As hunters, we know how expensive it’s becoming to hunt white-tailed deer. Not only are the prices of guided hunts and hunting leases going up, but the price of raw land is rapidly rising, as well. To make matters worse, deer managers are being hit with the climbing costs of food plot seeds, supplemental feeds, and vehicle and tractor fuels.    

And as much money as the hunting industry may bring in to the US economy, it’s only a portion of the total economic impact white-tailed deer have in this country. A recent and conservative estimate put a $12.5 million price tag on deer-vehicle collisions in the state of Texas alone!

But what about crop damage? And damage to ornamental plants? And loss of human life? I understand that in many cases problems arise as people move into areas inhabited by deer. However, many suburbs create their own problems through feeding and the prohibition of hunting. But problems are problems regardless of how they come about.

We talk a lot about deer hunting and management, but let’s look at some economic aspects concerning white-tailed deer that are not related to hunting. (more…)

Antler growth in deer really is phenomenal! In fact, deer antlers are among the fastest growing tissues in the animal kingdom, growing as much as 1/2-inch per day during peak antler growth. Of course, the amount of antler material a buck grows depends upon nutrition, genetics, and age. 

Actively growing antlers are covered with a living tissue called velvet, because it really looks and feels like velvet material. During antler development, a buck’s antlers are both extremely delicate and sensitive to the touch. Even though bucks are not aggressive towards each other during the antler growing period, this is still the time when most antler damage occurs.

White-tailed deer antler growth usually begins during the month of March or April, and by August or early September antler growth has ceased. And an interesting fact: In most cases typical deer antlers begin growing out a buck’s head in a backward motion, then quickly change direction and sweep forward as we commonly know.

So how long does it take for a buck to form hardened antlers? The following photos illustrate antler growth for a single white-tailed buck in Texas from March through September. (more…)

Imagine if the Texas Legislature mandated Texas Parks and Wildlife Department write a $250 check to every person whose motor vehicle collides with a deer on a Texas public road.

We’d be talking about a lot of money. And because that money would almost certainly come from the fund holding revenue from sale of hunting and fishing license fees, the inevitable result would be crippling to TPWD’s ability to do fisheries and wildlife management and research. Those programs are almost exclusively funded from license revenue — no general tax revenue goes to Texas’ wildlife and fisheries programs.

Neither state nor local governments compile figures on how many deer/vehicle collisions occur in Texas. But the insurance industry estimates, based on claims, about 40,000 such accidents in Texas each year. (more…)

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) and Louisiana State University (LSU) Agriculture Center have spearheaded the study with help from various contributors. The study is has entered its second and final year. The primary objectives of the study are to assess range and movements of male and female white-tailed deer, evaluate age and sex-specific harvest rates of white-tailed deer and evaluate survival and causes of death among male and female white-tailed deer in a Louisiana bottomland hardwood forest.

The study is being conducted on approximately 40,000 acres of bottomland hardwood forest located west of Baton Rouge and east of the Atchafalaya Basin. The study area is currently leased to more than 30 private hunting clubs, and each club belongs to a cooperative that promotes quality deer management on the property. (more…)

In 1974, a high-fenced research facility was constructed on the Kerr Wildlife Management Area located near Hunt, Texas. The purpose of the research facility was allow the Wildlife Division of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) to study antler growth in native white-tailed deer. The 16-acre facility consists of six 2/3-acre breeding pens, three 4-acre pens, and a series of alleys and chutes to facilitate the handling of research animals.

The orginal breeding pens consisted of seven brood bucks, of which six were spikes, and 5 to 7 does. All deer were native Texas whitetails obtained from various locations throughout the State. No additional deer were added after the fall of 1974 and the herd has been maintained as a closed, pedigreed herd.

The orginal purpose of the pens was to address the following objectives:

• 1. To determine factors which contribute to antler formation in white-tailed deer.
• 2. To determine the effect of nutrition level on antler formation and body weight.
• 3. To determine if deeer that were spike-antlered at 1 1/2-years of age (yearlings) have the same potential for antler development and body weight in later years as bucks which were fork-antlered at 1 1/2 years of age.
• 4. To determine the influence of genetics on antler characteristics.

(more…)

If you’re like most deer hunters, you spend the majority of your time in the woods during the fall and winter of each year. However, the habitat that deer live in, just like the animals themselves, are found there year-round — so get out and explore it, learn more about it, and find some shed antlers!

With spring just around the corner and whitetail bucks starting to shed antlers, there is a good opportunity to learn more about your hunting area and the deer that live there. Most hunters get excited when bucks start growing their antlers each year — it’s a chance to witness the impact of past management and look forward to future harvests. It really is something to get pumped up about. (more…)

For those that work close-hand to better manage deer and deer habitat, we are always learning how we can improve the conditions of both. To better understand how we can enhance available deer habitat, deer nutrition, and the health of a deer herd, any information we can gather about deer help the cause. Here are some additonal facts you may not know:

1. White-tailed deer establish a home-range territory and will not leave it! It has been documented that deer will starve rather than leave their territory. Moral of the story — maintain adequate nutrition!

2. Wild white-tailed have been known to live at least to 11-years in the wild, but I suspect a very small percentage live even longer. Now those are mature deer!

3. With optimal habitat conditions, deer populations can double in size annually! Without regulated hunting and proper harvest management, deer will destroy wildlife habitat and suffer tremendous population die-offs.

4. If you took 2 white-tailed deer in the absence of predators, in just 7-years those two animals alone can produce a herd of up to 35 animals! I wish my savings increased at that rate.

5. In areas of overpopulation, deer cause an over-browsing affect we call a “browse line.” You do not want a browse line on your ranch! After a browse line is created, it takes years under a low deer density for browse plants to re-establish and recover.

More White-tailed Deer Facts:

- Well-nourished white-tailed bucks begin growing new antlers each April. The timing regarding new antler growth can vary with an individual buck’s body condition, but is influenced by environmental conditions. Antlers can grow more than 1/2″ per day.

- When temperatures drop to single digits (farenheit), whitetail deer are often more nocturnal and also tend to move during the mid-day hours.

- The large ears of white-tailed deer can rotate 180 degrees and pick up high-frequency sounds very well.

- The entire molting process for whitetails is slow and gradual, usually taking several months to complete. From early spring to late summer, a deer’s coat transforms from a dense grey pelage (fur) to a thin but deeply-colored auburn.

- However, when hunting in early fall, hunters will notice that the deer’s coat has changed from reddish to grey. This fall color change occurs much more rapidly, often within only one to two weeks!