burn barrel and not get 2 on me, that happened last night.
The one I raised, the doe literally brought this fawn out into the field I was cutting, say about 6 passes in. I see this doe and am scratching my head, is their a fawn milking underneath, sure was. Doe then sort of walked off, so I approached where they were and sure enough this fawn crouched down like they do for weeks before they start to tag along. The doe was trying to shake off a coyote and protect the fawn by creating a diversion. She likely had a twin and this guy was a runt. Cold and rain was going to move in that night. I stood there thinking what am I going to do, I can't leave this little guy knowing what will happen, and I hate coyotes with a passion. This doe saw me the whole time and literally brought this fawn out into the cut as if to make a point, they just don't do things like this, they always hide, fawn lays still. While I was tormenting over what to do and I have video of this, the fawn gets up and comes over to me as if to say, help me out would ya? I thought some more and said the heck with it, he followed me all the way to the house, I had to go back later to get the tractor. I went and got some milk replacer from TSC across the road and the rest was history. It was a responsibility, I would feed early in the morning, come home for lunch and then later after work. Once he was weaned, I just let him out in the morning and he would find me sometimes at lunch but definitely at the end of the day. He'd come in at night, mill around a bit, then walk off on his own to one of the 2 beds he had. It was quite the experience and I did it because I felt it was the right thing to do knowing he was toast as soon as I left. I found the remains of another that was dropped near my house, those coyotes get a fair amount of them, and usually when they first start following the doe, they don't have much of a scent, so they are hard to find until they start to move around.
He literally had the run of this place and soon enough was fast enough to outrun a predator, I figured if anyone caught on, I could play dumb once he was good outside, he roamed free and I've never seen an animal so grateful and or just downright so pleasant to be around as a whitetail deer fawn. I learned an awful lot from the experience.
 
Unfortunately, its just part of mowing hay in late May or early June. I ve run more than one through the haybine that I never even knew I hit. The only way I usually find out is when the buzzards show up and I investigate and find pieces of fawn hide. They come out in pieces, so I guess at least its over quick.
 
LAST year mowing lawn with JD F1145 72" deck out front, woodchuck came out of ditch toward mower. I stopped raised the deck thinking he was going to climb the deck to get me, darn thing went under the still running deck. At least the discharge chute put the pieces in the ditch.
 
I put a mallard duck and her nest through the haybine...didn't see her. Its not really a farmer's fault when something like that happens. My Dad used to get off the tractor and move a killdeer's nest when he was working land , he would mark the nest and avoid it each pass. That works when you know the animal is there.
 
It's baby Cotton Tail Rabbits around here; not a lot but they are there. Poor little things, gotta scare them to death when this fire breathing monster comes down on them. Course the birds of prey, cruising overhead are tickled that you flushed up their next meal. Buzzards and Crows are usually out the next day picking up the remnants.
 
(quoted from post at 20:15:34 06/06/19)
I seem to hit a few brush hogging fields every few years, one day I got 3. Makes for a bad day for me. The worst was the one that got the hind legs chopped off and I had to make a U-turn to finish him off as he was dragging himself away. Worst part of my job.

Maybe keep a good accurate rifle with you for this kind of situation.
 
I had that happen last year. I've read about putting a pipe across the tractor front so it drags the grass but that doesn't even work sometimes. Those little ones just stay where mom puts them no matter what.
 
I've killed several over the years mowing with haybine. Some folks may not understand, but good riddance to the deer as they are overpopulated here destroying so many soybeans , corn and home gardens too. Killed a big house cat once. But seeing black and yellow box turtles ( called terrapins here) crushed by tractor wheels makes me feel badly. Big black rat snakes too as they are beneficial at controlling field rats and mice. Have not got a turkey yet , but would not bother me as they pull up a lot of corn.
 
he roamed free and I've never seen an animal so grateful and or just downright so pleasant to be around as a whitetail deer fawn. I learned an awful lot from the experience.[/quote]

Nice story, thanks for sharing. Seen that once somewhere in midwest--family had full-grown doe kept as pet along with their other animals. Got along with the dogs, cat and all the others.
 
Sure enough, got the mower serviced, sharpened the blades, changed the oil in the 4630 and started cutting this field, right at dusk, a fawn scrambles out from the uncut area. I knew there was one in there, seeing doe milling around is a sure sign. I found him, he's safe from the mower.
 

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