If you come across a deer fawn alone in the woods, leave it there.

Its mother has not abandoned it. She is probably nearby.

Removing a fawn from the forest is also illegal because the animal is being taken outside the legal hunting season.

Many people who come upon a solitary spotted fawn in the woods or along a roadway mistakenly assume the animal has been deserted by its mother. Young fawns like this have not been abandoned and are still in the care of a doe.

The apparently “helpless” deer fawns born during April, May and June in South Carolina will begin daily movements with their mothers in 3-4 weeks.

Human handling and disturbance of fawns can cause a doe to shy away or even desert her offspring. Also, a bleating response by the fawn can summon nearby predators.

Fawns at this age are better protected away from the doe. The presence of the doe nearby would attract predators because the doe lacks the protective coloration of the fawn, and the older and larger doe has a much stronger odor.

A fawn that appears abandoned is merely awaiting a visit from its mother. A doe, after brief periods of feeding and grooming her fawn, will spend much of her day feeding and resting somewhat removed from her young.

Each spring and summer, SCDNR gets many calls from people who have discovered these “lost” deer. Adult buck deer, no matter how they were raised, are especially dangerous during the breeding season.

Occasionally, “tame” deer seriously injure people and, in cases where the deer are a threat to humans, the deer sometimes have to be killed.