Deer Management Questions | Whitetail Hunting

What’s The Age of Your Deer?

Although whitetail deer can live to be older in captivity, they can also live a relatively long time in the wild. The longest living wild whitetail that I have heard about was almost 16 years old! Whitetail are primarily born in late May and early June. Therefore, when most deer are harvested in November they are either six months, 1 1/2 years, 2 1/2 years, 3 1/2 years, etc. in age. Aging deer accuratley is important for proper management.

The overall age structure of a white-tailed deer population is younger than most people think. There are some states where the average harvested deer’s age is 1 1/2 years old. It has often been thought that antler and body size can indicate a deer’s age, but physical characteristics can often be quite misleading. Continue reading What’s The Age of Your Deer?

Southeast Deer Study Group Abstract Submission

If you plan on attending the upcoming meeting of the Southeast Deer Study Group and would like to submit an abstract, the following are guidelines for submitting an abstract for presentation at the 33rd Annual Southeast Deer Study Group Meeting. All persons seeking to make a presentation during the technical or poster session must submit an abstract. Presentations will be selected only on the merits of the abstracts based upon originality, quality, management applicability, and relevance to the program theme. Abstracts selected for oral and poster presentations will be compiled as part of the meeting proceedings.

Subject matter may include progress reports, preliminary results, or research results intended for future publication. However, since the abstract is the only record of the presentation, evaluation will be based on abstract content and quality rather than what the authors intend to have prepared by the meeting. Presentations (including a question and answer period) will be limited to 20 minutes in length. A laptop computer and projector will be provided for Power Point presentations.

Each year the Southeast Deer Study Group presents a cash award and plaque for the best student presentation and a cash award to the second best student presentation. To qualify as a student presenter, the senior author must be a graduate or undergraduate student, or in their first year of employment post-schooling. Presentations are to be about the presenter’s graduate research, senior thesis, or similar project that they were involved with while in school. The presenter must be the primary person involved in data collection, analysis, and presentation preparation.

Authors wishing to compete for this award must check the box on the abstract submission form. Student abstracts will be subjected to the same review process as the other abstracts, and only those selected for inclusion in the meeting program will be eligible for the award. Award selection is based entirely on scientific relevance and presentation quality.

Abstracts should be no more than 250 words, typewritten, double-spaced, and formatted for 8.5” x 11” paper. All distances, areas, weights, etc. must be presented in English units (feet, acres, etc.). Do not use metric units (meters, hectares, etc). Do not include the author(s) on the abstract. The name(s), affiliation(s), and address(es) of the authors should appear only on the abstract submission form.

Abstract submissions must be emailed to Alan Cain at alan.cain@att.net. Please use Microsoft Word only.
Abstracts must be received by November 25, 2009.

The format of the abstract should be as follows:

Please, include Poster Session or Technical Session in the upper left Margin of the abstract.
Title (should be 15 words or less)
The word ABSTRACT followed immediately by the text of the abstract.

The abstract should describe:

What you studied and why – place the research in perspective by explaining the reason for the work.
How you did the research – briefly explain your methods.
What you found – summarize your results.
What does it mean – state your conclusions and management implications.
Remember – English measurement units only.

POSTERS:

Poste size limit is 42” wide x 32” tall in landscape orientation.
Presenters should bring posters ready to display.
Posters will be displayed on a backing material provided.
4.All posters should be taken down and removed by 5:00pm on March 1st.

Are Texas’ Antler Restrictions Working?

Question: Some counties in Texas have antler restrictions on bucks that can be legally harvest. I hunt in one of these counties now, but for you guys that have been in these type counties for a while, is the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s antler restriction program working? Has the whitetail hunting improved? My lease buddies and I just don’t seem to see any increase in buck antler size that is proving to me it is working?

Answer: Yes, the buck antler restrictions are working, and no I’m not being biased. I live and hunt in one of the first counties that were experimental. Yes, it took a few years to see the difference, but the regs did have an impact it on the buck age and antler quality. Before the antler regs, you could not find a buck with antlers no more than the size of your hand with both thumbs overlapping.

However, once implemented, we were still a 1 buck county as the other 5 counties and hunters were not going to use that tag on anything other than either a buck with 6 points on one side, a buck with a 13 inch inside spread or greater, or an unbranched antler (spike) on at least one side. The 6 point on one side was thrown out after the first year or two.

Sure, deer hunters saw numerous whitetail bucks that could have been shot the previous years, and the majority of those were 1.5 to 2.5 yrs old, but as time went on for 2 or 3 seasons, residents and hunters in those original counties were seeing bucks that had better antler growth, better body mass, and older due to letting them walk (because of the regs). Antler restrictions worked in my part of Texas, but it will take some time for them to work.

Using a Drill for Deer Food Plots

Question: When using a drill to put in whitetail food plots, how do you plant the seeds in rows without going over the same row that you’ve already planted? I’ve broadcasted seeds before and I would broadcast the appropriate pounds of seeds per acre until the plot is finished, but how do you do that with a drill?

Answer: It will take a little practice using a seed drill, but using your drill will become very easy over time and really help you get your food plots in fast. First, planting seeds in tilled ground is much easier to see where you’ve been and probably the best way to learn. Start out by making the first pass along the outside edge of the plot. Once you’re at the end, just raise the drill, make a sharp turn and start planting again right beside the first pass, you should be able to see where the last “row” is. Just get it as close as you can without overlapping or leaving a gap of unseeded ground.

Most drills are equipped with a seed metering system, which controls the seed drop rate. Once you determine what seed you’re planting and how many pounds per acre, look either on the drill or owners manual for which gear or gearbox setting needed to achieve that rate with that particular seed. Using a drill involves a learning curve, but it’s well worth the trouble for a good food plot that provides valuable supplemental food. Good luck with your plot and your deer management.

Deer Management on Small Acreage

Question: A couple fellow deer hunters and I were talking about managing whitetail deer on low fence land. The topics of buck to doe ratio, mature bucks, and letting deer go and grow all came up. The question nobody could give a good solid answer to was “if you start taking doe to get a better ratio, will the bucks leave the ranch to go where there are more does?” Most of these hunters hunt properties ranging from from 200 to 900 acre low fence properties. What do you think, because I was of the opinion that property size would play a big role? Less deer means more food for the ones there already, but I can also see where the bucks might just go to another ranch that has an abundance of doe?

Answer: The positives of a good deer management program definitely out weigh all of the concerns you mentioned regarding your local deer population. A better buck to doe ratio will give you a more defined rut, but you also have to realize that if you reduce the number of deer on your property, then neighboring deer will also move into your ranch. Particulary when times are tough. Antlers will get better with a lower deer density. Of course, with a better buck to doe ratio you will see more of your bucks, and it just makes the hunt more fun in my opinion.

If you have small acreage then concentrate on improving your deer habitat and making certain parts of your ranch sancuary areas that you simply stay out of. Thats the way to hold mature bucks on your property. Most people hunt every square inch of small properties and that’s where they go wrong. Bucks can roam as much as 3 to 5 miles in one day during the rut, so you will not be able to hold all your bucks, but you will probably gain some, too. I have regularly harvested does on our ranch and activity during the rut is awsome. We also see some of the same bucks year after year.

I know some guys that have been managing a 640 acre low fence place for the past 12 years with some outstanding results. And yes, the ranches around us are deer hunted, too.

Improving Buck to Doe Ratio

Question: I recently purchased a 700 acre ranch located in North Texas and am interested in deer and habitat management. I am confident that the buck to doe ratio is skewed and that there are many more does than bucks. Over the past hunting season we made quite a few deer observations from hunting blinds, and we saw about 5 does for every buck. And most bucks were young. We don’t really have an idea of what the total deer density is, but we know that we want to remove about 50% of the does so that we can get the ratio down to 2 does for every buck. What do you think?

Answer: I must point out that removing whitetail deer from your property, regardless of sex, creates more food for the remaining deer population. Everyone understands this simple concept, but don’t forget that deer will adjust their home ranges from neighboring lands and likely spend more time on your property because of decreased competition for forage. If the deer habitat on your property is at least as good as your neighbors habitat, then deer in the area will “immigrate” onto your ranch (meaning it will become a more important component of their home range) and re-balance.

If your deer habitat is much better than the surrounding area, then whitetail deer will continue to move onto your property (use your ranch much more) at much higher rates and you will see rapid changes with regard to buck to doe ratio. Bucks always position themselves for optimal food. This is why whitetail bucks are always anchored next to protein feeders, high quality food plots, and the best natural forage. So removing half of the does will improve your ratio, but remember than additional does and bucks will move in from surrounding ranches. It will take several hunting seasons, but it can be done.