For as long as there have been white-tailed deer there have been predators that have relied on deer for food. Of course, before feral hogs (and European wild hogs) were introduced into Central and North America, that was one less predator whitetail had to worry about. Not so now days. Not only do feral hogs compete with native wildlife for food, habitat, and space, but hogs also have direct impacts on wildlife populations through predation and direct consumption. I have said it before regarding deer management and the impacts of whitetail predators–particularly coyotes–but deer populations can still thrive in the presence of healthy predator populations as long as high quality deer habitat is available.
However, even in the best habitat predators will have some impact on white-tailed deer populations. I think most landowners, deer managers, and hunters understand this fact. But even so, it can be difficult to sit back and wait for predators to do what they do best considering the time, energy, and money that landowners and hunters put into their property, leases, and deer management programs. It can be even more discouraging when such offenses are caught on camera. Such is the case with the attached photos that I recently received via email. Read the rest
Testosterone levels control just about everything on a white-tailed buck, including antler growth and development. During this time of year, a buck’s testosterone level is quite low, but those levels will begin to increase as summer comes to an end and the fall season rolls around. Testosterone levels will peak just prior to the rut. It is during that time when bucks become very aggressive towards one another, establish breeding dominance, and prepare for the rut. That time of year can be rough on a whitetail buck.
When I received this photo of three white-tailed bucks in my inbox a couple weeks ago, the sender wrote that the deer on the left and the right (in the photo above) were bucks. I zoomed in for a closer look and noticed that not only two, but that in fact all three of the deer were bucks. And the photo makes sense because whitetail bucks have low testosterone during the spring and summer, and they can stand to be around one another. This is the reason for spring and summer bachelor groups. Furthermore, does tend to be more solitary leading up to fawning season. Does will not associate with bucks, or other does for that matter, until several days to a couple of weeks after the fawns are born. Read the rest
Good habitat is important for a healthy white-tailed deer population and necessary for successful deer management. Not only does high quality habitat provide nutritious food and great cover, but good deer habitat also provides a good amount of grass, especially during the fawning season. Deer do not consume very much grass at all–it usually comprises less than 8% of their diet on an annual basis–but tall grass is very beneficial to fawns.
For white-tailed deer, fawns are typically dropped about 7 months after conception. Because the gestation period averages about 205 days in whitetail, the major fawning period is roughly 7 months after the peak of rut. Does bred early in the rut will fawn earlier and those bred late will fawn later, but the majority of deer fawns in a given area will hit the ground at approximately the same time, usually during about a two week period. Fawns, however, don’t usually get a lot of attention from hunters. And there are probably a few reasons. Read the rest
Readers of this site know that I usually write about deer management and anything related to hunting and white-tailed deer. In addition, I do my best to get the facts correct before publishing content that I feel is accurate and helpful to hunters and land owners such as yourselves. Well, about a month ago I wrote an article that featured the photo above of a mountain lion dragging a dead buck, and stated that the photo was a fake. As it turns out, the photo is not fake, but a really amazing trail camera photo taken on a ranch in South Texas.
Every deer hunter that has spent any amount of time in the woods, or more appropriately around a campfire with other hunters, has heard stories related to mountain lion sightings. In fact, that’s one of the best things about getting outdoors and into the wildlife woods–you just never know what you are going to see. And speaking from experience and these photos below, there are some pretty amazing things going on in the “woods” all of the time.
Deer and deer habitat varies considerably between the northern and southern parts of the white-tailed deer’s range. In the southern U.S., starvation of deer is generally not a problem because of the mild winters that occur throughout the region. With that said, winter–especially late winter–can be a stressful time for whitetail in terms of food quantity and quality, particularly when the deer density is above the carrying capacity of the area. When it comes to winter and native deer foods, browse is the most important class of plants. Because browse plants are of utmost importance during stress periods, such as summer and winter, this article discusses habitat management activities that can increase browse production and take your native forage production and deer management program to the next level.
As discussed here previously regarding what deer eat and their need for proper nutrition, whitetail consume a plethora of woody and herbaceous plant species. However, natural winter forage is often limited to browse, available cool season forbs, and hard mast such as acorns. During years with good mast production, deer can use this forage well into the winter. However, mast quantity can be quite variable from year to year, forcing deer to rely on alternative food sources. Cool season forb availability can also vary by latitude and can be almost non-existent in freeze-prone areas. Locations at the northern part of the whitetail’s range are typically short on cool season forbs, but so are southern areas during winters receiving low amounts of precipitation. So how can deer managers increase browse production? Read the rest
Deer management involves manipulating the habitat and animals found on a property to improve body condition, increase fawning rates, and enhance antler quality of a white-tailed deer herd. Overall, deer management has been fueled by the desire for healthier bucks with larger antlers. And although herd management works well, it does not work over night–it takes years of work and selective deer harvest. A spin-off of deer management has been the selective pen-breeding of deer which has resulted in the commercial white-tailed deer breeding industry. Love it or hate it, this has allowed line-breeding and the rapid concentration of genes supporting abnormally-large antler growth.
Here enters the deer known as Sudden Impact. Not only is he a big buck, he is an absolutely, insanely, monstrous whitetail buck! After glancing at his antlers, you are probably thinking that this buck has reached maturity and has grown its biggest rack ever. Wrong. The video above features Sudden Impact at only 2 years of age in 2008! Yes, at 2 1/2 years old his shed antlers scored an eye-raising 406 5/8 Boone and Crockett inches. This buck is already the largest pen-raised whitetail ever and he looks to blow through that mark later this year. There is no doubt that he is impressive, but would you really want to shoot him?
The popularity of white-tailed deer hunting in recent decades has not only spurred an increase in deer management, but also a greater demand for deer hunting lands. And since everyone in the United States lives in a supply and demand economy, the price of whitetail hunting has continued to rise year after year. Unless a hunter owns his or her own property, they either know someone who does (that lets them hunt) or they are forced to lease private land for deer hunting. If you’ve looked for a lease lately you know that quality hunting leases are getting harder and harder to find. In addition, many have found themselves priced-out of deer hunting. So what if I told you that the amount of huntable land in Texas could decline because of new legislation?
Well, Senate Bill 1742 and House Bill 3766 could do just that, to some extent, by increasing the buffer area between hunting lands and “occupied” areas. In short, this legislation proposes to increase the minimum size of a huntable tract with a rifle from 10 acres to 50 acres. Not only could this legally prohibit some hunters from hunting their own property because of suburban sprawl, but these new laws would also inhibit the ability of landowners to control white-tailed deer numbers, particulary in the Texas Hill Country. Read the rest
Deer management is about herd improvement coupled with habitat enhancement. Although many hunters doubt the antler potential for native whitetail bucks in their area, in every area where white-tailed deer exists bucks exceeding 170 Boone and Crockett inches can be produced. In fact, I have seen native 190+ inch bucks come from every region in Texas. Of course, in free-ranging deer populations the majority of bucks will have their antlers max-out anywhere from 120 to 150 inches at maturity (5 1/2+ years old).
With that said, most deer hunters have never harvested a whitetail buck exceeding 130 inches. Why? For starters, most hunters are hard-pressed to find well-nourished bucks. Often times, habitat is in poor condition from livestock operations or there is simply a lack of deer habitat. This is often the case in farming communities where the only available habitat is low-lying land, untillable areas where woodlots have developed, or along creeks and rivers. Deer can forage on most row crops, but only during certain stages of growth or at maturity. The remainder of the time the crops are not consumed or the alleged “habitat” is plowed dirt. Well-nourished bucks need good habitat throughout the year. Read the rest
