It often amazes me when I hear an uninformed hunter talk about deer management and the habitat requirements of white-tailed deer. After hearing them speak just a few sentences, it’s obvious that they do not have a clear understanding of a whitetail’s habitat needs or the foods that they eat. This blows my mind! After all, these are the same guys that proclaim to ”love” hunting. But I suppose there is a big difference between deer hunting and white-tailed deer management.

Deer hunting can exist without deer management. After all, you don’t necessarily need many (or any?) deer to go deer hunting. However, white-tailed deer management can not occur without hunting as part of the overall equation. In short, you can love hunting while being indifferent to management, but if a deer management program is in place then hunting is part of the package.

So where am I going with this? I guess what I’m trying to do is illustrate is the difference between hunters that simply shoot deer and those that manage for them. There is nothing wrong with either of them. Besides, we all go through various stages in our hunting lives. However, there comes a point when most hunters connect the dots and realize that there is a strong relationship between the habitat that the land provides and the health of a local deer herd.

It’s at this point that we realize the horse goes in front of the cart—not the other way around. You can’t expect to have a well-above-average deer herd and quality bucks if you don’t provide them with the habitat that they need. That habitat includes the food, cover, water and space that a white-tailed deer requires.

Believe it or not, every trophy (insert your definition of a trophy here) buck starts out as a little baby fawn. The desire to shoot a trophy buck on a property where no fawning habitat exists would be like putting the cart in front of the horse. It doesn’t work that way. Every hunter thinks about big bucks, but only a small percentage of landowers consider protecting and providing habitat for deer fawns. This, now, is how we connect the dots.

Taking the effort to provide needed deer habitat today will ensure that you have deer to shoot tomorrow—or rather several years down the road.

Although white-tailed deer eat very little grass (less than 10% of their diet), tall grass is an important component of fawning habitat. Does will often leave newborn fawns unattended along field edges or deep within grassy cover. This herbaceous ground cover provides structure that screens fawns, whether moving or lying down, from predators during both the day and night. Trust me, it’s not hard for a predator to locate a fawn in an overgrazed pasture or freshly-cut hay field.

In fact, if you are interested in providing fawning habitat (as well as not cutting up fawns) then I would not hay fields from the beginning of May until the end of July. On properties that run cattle, I suggest deferred grazing of at least 20% of pasture in advance to grow and provide adequate grass cover during the fawning period. Once fawning is completed, return livestock into those areas to consume grass cover and create a more favorable environment for forbs.  

To estimate when most does fawn add 210 days to the peak of the rut in your area. This should give you a good idea of when most fawns are born. I’d then add 30 days to the front and 60 days to the back of that date to serve as a window of when fawning habitat is of utmost importance.

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.

First, fawning takes place during the late spring and early summer. Many hunters are still ”checked-out” at this time of year only to return in late summer or early fall to plant a hunting plot or fill their deer feeders. Secondly, we are talking about fawns here, not big, gigantic, muy grande bucks! Hunters hunt bucks, not fawns. With that said, land owners interested in deer management realize that mature bucks do not just appear out of thin air.

So let’s talk about fawns. The early life of a fawn and the life of an adult whitetail are quite different. For the most part, adult deer do not require a whole lot of grass. The only grass they use in their diet is young and tender. Fawns, on the other hand, need grass and do not even know it. First of all, moderate to high grass makes excellent fawning cover. Not only does this herbaceous cover help conceal newborn fawns, but tall grass is indicative of good white-tailed deer habitat, which is needed by nursing does to raise healthy fawns. 

In addition, good fawning cover decreases the impact predators can have on a yearly fawn crop. Research has shown that high quality deer habitat can produce good fawns crops even with dense predator populations. However, even on properties where predators are controlled, if the habitat is poor then fawn crops are not necessarily good. This does not make sense to some people, but it’s true.

First, poor habitat can be caused by many things, but over-grazing by livestock is the number one reason for low-quality habitat. A lack of ground cover makes it really easy for predators (even if few) to find newborn fawns. In addition, generally poor habitat means does will have difficulty finding adequate nutrition to produce milk and raise fawns. You see, over-grazing by cattle leads first to an over-use of grass and then to an over-use of browse species. Over-grazing by goats first leads to an over-use of browse species and then to an over-use of grass species. In either situation, it leads to poor deer habitat and poor fawn crops. Properties that lack at least some open, grass-dominated areas also provide poor deer habitat overall.

Any practice that removes ground cover during the fawning season should be discouraged if you want to improve the fawn crop in your area. The mowing or haying of fields should be postponed at least one month before fawns drop until after the bulk of the fawns have been born, which is usually around the end of June. However, you can figure this out for your area by adding 8 months to the time when the peak of the rut occurs. 

Additionally, keep an eye on your predator population and do what you can to control them, but especially in areas with less than ideal fawning habitat. There is quite a bit of time between now and deer season, but the deer you should be thinking about is the one you will be harvesting about 5 1/2 years from now. 

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?  

Browse plants are the most stable component of a white-tailed deer’s diet. Year-in and year-out, browse can be relied upon by deer as a staple in their diet. Why? Well, browse consists of the stems, twigs, and leaves of woody plants (and vines) and these species tend to be long-lived perennials. Many perennial plants lose their leaves each winter, but immediately grow new leaves and stems each spring and throughout the summer. This makes plants such as elm, poison ivy, and greenbriar great emergency summer time grub should a lack of rainfall fail to produce any succulent forbs. Perennials with established root systems have an advantage over short-lived forbs when it comes to their need for water/rain. In addition, some browse species–such as important juniper species in the north and live oak in the south–are evergreen. These browse species are available for deer during the winter, as well as the summer.     

Habitat management that increases summer and winter browse availability is not very expensive or time consuming and should be a component of every white-tailed deer management plan. In just about every case, increasing available deer browse is a simple, straight-forward task. Thinning small blocks (3-5 acres) in forested areas is one way to increase browse availability and plant production. Removing some older trees allows sunlight to reach the ground. And I said “blocks” because square-ish is the way to go here. Narrow strip thinning will not permit enough sunlight for optimal browse growth. Sunlight is needed to allow browse seeds and seedlings to take off, creating more forage for local whitetail. Wooded areas with totally enclosed canopies offer little for deer in terms of browse, except along the edges. Opening up the canopy and allowing increased sunlight will spur browse plant growth, increase food, and up the number of deer using the area.

Another way to increase browse production for deer is through the use of fertilizer. Adding fertilizer to recently thinned patches substantially increases the productivity of browse plants. Imagine a garden with fertilizer; it does much, much better! In addition, fertilizer can be used around the edges of established browse plants, too. Fertilize the edges of woodlines, along roadways, and even along utility easements. Not only will the plants be much more healthy and produce bigger, darker leaves, but deer will find fertilized leaves much more palatable. It’s kind of like an unfertilized food plot versus a fertilized one. Deer prefer fertilized areas because they can literally taste the increased nutrition.

Browse is an important food source for whitetail, especially during stress periods. These habitat management tips are just some of the techniques that you can use to increase native forage and browse production on your property. Browse management should be considered an important part of your deer management program because browse plants produce year after year, and especially when you need them most!

White-tailed deer, like many wildlife species, prefer habitat that is at lower successional stages. Simply stated, deer like plant communities that are dominated by plants that are considered first responders after disturbance. Any disturbance helps set back plant succession, whether it be disking established areas, clear-cutting portions of forests, or natural or prescribed fire. And although hunters understand that deer management practices are designed to improve habitat, many habitat management practices are really only designed to mimic processes that occur naturally.

Of course, when it happens naturally land managers have very little control. Such was the case last year in Texas when the almost 15,000 acre Chaparral Wildlife Management Area (WMA) unexpectedly caught fire. It was March of 2008, but because of extremely dry spring conditions, a fire that started adjacent the area burned 95% of the state-owned WMA! Anyone that knows anything about the Chaparral WMA knows that the area is representative of South Texas brushland, but active habitat and deer management practices maintain a healthy deer herd that boast some big ole whitetail bucks.

Prescribed fire is an effective management tool for deer throughout the white-tailed deer’s range because most native brush species respond well by root-sprouting, regrowing, and providing high-protein browse. You see, most plant species are well-adapted to fire, but all deer managers that use fire as a management tool prefer prescribed or controlled burning. The fire that swept across the Chaparral WMA, on the other hand, was a wildfire. And although wildfires and prescribed fires ultimately have the same impact on native plants, prescribed fires are planned and allow burners the most preparation. Prescribed fires allow landowners the ability to pre-select the areas to be burned and the conditions under which they are burned.

For those interested in using fire as a management tool, it’s recommended that no more than 20% of a property be burned annually. This keeps different successional stages of plants located throughout the property and provides deer with optimal forage. I mentioned earlier that the wildfire that crossed the Chaparral burned 95% of the research WMA. Keep in mind that the perimeter of the area is game-fenced and very few deer were found dead post-fire, so that left all the deer found on the 15,000 acre property about 700 non-burned acres to forage. But white-tailed deer are resilient animals.

Chaparral WMA staff and researchers from Texas A&M University-Kingsville used the effects of the wildfire to monitor how deer living on the area would respond. What would deer eat in the short-term? Would there be enough food to maintain body condition and support fawning? That was just a few of the questions managers needed to answer to determine if the deer herd could respond the the widespread setback in habitat.

It’s important to note that the month of March is smack-dab in the middle of a white-tailed does’ pregnancy. And pregnancy requires a high amount of dietary input. Researchers collected does at two week intervals from mid-April to mid-June and recorded live weight, body condition, rumen contents, and the number and size of fetuses. A total of 28 does were collected and 23 pregnant does carried 6 single fawns, 16 twins, and 1 set of triplets. Shortly after the fire, rumen contents consisted primarily (90%) of cactus and grasses. However, deer shifted to forbs and mast (fruits) as these foods became available after the fire.

Data collected on the Chaparral WMA found that deer were able to maintain body condition and pregnancy after a large-scale fire. However, the management area did have a lot of things going for it that may or may not be available in some areas. First, the deer herd was below the carrying capacity of the land prior to the fire. In addition, the area was fortunate to have an abundance of cactus that provided a moisture-rich post-fire food for white-tailed deer. Although deer were able to switch their diets in order to survive, would this be the case in your area after a wildfire?

Fire is one of the most beneficial tools in wildlife management because when used properly it is very economical. In addition, fire releases nutrients that are bound in dead organic material, fire stimulates the germination of certain plant species, and fire controls plants such as blueberry cedar that are not fire adapted.  And although we have learned that whitetail can cope with large-scale fire in South Texas, I do not recommend burning more than 20% of your property on an annual basis. Just keep in mind that with burning 90% of the work takes place before you strike the first match.

There are as many different kinds of food plot mixes on the market as there are days in a year, but a lot of people do not realize that the best food plots for white-tailed deer actually grow naturally! In my opinion, natural foods are the best food plots.

I guess by definition what I am writing about today can not really be considered food plots, but more like techniques to provide additional foods for deer. But I believe habitat management is the first step in deer management!

Disking- This is a simple technique that can be implemented (get it) during both the spring and fall. There is nothing magical about how disking works. The only thing necessary is that you use a disk to disturb the surface of the soil so that forb seeds can become “exposed” and germinate.

To promote warm season forbs for deer, disk the selected area before spring green-up. To promote cool season food plots simply disk the area where you would like your native food plot to be during late summer. In addition, to promote more edge and diversity you can alternate disked and undisked strips (strip disking).

Fire and Prescribed Burning – Just mentioning the word “fire” scares a lot of people, but if you do it right, prescribed burning can be very safe and be the most beneficial habitat management technique you ever use. Burning creates natural “food plots” for whitetail by returning the nutrients tied up in dead and dying organic matter to the ground and stimulating forb seeds found near the soil’s surface.

To promote forbs using fire, the single best time to burn would be in early fall as the very first cool fronts roll in. This allows much of the grass and other fine fuels to be removed from the land’s surface and really allows forbs to take off. In addition, you can used disked strips around the area around where you intended to burn as fire breaks. It’s a double whammy!  

Deferred Grazing- This one is really stretching this whole food plot thing, but excluding or removing cattle from a particular area really can provide substantially more browse and forbs for white-tailed deer. Keep this mind and try rotating livestock on your property. You just might will be surprised at where you find the deer… in the areas where deferred grazing took place!