Buck Manager | Buck Manager

Improve Wooded Habitat for Whitetail

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. Continue reading “Improve Wooded Habitat for Whitetail”

Lumpy Jaw in White-tailed Deer

Lumpy Jaw

The white-tailed deer hunting season sneaks up on us each year. Most hunters are already in the woods looking for a big, mature buck. Hunters often see some strange things while in the woods. Have you ever seen lumpy jaw in deer? Sometimes, those odd things include deer afflicted with a variety of diseases and other internal and external physical issues.

One fairly common problem in whitetail is lumpy jaw. The name “lumpy jaw” says it all because deer with this problem stick out; The animal looks like it has a lump between (or under) its jawbone and the hide. The lumpy jaw many hunters witness is the result of adult arterial nematodes (Elaeophora schneideri). These worms live primarily in the whitetail’s carotid arteries. In fact, partial paralysis of the deer’s jaw muscles occurs when high arterial worm infestations reduce blood flow.

Whitetail Deer Management: Lumpy Jaw in Whitetail Deer

Impact of Lumpy Jaw

An overabundance of arterial worms is bad news for deer. As a result of jaw muscle paralysis, food becomes trapped inside the deer’s mouth. This food becomes impacted and leads to the lumpy jaw and/or swollen cheek appearance. Over time, the impaction often causes tooth loss, bone decay, and sometimes even death.

So now your thinking, how do white-tailed deer get lumpy jaw? Good question! The common horsefly passes the nematode larvae from an infected deer to an uninfected one by feeding on deer blood. The horsefly carrying larvae-infected blood is ultimately what perpetuates this lumpy jaw condition in deer.

Deer Management: Lumpy Jaw in Whitetail Deer

Lumpy Jaw & Deer Populations

Lumpy jaw in deer is widespread, but it poses little threat to deer populations. Luckily for property owners, hunters, and the deer, infection rates in are not high enough to impact white-tailed deer populations. Arterial worms, like most other deer issues, do not pose a risk to humans. Hunters can consume deer that exhibit lumpy jaw. Many deer have arterial worms and show no symptoms, so you’ve eaten deer with arterial worms.

However, as a hunter I don’t like to think it too much. Who wants to think about arterial worms, nasal bots, or any other of the many diseases, viruses, or things deer can possibly tote around?

Deer Management: Lumpy Jaw in Whitetail

More Lumpy Jaw in Deer?

Arterial worms are not the only game in town. Other creatures can give white-tailed deer that lumpy jaw appearance. A bacterium called Actinomyces bovis can also cause an infection of the jawbone. This bacterium is actually a common inhabitant of the mouths of healthy whitetail. It is only a problem when a sharp object such as a thorn punctures the inner lining of a deer’s mouth. This oral puncture allows A. bovis bacteria to invade the tissues.

Additionally, healthy deer — like all animals — can simply get large or odd-shaped food items caught in their mouth. However, food impaction in white-tailed deer is most often the result of arterial worms. This results in muscle issues that lead to food impaction and lumpy jaw syndrome. As mentioned, lumpy jaw in deer does not pose a health problem for hunters. The meat can be safely consumed.

New Non-typical Whitetail Deer Record

Back in mid-August of this year I wrote an article that touched on conducting deer surveys and how the abundant rainfall received during 2010 really set up most of Texas up for a great year of white-tailed deer hunting. I had a feeling that a lot of the bucks carried over from last year would be looking good this fall.

That said, really was not expecting a new Texas non-typical white-tailed deer record to be harvested on the first day of the 2010 deer hunting season! By the way, I’m talking about over 300 inches of native buck antler. That’s awesome!

Texas Nontypical Record Buck

You may recall that hunter Marko Barrett harvested a big South Texas buck on the Las Raices Ranch back in 2007. That non-typical deer was a brute in his own right with 34 points that measured out at an impressive 275 7/8 inches.

Well, it looks like his father, Mark Barrett, has raised the bar even higher with his own giant, non-typical whitetail buck. And right from his Facebook page, Marko wrote:

“We’ve been keeping this one pretty tight to the vest, but now that he is down we can share these pictures. He is potentially, by our score, the largest native Texas deer EVER! Rough score in velvet of 311 4/8. Congratulations, Mark Barrett (aka Dad)!”

Managing for Better Habitat, Bigger Deer

The Las Raices has been actively involved in whitetail deer management for many years, so producing high-quality whitetail bucks is nothing new for this family-owned property. With the Las Raices’ commitment to on-going deer population and habitat management, it’s starting to look like they could be their only competition for producing record-breaking native deer into the future.

But what am I saying? Big bucks are produced all across Texas every year.

“The buck’s score is reported as 311 4/8” green gross, in full velvet. This score is not official, but is almost certain to replace the current state record. In Encinal’s own words, “Las Raices is a family owned and operated hunting ranch in Webb County, Texas that has exclusively non-manipulated nor transported native genetics.

This is a 100% native pasture deer that has not been manipulated in any way. Just rain, protein feed and patience…'”

One for the Record Book

Congratulations are in order for Mark Barrett and the Las Raices Ranch for bettering their very own state white-tailed deer record. I don’t think every property can produce a 300+ inch non-typical whitetail buck because, let’s face it, this buck is several standard deviations away from average.

But hey, it does show that anyone can exceed their deer management expectations by managing for good habitat and allowing those buck to get some age on them. And then hoping for a little rain, too!

White-tailed Deer in September

When it comes to deer hunting you just have to love late September in Texas. It is at this time of year that hard-antlered bucks show hunters really what they have to offer, and hunters search the woods for sign left by these pre-rut bucks. As testosterone levels rise, bucks remove the velvet that covered their growing antlers for the past 6 months. The act of a buck rubbing his antlers against a trees not only removes the dead, rotting velvet, but also helps strengthen the deer’s neck, shoulders and body as he prepares to do battle with his summertime friends.

September is rarely a time for hunting deer in Texas, except during those years when the Saturday closest to October 1st happens to be in September. No, most of all this month signals that deer hunters had better get their acts together. It’s time for placing out those last minute stands and deer feeders. It’s time for talking about deer, buying seed, and planting winter food plots. It is during this time of year that the eager hunter anticipates each trip to the game camera, never knowing what he or she may have captured.

Most landowners participating in Texas’ Managed Lands Deer Permit deer management program have already wrapped up their deer surveys for the year, have received their harvest recommendations, and are ready to start working on achieving their harvest goals. It Texas, so it seems, a deer managers work is never done.

The recent cool front that pushed through most of the state this past week has really got the deer acting a bit frisky. No, I’m not eluding that the rut is on, at least not in most parts of the state. But believe it or not, research has found that many deer do rut during the month of September. In some instances, fawns are even conceived during late August! This is not the norm for the bulk of the state, but for deer living in the Gulf Prairies and Marshes this is not uncommon. Data from Texas Parks and Wildlife Department found that the peak breeding date for white-tailed deer in the northern portion of the coastal prairies was… September 30.

But just as some does breed early, some deer will breed late. This can cause confusion among hunters because one hunter will proclaim the rut is over in an area while another argues just the opposite. It’s the ole early rut versus the late rut argument. The truth is that deer will be bred throughout the fall and winter. Most of the older does will come into estrus earlier with the younger does following. Fawns born this year can also be bred by bucks in late winter, such as during January and February.

This weekend I plan on heading out to do some bowhunting in Colorado County. From past experience, I fully expect to see some bucks chasing, but I’ve been wrong before. I guess that’s why deer hunting and deer management are two different things. It’s easier to manage a population of deer than it is to hunt a specific deer. But I enjoy the challenge and hope to learn a little more each time I walk into the woods.

Supplemental Feeding in Perspective

Hunters and landowners actively involved in white-tailed deer management know that age, genetics, and nutrition are the rule when it comes to maintaining a healthy deer herd and consistently producing quality whitetail bucks. Because it takes time for bucks to get older and because one can not change the genetics of a deer once it is conceived, a lot of attention gets placed on deer nutrition by hunters and managers on their lands.

When it comes to providing proper nutrition for deer, more than a fair share of this attention gets wrongly placed on supplemental feeding through food plots or protein pellets. I will be the first to tell you that both food plots and supplemental feeding have their place on almost every property, but all too often hunters consider the management practice of adding food to the equation as taking the place of proper deer habitat management. Wrong. Continue reading “Supplemental Feeding in Perspective”