Non-typical Stuff | Deer Hunting & Management

White-tailed Deer Research Continues in Louisiana

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) and Louisiana State University (LSU) Agriculture Center have spearheaded the study with help from various contributors. The study is has entered its second and final year. The primary objectives of the study are to assess range and movements of male and female white-tailed deer, evaluate age and sex-specific harvest rates of white-tailed deer and evaluate survival and causes of death among male and female white-tailed deer in a Louisiana bottomland hardwood forest.

The study is being conducted on approximately 40,000 acres of bottomland hardwood forest located west of Baton Rouge and east of the Atchafalaya Basin. The study area is currently leased to more than 30 private hunting clubs, and each club belongs to a cooperative that promotes quality deer management on the property. Continue reading “White-tailed Deer Research Continues in Louisiana”

Kerr Wildlife Management Area Deer Pen Research

In 1974, a high-fenced research facility was constructed on the Kerr Wildlife Management Area located near Hunt, Texas. The purpose of the research facility was allow the Wildlife Division of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) to study antler growth in native white-tailed deer. The 16-acre facility consists of six 2/3-acre breeding pens, three 4-acre pens, and a series of alleys and chutes to facilitate the handling of research animals.

The orginal breeding pens consisted of seven brood bucks, of which six were spikes, and 5 to 7 does. All deer were native Texas whitetails obtained from various locations throughout the State. No additional deer were added after the fall of 1974 and the herd has been maintained as a closed, pedigreed herd.

The orginal purpose of the pens was to address the following objectives:

1. To determine factors which contribute to antler formation in white-tailed deer.
2. To determine the effect of nutrition level on antler formation and body weight.
3. To determine if deeer that were spike-antlered at 1 1/2-years of age (yearlings) have the same potential for antler development and body weight in later years as bucks which were fork-antlered at 1 1/2 years of age.
4. To determine the influence of genetics on antler characteristics.

Continue reading “Kerr Wildlife Management Area Deer Pen Research”

Time to Hunt for Shed Deer Antlers

Hunting for shed antlers means getting out in the woods at a different time of the year. If you’re like most white-tailed deer hunters, then you spend the majority of your time in the woods during the fall and winter of each year. However, the habitat that white-tailed deer live in — just like the animals themselves — are found there year-round. Shed hunting is a good opportunity to get out and explore the area you hunt, learn more about it, and possibly even find some nice shed antlers.

With spring just around the corner and whitetail bucks beginning to shed last year’s antler growth, there is a good opportunity to learn more about your deer hunting area as well as the deer that live there. Hunters get excited when bucks start growing their antlers each year because it’s a chance to witness the affect of past management activities and offers a look ahead to, hopefully, future harvests. It really is something to get pumped up about.

Shed Hunting Season

Then, on the other hand, there are some hunters that also get pumped up after the hunting seasons have already ended. Those guys and gals are the shed hunters. Once winter sets in, it marks the fact that soon whitetail bucks will be dropping, casting their coveted antlers. As it turns out, there are ways to get a huge set of antlers on your wall other than shooting the big boy. He may have eluded you during the season, but you can still find his shed antlers!

Finding shed deer antlers not only ends with great rewards you get to take home, but also with some valuable information you can tuck away in your back pocket for next season. Information such as the quality of bucks that made it through the last hunting season, the number of different bucks that were in the area, and specific areas that these bucks used while in your area.

Shed antlers also allow you to physically track bucks that you may have been keeping a close eye on. Measurements that can be taken from year to year include common measurements such as beam length, tine length, and mass measurements.

Shed Hunting Tips

Look in and around late-season food plots and other food sources.
Examine deer travel corridors, water sources and anywhere deer commonly travel.
Use a game camera to monitor the deer herd and ensure most of the bucks in the area have already shed their antlers before your start. More antlers on the ground ups your chances at finding them.
Don’t wait too long to hunt for sheds. Rodents will eat and destroy cast antlers due to the coveted minerals they contain. In addition, warming weather will spur forb and grass growth and make finding antlers much more difficult.
Keep an eye out for new hunting locations. This may inspire you to cover more ground, increasing your chances of finding deer sheds.

Interesting Facts About White-tailed Deer

For those that work close-hand to better manage deer and deer habitat, we are always learning how we can improve the conditions of both. To better understand how we can enhance available deer habitat, deer nutrition, and the health of a deer herd, any information we can gather about deer help the cause. Here are some additonal facts you may not know:

1. White-tailed deer establish a home-range territory and will not leave it! It has been documented that deer will starve rather than leave their territory. Moral of the story — maintain adequate nutrition!

2. Wild white-tailed have been known to live at least to 11-years in the wild, but I suspect a very small percentage live even longer. Now those are mature deer!

3. With optimal habitat conditions, deer populations can double in size annually! Without regulated hunting and proper harvest management, deer will destroy wildlife habitat and suffer tremendous population die-offs.

4. If you took 2 white-tailed deer in the absence of predators, in just 7-years those two animals alone can produce a herd of up to 35 animals! I wish my savings increased at that rate.

5. In areas of overpopulation, deer cause an over-browsing affect we call a “browse line.” You do not want a browse line on your ranch! After a browse line is created, it takes years under a low deer density for browse plants to re-establish and recover.

White-tailed Deer Facts 2

White-tailed deer are one of the most widely studied wildlife species in the US. As a result, there are more known facts about whitetail than any other species, game or non-game. For example, researchers have already identified at least 25+ subspecies of white-tailed deer spanning from coast to coast! Although most are very similar, each is somewhat different in terms of physical characteristics and in behavior.

Below are 5 facts about the amazing white-tailed deer:

1. Well-nourished white-tailed bucks begin growing new antlers each April. The timing regarding new antler growth can vary with an individual buck’s body condition, but is influenced by environmental conditions. Antlers can grow more than 1/2″ per day.

2. When temperatures drop to single digits (farenheit), whitetail deer are often more nocturnal and also tend to move during the mid-day hours.

3. The large ears of white-tailed deer can rotate 180 degrees and pick up high-frequency sounds very well.

4. The entire molting process for whitetails is slow and gradual, usually taking several months to complete. From early spring to late summer, a deer’s coat transforms from a dense grey pelage (fur) to a thin but deeply-colored auburn.

5. However, when hunting in early fall, hunters will notice that the deer’s coat has changed from reddish to grey. This fall color change occurs much more rapidly, often within only one to two weeks!

Want more information? Check out these addtional white-tailed deer facts.