Photo Gallery & Stories | Deer Hunting & Management

Texas Bowhunters Wet, Whitetail Well-Fed

If Texas’ archery season had opened a few weeks ago when habitat conditions were fair to poor at best, opening weekend might have been likened to shooting fish in a barrel. Well, it probably would not have been that easy, but just a couple of weeks ago range conditions were horrible over much of the state due to severe to extreme drought conditions. A lack of rainfall had resident white-tailed deer hustling to make a living. That is no longer the case. What bowhunters found this past weekend was that they themselves were the fish in the barrel.

Bowhunters that took the field on Saturday and Sunday in search of whitetail found themselves pretty soggy. Sure, the weather opening morning was decent, but rain and clouds literally sat over most of Texas for the rest of the weekend. As a matter of fact, those rain-makers are still out there and weather forecasters are calling for more precipitation for the remainder of the week. So from a bowhunter’s perspective, the archery opener was less than ideal and I suspect deer harvests numbers were way down. Texas’ white-tailed deer, on the other hand, are knee-deep in acorns and succulent fall forbs.

The hot, dry summer had deer scrambling in search of native forage, but recent, abundant rains have turned the once brown landscape Scotland green. Parts of Central Texas have received 12 or more inches of rain in the past couple of weeks—some in a single day! To add insult to injury, oak trees recently dropped massive acorn crops despite dry spring and summer conditions. I call it the bowhunters curse, and it happens more often than not.

Just when hunters think they have the white-tailed deer in patterned, here comes the acorns and fall forbs and then all bets are off. Well, the only thing that you can bet on is that deer will be spread out just like the food—and that if you’re set up near a feeder you will not see a deer. A heavy acorn crop combined with improved habitat conditions make it difficult for bowhunters to pin-point where deer will be feeding, unless there are only a handful of oak trees in an area. That is usually not the case.

But it’s not all bad, particularly for the deer. With fall at hand and winter around the corner, white-tailed deer need to fatten up for hard times ahead. The good acorn crop will help with that. Fifty percent of the calories a deer obtains from an acorn comes from fat; another 40% comes from carbohydrates. The timely rains have boosted habitat conditions and produced a bumper crop of cool season forbs. Forbs are high in carbs, too, but also loaded with protein—as high as 25 to 30 % digestible protein in some cases. So bowhunters may have suffered the early fall curse this past weekend, but Texas’ white-tailed deer have been blessed this fall.

Poor Nutrition: Doe Eats a Fawn?

Whitetail Doe Eats Fawn?!?

White-tailed deer have specific nutritional requirements that can be met through habitat management and by maintaining deer numbers at the carrying capacity for the area. Under these described conditions, deer can get all of the required components of their diet, including energy, protein, fat, vitamins, and minerals, that allow them to function properly. Many deer managers will even provide supplemental forage in the form of protein pellets or food plots that allow for optimal deer performance and health.

But what happens when a deer’s diet does not meet their dietary requirements? The answer is simple: Deer suffer. This suffering comes in the form of lower body weights, poor body function, lowered immune systems, and sub-optimal antler growth. As far as deer are concerned, the latter is the least of their worries.

Malnourished bucks will “steal” necessary vitamins and minerals from antler growth to supply critical processes. Does will do the same sort of thing, but malnourished does will abort their fetuses during pregnancy or abandon their fawns during nursing. In short, deer that have poor diets will do things you may not expect. Such is the case in these photos of a white-tailed doe eating a road-killed fawn.

These photos are from an suburban area with a high population of white-tailed deer located near Austin, Texas. And by high, I suspect that the deer density in this area is approaching about 1 deer for every 1 to 2 acres. I don’t care where you go, that’s a very high deer density! To make matters worse, this part of Texas has been under severe drought conditions for the past year. Although high numbers of deer exist in suburban areas throughout the United States, poor environmental conditions can exacerbate the problems associated with deer overpopulation.

One deer for every one acre: I hope that no ranch ever attempts to have this many deer on a property. In most parts of the country, a good rule of thumb is 1 white-tailed deer for every 6 to 12 acres of deer habitat, depending on soil and precipitation. In central Texas, a deer would require a minimum of 8 acres of good habitat to meet its dietary requirements and achieve optimal growth. Because the doe above is found in a suburban area where deer numbers are difficult to maintain (because hunting is not allowed), the the animal can not possibly have a proper diet. The “habitat” is inadequate and, as a result, so are the food sources.

READ: Can Deer Get Mastitis?

Over the years, researchers and observers have reported that white-tailed deer are not strictly vegetarian. In areas where their normal diet is low in essential minerals (particularly calcium) deer have been reported to eat meat, in addition to bird eggs and young birds (whole) found in nests. These unusual additions to the diet are believed to be consumed when minerals are lacking, although actual vitamin requirements in whitetail are unknown, as well.

Obviously, the whitetail doe featured in these photos is not in horrible shape, but she is far from great condition. This doe was reportedly observed eating meat directly from the road-killed fawn. Although meat does not normally comprise the food habits of whitetail, this doe sensed that something she was lacking could be garnered from the flesh of this dead fawn.

Sudden Impact is a Huge Whitetail!

Deer management involves manipulating the habitat and animals found on a property to improve body condition, increase fawning rates, and enhance antler quality of a white-tailed deer herd. Overall, deer management has been fueled by the desire for healthier bucks with larger antlers. And although herd management works well, it does not work over night–it takes years of work and selective deer harvest.

A spin-off of deer management has been the selective pen-breeding of deer which has resulted in the commercial white-tailed deer breeding industry. Love it or hate it, this has allowed line-breeding and the rapid concentration of genes supporting abnormally-large antler growth.

Here enters the deer known as Sudden Impact. Not only is he a big buck, he is an absolutely, insanely, monstrous whitetail buck! After glancing at his antlers, you are probably thinking that this buck has reached maturity and has grown its biggest rack ever. Wrong. The video above features Sudden Impact at only 2 years of age in 2008! Yes, at 2 1/2 years old his shed antlers scored an eye-raising 406 5/8 Boone and Crockett inches.

This buck is already the largest pen-raised whitetail ever and he looks to blow through that mark later this year. There is no doubt that he is impressive, but would you really want to shoot him?

Monster Illinois Buck Found Dead

Big Buck Down in Illinois

Every deer hunter loves a monster buck story, so here is a new one about a big buck found dead in Illinois. Like the world record non-typical white-tailed deer that was found dead in Missouri, two quail hunters found this big non-typical buck dead, but on a property near Petersburg, Illinois. I can imagine there is still quite a bit of heartache within the hunters in this area.

I mean, how would you feel if you caught a glimpse of this big Illinois whitetail while hunting? Or worse, had a picture of this giant buck at your stand while you were at work? Ouch!

Quail Hunters Find BIG Buck!

The hunters that found the big, dead buck had permission to hunt quail following deer hunting season. I think they jumped a few coveys, but the most notable thing they brought home was the head and antlers of this massive buck which unofficially scored 246 Boone and Crockett inches. Now, that is something to write home about!

The white-tailed buck was apparently caught on camera by a hunter’s game camera, but the deer apparently eluded hunters for yet another Illinois deer season. I do not know how old this big deer was, but preliminary reports state that no wounds were found on the deer, although coyotes had eaten on the carcass. An impressive buck, no doubt.

An Illinois Monster

Two Big Whitetails Lock Up and Drowned

As hunters, we hate to see dead deer that are not hunter-killed. This includes deer hit by cars, deer hung in fences by their hind legs, and locked bucks. To non-hunters, it probably does not make sense — because each fall hunters harvest hundreds of thousands of white-tailed deer across the US. The big difference is that most hunters have a good understanding of how wildlife management, specifically deer management, really works and why it is necessary. But there’s much more lost than just hunter satisfaction.

Hunters and non-hunters that see the photos of these two dead bucks will consider it a bad thing. However, deer hunters realize that not only has some excellent table fare been lost, but the satisfaction of two successful harvests has vanished, as well. But nature can be cruel — and a bit ironic. Was each of these bucks fighting for the right to pass on their genes, or simply to prevent the other from passing on his? If it was the former, they both lose. If it’s the latter, they both, unfortunately, win.

These two whitetail bucks were found dead on a ranch near Tilden, Texas. They apparently drowned in a stock tank after getting locked together in a fight that really was a brawl for it all. From the photos, the bucks do not appear to be severely locked, but it only takes about 10 seconds to drown. The larger buck scored 166 Boone and Crockett inches and the 12 point buck went 154. Two good bucks, some happy hunters, hamburger meat and a lot of sausage lost.