Non-typical Stuff | Deer Hunting & Management

Deer Trappers Arrested in Texas

White-tailed deer breeding is a big business in the United States. As with any business that garners big money, people look to cash in on it, both legally and illegally . Game wardens in the Special Operations Unit of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s (TPWD) Law Enforcement Division arrested six men and executed two search warrants as part of Operation Texas Shuffle, a year-long investigation into the black market deer trade in Texas.

All six suspects are alleged to have trapped, purchased or sold wild native white-tail deer. Some are believed to have laundered wild deer into permitted breeding facilities, and one serves as an agent for multiple licensed deer breeders. TPWD Law Enforcement Director Pete Flores said in a news release:

“Our focus here is stopping two main areas of criminal activity: deer being brought illegally across state lines, and wild deer being illegally laundered into deer breeding facilities.”

In one of the illegal deer cases, a permitted deer breeding facility operator allegedly darted wild deer and put them illegally into his facility. That’s what I call making a quick buck. Although the breeder can profit by selling wild-caught deer as a genetically superior animals, it is against the law. It is illegal to capture or obtain wild deer and place them into breeding facilities. Breeders must obtain captive, pen-raised deer from other permitted breeders.

In addition, interstate deer smuggling is illegal because it poses a threat to native white-tailed deer from diseases such as Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). CWD has not been detected in Texas, but it has cost tens of millions of dollars in other states because of it’s impact on native deer populations. Texas borders essentially remain closed to the importation of whitetail and mule deer because of disease concerns. Captain Greg Williford told the press:

“Money is driving the illegal trade in wild native deer. A captive-raised breeder buck can sell for tens of thousands of dollars. So, catching deer in the wild seems a lot less expensive, until you get caught.”

Deer breeding is a legal and growing business in Texas, estimated to be worth about $650 million per year for the state economy. There are currently 1,099 permitted deer breeders in Texas, holding 86,989 deer in 1,161 facilities.

Poaching Hurts Deer Hunters and Managers

Even as progressive as wildlife managers and hunters have become, there are other people that continue to steal your wildlife. After all, wildlife is considered a public resource. The whole concept is a bit odd because even though game animals are “owned” by the public, unless the animal is on your property (or land that you have the right to hunt on), then you do not have the legal right to harvest it. But enough about that. Wildlife theives, commonly referred to as poachers, should not be confused with true hunters. But unfortunately they often are, especially by non-hunters.

Today’s deer story comes from Ohio. Two young men made a big, and costly, mistake when they illegally shot a white-tailed deer. In fact, it ended up being a huge buck. Unfortunately for the poachers, the celebration was short-lived. In addition to fines, restitution, license suspension, and community service the deer, firearms, and all other equipment used in the illegal activities were ordered forfeit. Also, all venison was forfeited and will be donated to a local food pantry. By the way, this punishment has been standard procedure in Texas for some time now, and it can even end with a felony charge. To learn more about the story and above photo, check out the news release below:

Chillicothe, OH – Two men convicted of the illegal harvest of white-tailed deer have been ordered to pay restitution of $12,988 according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife. The Honorable Judge Thomas E. Bunch presided and assistant law director Michele Route prosecuted today over the first case in the State involving white-tailed deer restitution under Ohio’s revised restitution law. The law went into effect March 2008 and allows the Ohio Division of Wildlife to seek an increased recovery value on all illegally harvested wildlife. Continue reading “Poaching Hurts Deer Hunters and Managers”

TPWD Wants Comments on New Deer Hunting Regulations

Deer hunting regulations impact hunters and the deer populations that we hunt. Each year in every state, wildlife agencies examine current regulations and potentially propose changes to those regulations to better manage existing game populations. Several years ago, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) transitioned away from political boundaries for the purpose of monitoring white-tailed deer populations and went towards biologically-based vegetative communities, referred to as Resource Management Units (RMUs).

TPWD identified 33 unique RMUs across the state having similar soils, vegetation types, and land use practices that they believe will more accurately capture deer population dynamics. Their intent is to develop deer season bag limit frameworks based on these units, although regulations will be implemented based on county boundaries to avoid confusion among hunters.

Recently, TPWD unveiled an extensive suite of potential regulation changes in deer harvest throughout much of the state. This includes an expansion of antler restrictions and buck harvest in additional counties. The department has begun gathering public input on the potential proposals during the next few months and present to the commission in January a comprehensive set of proposals. Those proposals will then go back out for official comment during a series of public hearings around the state next spring.

A final decision will be made by the commission at its March 25-26, 2009, public meeting. The changes that could be proposed are listed below and the online public comment period will last until 5:00 pm on January 14, 2009. Click here to make your comments now: Comment on potential TPWD regulations

Expansion of Antler Restriction Regulations into 52 additional counties
Bag Limit Changes: Baylor, Callahan, Haskell, Jones, Knox, Shackelford, Taylor, Throckmorton, and Wilbarger counties
Bag Limit Changes: Pecos, Terrell, and Upton counties
Bag Limit Changes: Most Cross Timbers and Prairies and Eastern Rolling Plains counties
Bag Limit Changes: Selected counties in the western rolling plains
General open season: Dawson, Deaf Smith, and Martin counties
Expansion of the late antlerless and spike season into additional counties
General open season (with antlerless harvest by permit only) in Grayson county
Additional antlerless deer harvest opportunities
Muzzleloader counties and season
Extending youth-only seasons

Whitetail Bucks are Dropping Their Velvet

With the fall deer hunting season just around the corner and thousands of game cameras attached to trees, posts, or anything else an ingenious hunter can mount a camera to, photos are constantly being taken of white-tailed bucks going through rapid antler transformations — from velvet covered antlers to fresh, clean racks. It really is amazing how fast antlers can grow, but just as amazing is how fast a buck can take it all off!

Last week we talked about how minerals are transported from a buck’s skeleton as its antlers grow, but this week we are are touching on the velvet removal process. Velvet is removed because testosterone levels of bucks rise during the fall triggering the mineralization of the cartilage-like tissue. Because a buck’s antlers are very tender during the velvet stage and they have low levels of testosterone, bucks are very friendly towards one another. In fact, you will rarely see bucks fighting at all during the antler growing period.

Antlers harden and then bucks rub off velvet

But don’t think they don’t fight. Bucks do fight, they just do not use their antlers. During the spring and summer, whitetail bucks often settle fights by threats and posturing, but when push comes to shove they fight much likes does — on their hind legs using their front legs to kick! But back to the mineralization of antlers.

Once antlers become totally mineralized, the blood vessels in the velvet surrounding them dies and begins to dry up. As the velvet begins to slough off bucks will aid the process by rubbing their antlers on nearby saplings and trees. Bucks will continue to rub their antlers on brush up until the rut as they work off building aggression and prepare for battle with other white-tailed bucks.

The photos below show a 9-point buck located in central Texas over about a week period. You can identify the buck as the same deer because of his short G4 on the right side, but you can see that this guy went from velvet to clean in short order. And just think, he will be shedding his antlers in about 5 months and starting all over, if he makes it through hunting season!

When Whitetail Bucks Lose Their Velvet

When Do Bucks Lose Their Velvet?

It’s a common and important question hunters ask every year. When do bucks lose their velvet on their antlers? In short, it varies from buck to buck, but the transition from velvet-covered antlers to a “hard-horned” buck takes place in late-summer. The process of antler formation is said to be the most rapid growth known in the animal kingdom.

So, how does a white-tailed buck get such a huge quantity of minerals from his diet and into his antlers so rapidly? Well, they don’t. Yes, a white-tailed buck gets some of the minerals needed for antler growth from its diet. However, the remainder of the minerals needed come from the internal reserves found within its body.

Grow Antlers, Shed Antlers, Repeat

A whitetail buck can not get all the raw material it needs for this rapid growth of antlers from the food it eats that season. Instead, the deer must borrow it from within its body. In a process similar to that of osteoporosis in humans, minerals are taken from a buck’s ribs, sternum, and skull, and redeposited in growing antlers.

When do bucks lose their velvet?

It’s an amazing process. In fact, research has found that bone density may decrease by as much as 30 percent in whitetail bucks following the antler growing season! It also helps explain why mature bucks can grow larger antlers than their younger counterparts. The skeletal bones of a buck continues to grow until it is at least 3 years of age.

As a result, only older bucks can store more of the minerals need for antler growth in their bones. In addition, they also do not have a requirement to use them for skeletal growth. Many bucks will exhibit a significant increase in antler size at 4 years of age.

That is also why the big-antlered bucks always seem to be the heaviest bucks, as well — because they are! Good body condition within each deer found on a property is the key to maintaining a quality deer population in any area. That’s why I continually stress sound habitat management be implemented on your property so that the land can provide optimal year-round deer nutrition.

When Bucks Shed, Lose Their Velvet?

By about the first of September antler growth is generally complete in whitetail bucks across their range. Almost as if someone flipped a switch, bucks undergo a rapid transformation. When it happens, bucks shed the soft velvet from the exterior of their antlers and start to beef-up for the breeding season.

This is marked by a sharp rise in testosterone level that triggers a shutdown of the blood supply to the velvet, which results in velvet dying and being totally removed with amazing speed. The velvet will simply fall off, though many bucks because of increased testosterone levels will begin to rub on shrubs and small trees. Lose velvet hanging from shedding antlers can also be annoying, as witnessed in the video below:

Lastly, when I say velvet is lost fast, I mean fast. Velvet can be completely shed from a whitetail buck’s antlers within a day or two. In fact, I’ve seen an older age class buck with no sign of shedding velvet that was sporting completely clean antlers within 22 hours! Antlers are cool, but white-tailed deer are amazing in their own right.