Habitat Management | Deer Hunting & Management

Deer Habitat Improvement Through Prescribed Burning, Fire

The wildfires plaguing various parts of Texas have got me thinking a lot about prescribed burning over the past few days. Prescribed burning, prescribed fire, controlled burning, or however one refers 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 land managers understand the utility of this management cost efficient management practice (which is also a naturally occurring process).

Prescribed burning is a tool used by land managers 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).

Why Use Prescribed Fire?

Prescribed fire is used to reduce fuel loads (existing dead and dormant vegetation) and reduce the threat and severity from wildfires should one occur. Prescribed fires also reduces woody plant encroachment and are beneficial for many native plant species in a way mechanical and chemical management treatments cannot duplicate.

Wildlife, both game and nongame species, also benefit from prescribed fires which results in new plant growth and restoration of habitats which they use both for both food and cover. Benefits from prescribed fire include:

Reduce hazardous fuels, protect communities from wildfires
Reduce the spread of pests and disease
Provide habitat and forage for game and nongame species
Recycle nutrients back into the soil
Promote native species
Promote a diverse natural landscape

Prescribed Burns Often Misunderstood

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.

Fire is a Tool for Active Managers

As with many tools, the quality of the work depends on how good you are with the tool. Prescribed fire 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 and deemed effective for achieving the desired objectives.

Rainfall, Habitat and Antler Growth

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.

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”

Better Fawn Survival for More Bucks

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. Continue reading “Better Fawn Survival for More Bucks”

Fawning Habitat is Important for Deer Populations

Good habitat is important for a healthy white-tailed deer population and necessary for successful deer management. Not only does high quality habitat provide nutritious food and great cover, but good deer habitat also provides a good amount of grass, especially during the fawning season. Deer do not consume very much grass at all–it usually comprises less than 8% of their diet on an annual basis–but tall grass is very beneficial to fawns.

For white-tailed deer, fawns are typically dropped about 7 months after conception. Because the gestation period averages about 205 days in whitetail, the major fawning period is roughly 7 months after the peak of rut. Does bred early in the rut will fawn earlier and those bred late will fawn later, but the majority of deer fawns in a given area will hit the ground at approximately the same time, usually during about a two week period. Fawns, however, don’t usually get a lot of attention from hunters. And there are probably a few reasons.

First, fawning takes place during the late spring and early summer. Many hunters are still “checked-out” at this time of year only to return in late summer or early fall to plant a hunting plot or fill their deer feeders. Secondly, we are talking about fawns here, not big, gigantic, muy grande bucks! Hunters hunt bucks, not fawns. With that said, land owners interested in deer management realize that mature bucks do not just appear out of thin air.

So let’s talk about fawns. The early life of a fawn and the life of an adult whitetail are quite different. For the most part, adult deer do not require a whole lot of grass. The only grass they use in their diet is young and tender. Fawns, on the other hand, need grass and do not even know it. First of all, moderate to high grass makes excellent fawning cover. Not only does this herbaceous cover help conceal newborn fawns, but tall grass is indicative of good white-tailed deer habitat, which is needed by nursing does to raise healthy fawns.

In addition, good fawning cover decreases the impact predators can have on a yearly fawn crop. Research has shown that high quality deer habitat can produce good fawns crops even with dense predator populations. However, even on properties where predators are controlled, if the habitat is poor then fawn crops are not necessarily good. This does not make sense to some people, but it’s true.

First, poor habitat can be caused by many things, but over-grazing by livestock is the number one reason for low-quality habitat. A lack of ground cover makes it really easy for predators (even if few) to find newborn fawns. In addition, generally poor habitat means does will have difficulty finding adequate nutrition to produce milk and raise fawns. You see, over-grazing by cattle leads first to an over-use of grass and then to an over-use of browse species. Over-grazing by goats first leads to an over-use of browse species and then to an over-use of grass species. In either situation, it leads to poor deer habitat and poor fawn crops. Properties that lack at least some open, grass-dominated areas also provide poor deer habitat overall.

Any practice that removes ground cover during the fawning season should be discouraged if you want to improve the fawn crop in your area. The mowing or haying of fields should be postponed at least one month before fawns drop until after the bulk of the fawns have been born, which is usually around the end of June. However, you can figure this out for your area by adding 8 months to the time when the peak of the rut occurs.

Additionally, keep an eye on your predator population and do what you can to control them, but especially in areas with less than ideal fawning habitat. There is quite a bit of time between now and deer season, but the deer you should be thinking about is the one you will be harvesting about 5 1/2 years from now.