Buck Harvest and Deer Herd Management


Question: “The guys that I deer hunt with on our deer lease always say that we should only shoot whitetail bucks that are 3.5+ years older or those that are 130+ Boone and Crockett inches or bigger. These guys say that if we hold our buck harvest this strategy our deer management plan will benefit and we will have bigger and better bucks for each whitetail hunting season. Do you think this is a good plan for improving our deer herd?”

Answer: From my experience, this is the wrong way to think about buck harvest and it will not help the overall deer management program or the whitetail hunting on your property. At 3.5 years old, whitetail bucks have a lot of unseen potential left in them and are not really what most hunters would consider mature. Some bucks will reach the 130 inch mark at 2.5, 3.5, 4.5 years old, or maybe even older; maybe never. Continue reading Buck Harvest and Deer Herd Management

Blue Tongue in Llano County, Texas?

Question: “I live in Llano County and have a whitetail deer feeder in my back yard. We watch the whitetail throughout the year and they will let us get pretty close too. Yesterday, we were watching the deer eat at the feeder when one came from over the tank dam. I thought it was a small buck with its head down, but when it came up to the feeder the other deer ran off, like it had some kind of disease. It was not a buck, but I actually thought the deer had been shot in the head.

I grabbed my binoculars and looked and the doe’s tongue was huge, hanging out at least 6 inches! She looked bad, so I got my gun and put her down. I was still thinking that it was a shot deer so I got a tag and walked outside. I got up to her and she had no marks or entry wounds on her what so ever. The doe was very skinny and the tongue was huge. Do you think this is blue tongue?” Continue reading Blue Tongue in Llano County, Texas?

Whitetail Deer Hunting: South Texas Habitat Hanging On

The southern portion of Texas can be classified as a place that does not receive a whole lot of rain, but it is also known for outstanding whitetail deer hunting. Much of South Texas is positioned within a semi-arid desert area that expects only 22 to 24 inches of rainfall each year and whitetail living in the area are well adapted. When the rains do fall, they are unpredictable at best. There are portions of South Texas that have only received 1 inch of rain in the last 180 days!

Deer habitat conditions are bad, but could get much worse if summer rains do not fall and offer some relief for hungry, thirsty deer. Living, working and managing whitetail deer through a dry spell is always a concern. Planning ahead to lessen the impacts of drought conditions is important to any ranching or whitetail hunting operation. This is especially important when forecasts indicate a hot, dry summer may be in store for South Texas and the wildlife found there. Here are a few guidelines that may lessen the impact of a below-average rainfall year on your ranch. Continue reading Whitetail Deer Hunting: South Texas Habitat Hanging On

Whitetail Deer for Sale: Deer Breeders in Texas

Texas boasts a native white-tailed deer herd somewhere around four million animals, yet for many trophy hunters that is not nearly enough. With extended deer hunting seasons across the state and an abundance of white-tailed deer, it’s hard to imagine that the smuggling deer into Texas would be an issue. One would think. However, this growing and cash-loaded illegal trade is challenging federal and state wildlife officers across the country. There are whitetail deer for sale throughout the country, but the threat of chronic wasting disease, a devastating disease to whitetail, has forced Texas to close the border to all movement of deer into or out of the state.

Hunting in the U.S. is a $20 billion industry, with about 80 percent of all expenditures related to whitetail hunting. Deer breeders, by trying to provide bucks with superior antlers, are trying to cash in on that huge pot of gold, offering whitetail deer for sale and hunting. Deer hunting was once about putting food on the table, but a once cultural tradition has undergone major changes in the past 20 years. It seems it’s all about big antlered bucks, and the “Benjamins.” A study by Texas A&M University a few years ago reported that white-tailed deer breeding is the fastest-growing industry in rural America. Continue reading Whitetail Deer for Sale: Deer Breeders in Texas

Deer Survey Methods: Spotlight, Cameras, Stand Counts

Question: “We have hunted whitetail deer in the blackland prairie region of Texas for many years, but this year is looking quite bad. I’m very concerned about the range conditions and how they will effect whitetail hunting this season. Typically, deer in our area have corn to fall back on as a food source, but this year it did not produce. In fact, most of the stalks in the immediate area did not even producing a single ear of corn. The majority of the farmers are just shredding it down and filing insurance claims.

We have good habitat, but it’s in poor condition. We have three protein feeders and the deer are eating about 2,400 pounds a month. We’ve also kept all of out corn feeders going to try and help the deer out. The spring food plots we planted never came up, and it does not look like they will even if we do get some rain. No food plots until fall I guess, when we shall try again. We are interested in determining how many deer are on our property. Do you think a couple spotlight surveys would work? We always have trail cameras out in the field, and we keep track of the deer we see every time we are on the property. Any suggestions appreciated. Thank you. M.J.” Continue reading Deer Survey Methods: Spotlight, Cameras, Stand Counts

The Whitetail Deer Rut is Hard on Bucks

Spring is over and early summer is almost upon us, so many hunters are not thinking about deer hunting right now. Not a soul is thinking about the whitetail deer rut that happened six or seven months ago. Whitetail bucks are putting on new antler growth, but many of the bucks that you passed on this past season may never make it to the next one. Testosterone poisoning, a term than many hunters have never even heard of, could be of importance to them now.

Most ranches involved in active deer management programs, are busy with habitat management techniques, filling protein feeders and waiting to burn brush piles, assuming it ever rains. It’s been an awfully dry year thus far and deer habitat is paying the price right now, with habitat conditions as tough as ever. Bucks of average body condition that did not succumb to hunters or post-rut death after the season may now be finding very little to each. Continue reading The Whitetail Deer Rut is Hard on Bucks

Which Game Camera is Best?

In my opinion, there is nothing better for scouting for whitetail deer hunting season than a game camera. I have used them for years now and have been impressed with how effective they are for identifying animals in the field prior to hunting season. Although we may not see all of the bucks the cameras capture, we know a lot about the buck we are looking at in the field the instant it walks out. Photos allow us age deer on the hoof and classify them based on age and antler quality whether they are going to be shooters or not.

This past Saturday I put out a brand new Cuddeback capture camera and a new Reconyx 500 series camera. In fact, I placed them out side by side on my feeder pen fence. I feed protein out of a gravity feeder here so I knew there would be plenty of opportunity for photos. I did this to examine the difference between these two trail cameras as I have had a few problems with my Cuddeback game cameras. Continue reading Which Game Camera is Best?

How Many Fawns?

Question: At this time of the year, late winter, whitetail does will be pregnant. I have been told by other deer hunters that a very high percentage will be carrying twin fawns and that twins will consist of 1 buck and 1 doe. I have enjoyed whitetail hunting for years, but have never thought about it. Is this sex ratio always the case in twin fawns. Can you confirm this fawn phenomenon in whitetail deer?

Answer: Whitetail are very prolific animals so twins are quite common. The number of fawns that a doe brings to term depends on the age of the doe and her body condition of her prior to breeding and during gestation. With regards to twins always being 1 buck and 1 doe, that is not always the case. I have seen twins that are the same sex, either both bucks or both does, as much as split I do split sexes. Continue reading How Many Fawns?