Non-typical Stuff | Deer Hunting & Management

Movement and Survival of Translocated Deer

In the US, white-tailed deer were originally transported to restore populations that were “shot out” during the early 20th century. Today, land managers continue to move deer from one area to another, but not just to restore populations. The driving force behind today’s deer translocations is primarily twofold: to augment low-density deer populations and to promote genetic improvement. However, a third option for translocation is an alternative to harvest — to manage overabundant populations; remove deer found in high deer-density urban areas, transport them, and release them elsewhere.

But regardless of why deer are moved, how do they cope? What is the survival rate and performance of transported deer after they are “liberated” at their release site? These are good questions and a study out of Texas A&M University-Kingsville hopes to answer them. We know that for a translocation program to be successful we need two things, a high survival of released deer and for the animals to remain in the area where they were released. Without achieving these two objectives, the overall goal will not be met. Continue reading “Movement and Survival of Translocated Deer”

Unicorn Deer Found in Italy

Well, it’s not a white-tailed deer and it’s not located in the US, but a yearling (1 1/2-year old) Roe Deer was spotted in Italy with only a single antler protruding from the center of it’s head! The director of the Center of Natural Sciences in Prato told the press:

“This is fantasy becoming reality. The unicorn has always been a mythological animal.”

The 1-year-old buck, who not coincidentally is nicknamed “Unicorn,” was born in captivity in the research center’s park in the Tuscan town of Prato, near Florence. Obviously, the buck was born with a genetic flaw because his twin, like other Roe bucks, has two horns.

Single-horned deer are rare but not unheard of — but even more unusual is the central positioning of the horn. The location of the horn is probably the result of trauma early in the animal’s life, but the scientific director of Rome’s zoo said:

“Generally, the horn is on one side (of the head) rather than being at the center. This looks like a complex case. This shows that even in past times, there could have been animals with this anomaly. It’s not like they dreamed it up.”

Photos of a Normal Roe Buck and Doe:

White-tailed Deer Are Expensive!

As hunters, we know how expensive it’s becoming to hunt white-tailed deer. Not only are the prices of guided hunts and hunting leases going up, but the price of raw land is rapidly rising, as well. To make matters worse, deer managers are being hit with the climbing costs of food plot seeds, supplemental feeds, and vehicle and tractor fuels.

And as much money as the hunting industry may bring in to the US economy, it’s only a portion of the total economic impact white-tailed deer have in this country. A recent and conservative estimate put a $12.5 million price tag on deer-vehicle collisions in the state of Texas alone!

But what about crop damage? And damage to ornamental plants? And loss of human life? I understand that in many cases problems arise as people move into areas inhabited by deer. However, many suburbs create their own problems through feeding and the prohibition of hunting. But problems are problems regardless of how they come about.

We talk a lot about deer hunting and management, but let’s look at some economic aspects concerning white-tailed deer that are not related to hunting. Continue reading “White-tailed Deer Are Expensive!”

Stages of Antler Development in White-tailed Deer

Deer Antler Growth

Antler growth in deer really is phenomenal! In fact, deer antlers are among the fastest growing tissues in the animal kingdom. They grow as much as 1/2-inch per day during peak antler growth! Of course, the amount of antler material a buck grows depends upon nutrition, genetics, and age. Let’s look at some factors that effect deer antler growth.

Actively growing antlers are covered with a living tissue called velvet; because it really looks and feels like velvet fabric. A buck’s antlers are both extremely delicate and sensitive to the touch during antler development. Bucks are not aggressive towards each other during the antler growing period. However, this is still the time when most deer antler damage occurs.

Antler development in white-tailed deer antlers by stage.

Growing antlers are sensitive. As a result, disputes between bucks at this time are handled by bucks standing on their hind legs and swinging their front legs in the same manner than doe deer use to fight and establish dominance. This technique allows groups of bachelor bucks to sort things out, so to speak. More importantly, it keeps their all-important headgear intact.

Key factors of annual buck antler growth in whitetail include:

Age of buck
Nutrition available to the buck
Stress (physical) from prior breeding season
Genetic potential for antler growth
Older bucks typically shed & start growth first

Video: Whitetail Buck Antler Growth

Antler Growth in Bucks

White-tailed deer antler growth usually begins during the month of March or April. Buck antler development ceases by August or early September. In most cases, typical deer antlers begin growing out a buck’s head in a backward motion then quickly change direction and sweep forward as we commonly know.

So how long does it take for a buck to form hardened antlers? The following photos illustrate antler growth for a single white-tailed buck in Texas (in a research facility) from March through September. Take a look at these stages of antler growth. It all happens relatively fast!

Antler Growth Photos by Month

Antler Growth in Bucks

Photos of Antler Growth in Bucks

Whitetail Antler Growth by Month

Antler Growth Photos by Stage

Deer Antler Growth

Improve Antler Growth in Whitetail Bucks

Older Bucks Grow Larger Antlers

Antler Growth Increases with Age

Whitetail bucks drop or shed their antlers during the late winter and early spring. Fortunately, they grow them back annually. Antler growth in bucks generally increases annually as a buck ages, gets older. Substantial increases in antler size (and score) can be observed as a buck goes from 1 to 5 or 6 years of age.

White-tailed deer do not complete skeletal growth until about 3 years of age. During this time, bucks put a lot of the same materials that are used for the growth of antlers into long bones and other parts of their skeletal system. This one of the primary reasons that a buck’s antlers often make a noticeable jump from 3 to 4 years old — skeletal growth is complete and many of the antler growing supplies are now stored in those bigger bones.

Environmental Effects on Deer Antler Growth

The annual cycle of antler growth is amazing. I and hunters like myself enjoy watching particular bucks from year to year. Often times, antler configuration makes it possible to ID most bucks in subsequent years. A whitetail buck will typically show an increase in antler growth until at least age 6, possibly older. Most of the potential will be realized by 5 years of age.

Nutrition plays a role in a buck’s antler size. Bucks that have good, stable food sources provided by high quality habitat will produce better antlers than those of the same age that lack adequate nutrition. To take it further, precipitation plays a role in annual antler growth, especially as you go West in the whitetail’s range. High quality habitat can turn into mediocre habitat when it’s dry and protein-rich foods are not available.

State of Texas to Pay for Deer-Auto Collisions?

Imagine if the Texas Legislature mandated Texas Parks and Wildlife Department write a $250 check to every person whose motor vehicle collides with a deer on a Texas public road.

We’d be talking about a lot of money. And because that money would almost certainly come from the fund holding revenue from sale of hunting and fishing license fees, the inevitable result would be crippling to TPWD’s ability to do fisheries and wildlife management and research. Those programs are almost exclusively funded from license revenue — no general tax revenue goes to Texas’ wildlife and fisheries programs.

Deer plus cars equals too many accidents

Neither state nor local governments compile figures on how many deer/vehicle collisions occur in Texas. But the insurance industry estimates, based on claims, about 40,000 such accidents in Texas each year.

Between uninsured drivers and insured drivers without comprehensive coverage or opting to not report the accident, the actual number of deer/vehicle collisions in Texas is much higher. Some estimates are that Texas annually sees 100,000 deer/vehicle collisions.

Have to Blame Someone

So let’s be real conservative and say 50,000 deer collisions a year. At $250 per collision, TPWD would be out $12.5 million a year. That’s almost as much as the annual salaries and operating budget for TPWD’s inland fisheries division.

Why should TPWD have to pay money to people who hit a deer? Well, they’re the state’s deer. The state is responsible for them. And TPWD is the state agency charged with managing the deer herd. If one of the state’s deer walks onto a highway, causes an accident and damages a private vehicle, the state should be liable, and, logically, the money should come out of TPWD’s budget.

This is madness, of course. Making the state pay for damages caused by colliding with a deer is like demanding the National Weather Service pay for damage to a car from a freak hailstorm.

Deer are wild animals, and short of exterminating them, the state has no way of preventing a deer or any other wild animal from wandering onto a roadway.

Well, maybe if the state bracketed every road in the state with deer-proof fences. But with cost of building a deer-proof fence running $15,000 or more a mile (that’s $30,000 or more to fence both sides of one mile stretch of highway), no government this side of Qatar can afford, much less justify the expense, to deer-proof even a few miles of road in the most deer-rich areas.

OK, you’re saying, this whole exercise is absurd. What’s the point? Texas has no such law and never will.

Say it Ain’t So

Turns out, some people believe it’s far from absurd. Apparently, a move is afoot to get state legislatures to pass laws making states (and state wildlife and fisheries agencies in particular) financially liable for damages in deer/vehicle collisions.

A couple of weeks ago, a bill was filed in the Missouri General Assembly that, if passed, would force that state’s Department of Conservation (Missouri’s equivalent of TPWD’s wildlife and fisheries divisions) to pay the owner of a vehicle involved in a collision with a deer the first $250 of the cost of repairing the vehicle.

Missouri annually sees at least 9,000 deer/vehicle collisions. So the state’s wildlife agency would be on the hook for about $2.25 million a year, with that money almost certainly coming straight from hunting and fishing license fees.

At first glance, the Missouri proposal might easily be brushed aside as just one of those outrageous pieces of legislation that gets filed because a legislator or an influential constituent has a personal grudge or agenda. Bills like that are filed to make a point, and even their sponsors don’t expect them to pass.

None Yet to Pass

But dig a little deeper, and you find the Missouri bill is not an aberration. A cursory search on the Web turned up four other states — South Dakota, Virginia, Iowa and Indiana — where similar legislation has been filed over the past few years.

The South Dakota bill, which contains language very much like the Missouri proposal, was filed earlier this year, and its fate has yet to be decided. The other bills died a deserved death.

The Indiana bill concerning state liability for deer/vehicle collisions was the most sobering of the lot. That bill, filed in 2002,. would have made the state of Indiana “strictly liable for actual damage to a vehicle and medical expenses caused by the collision of a deer and a vehicle on the highway.”

Conservative estimates put Indiana’s annual deer/vehicle collision at about 11,000. Insurance industry figures say the number is more like 36,000. The average cost of repairs to a vehicle involved in a deer collision, according to the insurance industry, runs about $2,900.

At the low-end estimate of 11,000 deer/vehicle collisions, Indiana would have faced having to pay an estimated $32 million a year just in vehicle repair claims. Indiana officials didn’t even try estimating likely medical costs. The bill didn’t pass.

The moves to try making states pay for damage resulting from drivers plowing into a deer are, if you apply a bit of twisted logic, somewhat understandable in light of today’s someone-has-to-pay mindset.

Accidents are Big Problem

Deer/vehicle collisions are a very real problem. Estimates are that about 1.5 million such collisions happen on U.S. roads each year, resulting in approximately 150 human fatalities. Texas almost annually leads the nation in those fatalities, averaging 15-20 a year.

White-tailed deer populations continue booming. Texas has about 4 million deer, or approximately one deer for every six Texans. And it’s a good bet a very high percentage of the more than 17 million motor vehicles registered in Texas have had close calls with deer and other wildlife.

But blaming the state for those collisions, making the hunting and fishing licence-buying public shoulder the cost while gutting funding for managing natural resources for all residents, is as impractical as it is unfair.

Could Texas ever see an attempt to stick the state with the financial liability of deer/vehicle collisions? Can’t count anything out when the Texas Legislature’s involved.

But considering this is a state where privately owned trucks hauling gravel over public roads are not held liable for the tens of thousands of vehicle windshields they destroy, you’d think Texas legislators wouldn’t even consider trying to stick the state’s hunters and anglers with costs of repairing every car that hits a deer.

Still, it’s obvious someone out there wants to.

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By Shannon Tompkins
Reprinted from the Houston Chronicle