All wildlife species need food, cover, water and space to survive. White-tailed deer are no different. Most regions of Texas have been pretty thin on food and water for wildlife this year due to pitifully low amounts of rainfall, but many properties have been impacted by wildfires too, consuming dry vegetation (food and cover) and completely setting back white-tailed deer habitat. Burned lands can look bad, real bad at first. However, the benefits of fire on native habitats have been well documented.

Fires used for habitat management purposes are always prescribed fires, not wildfires. Prescribed burns differ greatly from wildfires in that planned fires can be set to accomplish specific objectives. This is not the case with wildfires, which can also destroy homes and other valuable infrastructure. But from a habitat perspective, fire is fire. The plant communities found in Texas are well-adapted to fire. But what can properties impacted by recent wildfires expect?

With all of the brush and old-growth trees found across the state we sometimes forget that most of Texas is located in the Great Plans of North America. Wildfires were an important natural process in the region that curtailed the widespread growth of trees and brush. With Texas’s white-tailed deer population hovering around four million animals for several decades now, it’s hard to imagine a time when whitetail were not numerous in the Lone Star State. But it’s true. As wildfires were controlled, buffalo and pronghorn habitat soon gave way plant communities more suited to white-tailed deer.

But whitetail, like other game and non-game animals found across the state, are also adapted to to fire. In fact, deer do great in habitats that have been recently burned. This is especially true in areas where head fires have not completely removed all hardwood trees. With “normal” rainfall events, habitat can bounce back within a matter of weeks, if not days. Properties recently burned, however, are suffering from low soil moisture and a drought that has yet to really break.

Source: “Deer pushed out of burned areas and relocated to adjacent land face problems unless the burned areas begin recovering quickly. Drought has so severely reduced forage that the wildlife already on the land is having a tough time getting enough to eat. Adding more mouths on already stressed land means less food for all of them. Also, with so little grass on the landscape and with hay prices through the roof, cattle are eating the browse they usually ignore, competing with whitetail deer on burned lands.

This year’s drought and hot temperatures appear also to have greatly reduced the acorn crop on which so much wildlife depends later in the year.”

White-tailed deer habitat is greatly improved through fire. New shrub, forb, and grass sprouts use the abundance of nutrients released into the soil after a fire. These new-growth plants are more nutritious and palatable to deer than older plants. Deer that inhabit burned lands will ultimately benefit from high quality habitat loaded with forage, but the population could suffer in the interim. Properties recently burned should consider removing all livestock, even if recent rains have caused the green-up of grasses. Livestock grazing will only further impact already stressed plants. This could be detrimental to native grasses and browse species, which are particularly important to deer, without at least some deferment from grazing.

From a deer management point of view, fire is a great tool. Fires allow areas to be “born again” and they promote flower, seed, and fruit production. This increases available mast (fruits and nuts) for for deer, but much of that forage will not be available for deer until next Spring. Winter is just around the corner and acorn production has been lackluster. This fat-rich food is a seasonally important food for whitetail deer, but it’s not available to them this year. Landowners interested in carrying whitetail through the winter should consider the supplemental feeding of deer. Pelleted feeds with a minimum 16 percent protein are sufficient.

An important aspect of habitat is soil. Without soil, plant growth will suffer big time. The removal of excessive brush by fire will allow more sunlight to hit the ground. This will promote more forbs and grasses to grow when it rains, but until that happens these areas will be nothing more than dirt. Bare ground—another reason livestock should be removed from areas impacted by fires, especially in areas with steep slopes. Hoof action will do nothing but loosen soils. A heavy downpour will then cause severe erosion. A good soil and habitat management practice under these conditions would be to overseed the area with cool season annuals, such as ryegrass, and hope for several small rainfall events to get these plants established to stabilize the soil.

Lastly, deer density is important, especially on properties that have recently had fires run across them. Forb, grass and most browse species will survive and begin to bounce back, but too many animals will stunt their effort. In addition, attempting to maintain too many animals is always a bad idea for deer management. Unless environmental conditions change rapidly in the short term, it appears all wildlife species will be facing a hard time this winter. Deer population reduction could be one of many management strategies to consider post-fire.

The wildfires plaguing various parts of Texas have got me thinking an awful lot about prescribed burning over the past few days. Prescribed burning, prescribed fire, controlled burning or however you want to refer to it is a tool used for many purposes. It is commonly used for white-tailed deer habitat improvement, but it can also be used to prevent, contain and extinguish wildfires. In recent years, prescribed fire for range and wildlife habitat improvement has increased substantially. Granted it’s not for everyone, but many understand the utility of this management practice.

Prescribed burning is a tool used by landowners for increasing forage quality for livestock, reducing and controlling invasive brush species and for actively managing wildlife habitat. In fact, prescribed fire can accomplish many objectives simultaneously. For example, one fire be used to reduce brush cover, eliminate fine fuel loads, increase forage quality for wild and domestic animals, and improve wildlife habitat for deer, turkey and quail. Fire sets back many woody species and eliminates fire intolerant ones such as ashe juniper (cedar).

Most landowners realize that not all fire is bad. Wildfires are bad when the loss of life and property are involved, but  prescribed, controlled fires are not. Often times, the vegetation found on a particular property requires a managed fire, not a wildfire, to come along at the right time and under the right conditions in a controlled manner. This is prescribed burning. Once the objectives of the fire are determined and the conditions under which the fire should be used are established, it is only then than a prescription for carrying out the fire have been developed.

The prescription should include landowner objectives, personnel requirements, firebreaks and environmental factors such as air temperature, relative humidity and wind direction and speed. The bulk of the work takes place long before the first flame hits the ground. However, proper land management after the burn is essential for both wildlife and livestock. Cattle frequently concentrate on a burn because forage is more palatable and nutritious. However, this does not mean these grass-eating machines should be released onto burn sites immediately. As with any major event, some rest is warranted afterword.

As with many tools, the quality of the work depends on how good you are with the tool. Prescribed burning for brush management/control and deer habitat improvement is no different. Without a doubt, experience is the best teacher of fire behavior. Inexperienced managers can learn a lot by observing prescribed fires lit by other folks. Considerable knowledge can be learned about fire behavior relatively quickly, but it takes years of experience to get good, but even then you will not (should not) feel totally confident. Even trained professionals do not lose their fear of what fire can do.

The benefits of controlled burning for wildlife are well documented. Burning is good for deer because of the nutrient-rich browse and forbs that respond post-fire. Fire also knocks back many of the root-sprouting browse species that have outgrown the reach of deer. Fire promotes native grasses, which in turn creates better quail nesting habitat, improved water infiltration, and drought-tolerant forage. Additionally, fire is a relatively inexpensive management tool, especially for landowners interested in controlling cedar. Costs can range from $2 to $8 per acre depending on the size of the burn, prep work, and personnel needs.

To wrap up, prescribed fires have different uses depending on the objectives. The most common use of controlled burns is to reduce fuels such as pine needles, leaves and dead herbaceous vegetation such as grass and weeds. Controlled burning can also be used for brush control and quail, turkey and white-tailed deer habitat improvement. Although prescribed burning is a very effective tool, it can be incorrectly applied. Prescribed fire, just like any habitat management practice, should only be implemented once the need has been completely evaluated.

Managing for good white-tailed deer habitat on a property is the key to maintaining a healthy deer herd. Plain and simple, deer in good body condition are more productive than deer in poor condition. A problem many landowners face is that Mother Nature does not always do her part. This is the major reason why supplemental feeding has become an integrated part of deer management on many ranches.

A property can generally have good deer habitat, but that does not necessarily mean that the plants found on the property are in good condition. Rainfall makes a big difference from year to year. In fact, research conducted in South Texas, on what was coined the “South Texas Buck Project,” by the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute at Texas A&M-Kingsville found that spring rains explained 70% of the year to year variability in buck antler size.

Spring rain and antler growth were highly correlated, meaning bucks grew larger antlers following wet springs and smaller antlers following dry ones. During the South Texas Buck Project, researchers classified spring rains as those occurring during March, April and May. And over much of the whitetail’s range, it is during this time of the year when good rainfall can produce bountiful crops of high protein forbs and set up browse plants for the long, hot, and typically dry summer. If the rains do not arrive, then deer can forget about the would-be protein buffet.

Okay, so I will admit that South Texas is much different than many parts of the white-tailed deer’s range, including most parts of Texas, but the results of this study are a bit staggering. The data collected during the South Texas Buck Project conclusively found that spring rains alone accounted for as much as a 20 inch shift in gross Boone and Crockett scores for mature bucks! These findings really illustrate the importance of precipitation, habitat condition and food availability to any landowner or hunter interested in deer management.

So this all makes enough sense, but how can it help hunters on their property given that they can not control the rain? Well, no one can turn on the faucet that makes it rain, but hunters can control whitetail food availability through management practices such as maintaining proper livestock grazing rates, brush management, prescribed burning, supplemental feeding and managed deer harvest. Allowing deer to grow older is one way to produce more mature bucks, but age is not the only factor that affects antler size.

In mature bucks, rainfall determines whether that 20 inch shift I mentioned previously ends up being 20 inches up or 20 inches down. Food availability is of utmost importance in allowing old bucks to reach their genetic potential. For hunters interested in trophy buck management, I would seriously considering shooting any buck 5 1/2 years of age following a wet spring. Why? For the simple reason that the chances of getting two good years in a row are slim, and therefore antlers are not likely to be better the next year. During a dry spring, such as this one, hunters may want see if those deer can add that 20 inches back on next year.

Hunters and landowners  interested in deer management know that the bread and butter of white-tailed deer’s diet are browse plants. Although a deer would prefer to eat higher-in-protein forbs, those plants are primarily only available during the spring and fall. Though ideal deer foods consists of preferred browse plants and high protein forbs, many of these plants are not as abundant as they could be across the landscape.

Good deer  habitat always has some wooded component. This woody structure provides screening shelter, overhead protection, and food from both leaves and mast. This wooded component can range from brushland to  mid-story tree species to mixed forests of a variety of species. Deer habitat can vary a great deal from place to place, but too much wooded area can become a detriment to deer and the plants they eat. Proper habitat management practices, however, can make the most out of the land you hunt.

If someone were to ask me what an ideal deer property would look like habitat-wise, I would suggest an open property that was dotted with woody plant species that comprise 50% of the land cover. In short, a property that is near 50% open and 50% wooded would be great from a deer food perspective. But what is the downside of having too many trees? Shade — sunlight can not reach the ground.

If sunlight can not reach the ground then plants will not grow there. Browse plants are great, but only if a deer can reach them. The problem in many wooded areas is that much of the browse is found in the forest canopy and is inaccessible to deer. So let’s take a page from the guys that are out there producing plants for money. In the timber production industry, periodic tree thinning is regularly used to reduce competition for sunlight.

In every wooded area, thinning can greatly increase browse production. To a white-tailed deer, some tree species are much more desirable than others. With that said, habitat management practices that involve tree thinning should target the removal of undesirable tree species. Tree thinning will open up the canopy, allowing desirable deer browse such as blackberry, honeysuckle, poison ivy, grape, and young oak species to establish and flourish.

In addition, sunlight that reaches the ground will pay dividends in the form of high-quality forbs. Always remember that although browse plants comprise the bulk of a whitetail’s diet, preferred forbs are THE most nutritious deer food. These high protein “weeds” will only grow were adequate sunlight exists. Tree thinning is a habitat management technique that can improve the quantity and quality of deer foods found on any property dominated by woodlands.

The remaining trees will also benefit from reduced crowding and deep-root competition. Less competition for water and sunlight means more production from mast-producing trees. This, in turn, means even more food for deer in thinned woodlands. Property owners interested in whitetail deer management should consider woodland thinning and the removal of undesirable tree species as a beneficial habitat management practice.

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.