Most hunters know that a successful white-tailed deer management program is a multifaceted endeavor. For noticeable changes to be observed in a deer population, the age, genetics and nutrition of the herd must be controlled at some level. Because age is important, aging deer on the hoof and then re-evaluating that assessment after “ground checking” based on the deer’s tooth wear is a common practice on many ranches. After cutting a deer’s check most hunters expect to see teeth with some amount of wear, but most never expect to see a deer with fangs in its upper mouth.

These “fangs” are actually canine teeth. All whitetail have lower canines, but few deer have upper canines. The harvested deer that do have them often go undetected because hunters focus on the teeth located in the bottom jaw when aging, not those positioned on top. The upper canine teeth that are seen are usually discovered by taxidermist preparing buck deer for European (skull) mounts, not by curious hunters probing around inside an animals mouth. Common sense would make one believe that most ungulates such as white-tailed deer do not have canine teeth, but a small number in fact do. Read the rest »

The white-tailed deer hunting seasons are just months away, which means hunters will begin making their final preparations for the fall. With summer heading into the home-stretch, hunters remaining tasks include the addition of new spin-feeders, the replacement of old stands with new ones, the clearing of shooting lanes, conducting deer surveys and a review of the whitetail hunting regulations for their area. In Texas, one of the most discussed deer hunting regulations continues to be the antler restriction regulations that are in place for bucks in many counties.

Regulations. It’s a safe bet that most hunters are not old enough to remember a time when there were no deer hunting regulations, before there were seasons and limits for specifically for whitetail. One can only imagine the outrage of hunters, commercial ones included, when some well-meaning game biologist came along and suggested that the harvest of wild animals be managed through regulations. I bet a good number of hunters wanted to tan his hide along with the other skins salted down around back. Fast forward to modern times and it’s easy to see (and hear) that some things never change. Read the rest »

The white-tailed deer population has been on quite a ride over the past century. Historical reports indicate that whitetail populations were nearly extirpated within the United States by the early 1900′s. Fast forward a hundred years, add in regulated hunting, deer management efforts and the fact that only about 8 percent of the people in the U.S. hunt, and it is not uncommon to surf the web, pick up a newspaper or drive down the road to see another instance of deer overpopulation in both rural and suburban areas.

As the number of suburban areas have increased in Texas—and elsewhere—the whitetail populations found within them have grown proportionally, sometimes exponentially. Suburban deer overpopulation is literally a growing problem, but listen closely to any debate related to controlling a suburban whitetail population and you will soon find that for every person that wants to control deer through shooting, trapping, etc., there are others that want to protect them. Read the rest »

It’s summer time in Texas and hot, dry weather is wreaking havoc on white-tailed deer habitat. That means deer will be hitting supplemental feed sources where they are available harder than ever. In fact, I’ve already heard from numerous hunters and landowners that whitetail are really hammering protein feeders, and this is on properties that provide relatively good deer habitat. Unfortunately, it looks like things are going to get worse before they get better. That has got everyone, deer included, feeling a little uneasy.

It’s the antler growing season for bucks right now, so that means game cameras have already been deployed. Reports indicate that the majority of bucks have anywhere from 3-10 inches of antler growth and that there are still a good number of does that have yet to domino (give birth). Guys in the pastures as well as camera photos are also seeing a good number of fawns already on the ground. Everyone is aware that natural foods are low, but deer are needing a lot of high quality nutrition right now. Read the rest »

With the official start of summer almost upon us and whitetail bucks rapidly putting on new antler growth, it is never to early to speculate about the fall white-tailed deer hunting seasons in Texas. Unfortunately for everyone, dry weather has kept a damper on many deer and habitat management practices to date, but poor habitat conditions may help hunters across the state this fall.

Most folks know that dry weather is not good for wildlife. Deer hunters are also aware that low rainfall equates to below average antler sizes for bucks relying on natural forage to get them through the year. That being said, it comes as no surprise that severe drought across the state has dimmed what usually is a bright outlook for white-tailed deer quantity and quality. Read the rest »

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). Read the rest »

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. Read the rest »

They have become a part of the Texas landscape. Landowners that have them claim that they are critical for white-tailed deer management. Those that don’t either dislike them or simply can not afford them. Some people, hunters included, hate them. Hard working men make a living building them. “They” are high fences, often referred to as game fences. Like it or not, it seems high fences are here to stay, but a question that has undoubtedly crossed the minds of many deer hunters is, “What impact does a high fence have on the movement of white-tailed deer?”

Game fences are typically 8 or 10 feet in height, so there are high fences and then really high fences. Ask just about anyone and they will tell you that high fences are deer proof—deer inside the fence can’t get out and deer outside the fence can’t get in. This belief is disturbing to hunters and landowners bordering high fenced properties because it seems more and more ranches are turning to boundary fence that consist of high fence. I can see both the pros and cons of high game fences, but neither of them is so compelling that I want to drink to the proverbial Kool-Aid. That being said, high fences make it much easier to manage a deer herd. Read the rest »