Category: Non-typical Stuff

Giant Buck is OK

One of the best things about white-tailed deer hunting is that you never know when or where a big buck could show up. Case in point: a big nontypical whitetail buck that was recently discovered in Oklahoma — the kind of buck that would keep you awake at night if it showed up in your game camera photos.

Unfortunately, deer hunters in the area will not be able to claim this giant whitetail and there is no doubt that a number of hunters have photos of this great animal. You see, the buck actually lived in close proximity to a neighborhood in Edmond, Oklahoma.

Big Buck Down

The buck was found in late September, just prior to the Oklahoma deer season opener. Turns out the animal was road-killed, found along the side of the road. Big bummer for area hunters, especially since this mature buck sported a whopping 28 points. I don’t know about you, but from where I come from that is the stuff that dreams are made of.

According to local news outlets the whitetail buck measured 236 3/8 inches using the Boone & Crockett antler scoring system.

Oklahoma on The Map

The state of Oklahoma has produces good deer year-in and year-out. But the OK state is not alone. A number of state’s have seen improvement in the age structure of bucks, with yearling bucks comprising the lowest percentage of buck harvest in the nation just last year.

That bodes well for hunters this season, especially other states in the region such as Texas. With two back-to-back seasons of amazing rainfall, white-tailed deer hunters in Texas have something special to look forward to this hunting season.

Lots of Good Bucks

Not only are bucks in great shape right now, but there will more older bucks in the herd this fall. Good habitat conditions in Okalahoma and Texas last year made deer hunting tough. An abundance of natural food resulted in lower deer movements, less visits to food plots and deer feeders.

This phenomenon allowed a lot more bucks to reach an additional year of age. Maybe this resulted in even fewer yearling bucks being harvested? Hard to say for sure, but I know that I am excited for the season because all those survivors will have even more antler growth this year. With the deer hunting season underway, hopefully you are reading this from your stand!

White-tailed Deer Antlers

Whitetail antlers are an amazing example of nature’s wonderful, yet functional, work. It’s amazing how fast buck deer grow these strong structures atop their head each and every year. Deer antlers range from tiny sharp spikes to amazing typical and non-typical racks.

Antlers develop into every size and shape although most whitetail bucks grow typical antlers . Antler size, growth and irregularities are often misunderstood by many deer hunters. A great deal of misinformation has been passed down over the years. One major misnomer that is commonly made by both hunters and non-hunters who don’t realize that antlers are not horns, and horns are not antlers.

Antlers are Bone

In Fact, a buck’s antlers are made of dead bone and are yearly growths that begin growing from a pair of pedicles on the buck’s head. Antler growth using kicks off in late winter to early spring depending on the age and physical condition of an individual buck. Antlers reach full growth in late summer usually October.

A whitetail bucks antlers are normally branched, except for spikes, and maturity, good nutrition, lack of stress and genetics determine antler size and formation. Bucks tend to develop larger antlers each successive year, with most never reaching their genetic potential; because they don’t live long enough. Most bucks reach peak antler growth at 6-8 years of age.

Bucks Only?

Generally, only male white-tailed deer grow antlers, but one doe out of several thousand females will grow antlers because of a hormone imbalance. So, it is possible for doe deer to grow antlers.

If you are a hunter that happens to have harvested such an animal then make sure you use a buck tag off of your hunting license to tag your deer. Most states in the U.S. define bucks as deer having antlers, while “doe” tags are for “ant;erless” deer, which also includes buck fawns (because they do not have hardened antlers). Confused yet?

More on Horns

Horns, rather than antlers, are living bone that is covered with hard layers of skin. They are typically unbranched and permanently established on the animal’s head. Wild sheep, for example, continue to grow horns throughout their lives. Horns also are found on bison, cows and goats in North America.

White-tailed deer have antlers they shed and grow each year. So the next time someone refers to a white-tailed buck’s antlers as horns, just smile — because you know better.

Deer Management in Texas

The Texas Deer Study Group will convene May 11-12 at the Kuykendall Events Center, 2200 RR 152 in Llano, Texas. This year’s event will focus on “Land Stewardship: The Basis for Good Deer Management.” Hunters, land owners and everyone with an interest in white-tailed deer and deer management is encouraged to attend.

Texas Deer Study Group Agenda: Day 1

The program starts at 8 a.m. the first day of the annual meeting with a wide array of topics, including Land Stewardship and Deer management, Brush Management for Deer, Prescribed Burning and Habitat Management, Deer Nutrition, Deer Energetics, and What a Deer Eats and Why.

That afternoon, the first day will also cover a History of Deer Management in the Hill Country, Deer Harvest Strategies, Effectiveness of Deer Survey Techniques, How Deer Populations Impact Other Wildlife Species, Native Genetics and Quality, plus up to date information about Changes to Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Managed Lands Deer Program (MLDP), Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), and it will end with a Speaker Panel Discussion.

Deer Study Group Agenda: Day 2

On day two, the group will meet at a local ranch for a half-day of presentations covering Getting to Know Your Deer, habitat management techniques and native vegetation.

Sponsorship will be available for businesses and individuals to support the Texas Deer Study Group meeting in Llano. If interested in attending, early registration is $45 until May 4 and $60 after that date. Anyone can register online or get more information via the Texas Wildlife Association website, or contact Clint Faas at cfaas@texas-wildlife.org.

MLDP Program in Texas

The deer management and permit program offered by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) is going to see some changes in 2017. According to TPWD, the Managed Lands Deer Permit (MLDP) Program looks to take advantage of available technologies in order to better serve its customers. A faster, leaner online system will ensure the program runs as efficiently as possible.

Landowners participating in the wildly-popular MLDP will be able to complete the enrollment process and print their tags online beginning this summer, thanks to a new automated system being implemented by the TPWD. The new online process is just one aspect of a much-needed overhaul of the MLDP, which began in 1996 and has become so successful that it outpaced the department’s manpower and resources.

MLDP Participation

According to TPWD, there are currently more than 10,000 farms and ranches covering about 26 million acres that are enrolled in the MLD program. The program is designed to foster and support sound management and stewardship of native wildlife and wildlife habitats on private lands in Texas. Participation is recognized through incentive-based deer tag issuance that provides extended hunting season lengths and liberalized harvest opportunities beyond what is allowed under the county deer hunting regulations.

Participants also have access to varying levels of technical assistance regarding wildlife and habitat management from department biologists.

New MLDP Options

TPWD has simplified the program down to two options — Harvest or Conservation — from the previous three levels of white-tailed deer MLD, mule deer MLD, and the Landowner Assisted Management Permits (LAMPS). Both options retain issuance of deer tags that can be used during an extended hunting season about October 1 through the end of February, but the Harvest Option does come with early season buck harvest restrictions (archery equipment only in October for branched-antlered bucks). Antlerless and unbranched antler bucks may still be harvested by any legal means during the entire MLDP season.

Program Enrollment

Landowners seeking to enroll their property in either the MLDP Harvest or Conservation Option must use the new Land Management Assistance online system when it becomes available to submit an application for participation. The application process will require the landowner to create an account and to draw a property boundary in the online system.

An email address is required for the landowner and any designated agents the landowner may assign to the account. Read more about Land Management Assistance in Texas.

TPWD Rolls Out LMA

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) announced that it will be offering a new deer permit program in 2017, Land Management Assistance. The program will be the result of merging a couple of deer permit programs (MLDP+LAMPS) into two options, resulting in the Harvest Option and the Conservation Option.

Under the new deer permit program, participating landowners selecting the Harvest Option will receive automated deer harvest recommendations, tag issuance, and general correspondence about wildlife and habitat management for their property. No site specific deer population/survey data will be required under the Harvest Option, which also means property owners will not receive site specific harvest recommendations from a TPWD biologist.

The Conservation Option is similar in scope to the old Level 3 MLDP, and comes with customized technical guidance and harvest recommendations from TPWD, requiring at least 3 approved habitat management practices be implemented each year on a participating property.

Deer Management in Texas

TPWD currently issues about 330,000 deer tags each year through the MLDP Program. “Phenomenal growth in the MLD program over the last 20 years has presented significant challenges for staff to meet the increasing number of requests from landowners for technical assistance and simply administer the program,” explained Alan Cain, TPWD white-tailed deer program leader.

Effective this year, participants will be able to print their own MLDP tags, which will eliminate issues with tags lost in the mail, not arriving on time, or bad address, and provide greater convenience and flexibility to participants.

The system retooling won’t sacrifice the core mission of the program, Cain reassured, rather will enable limited wildlife biologist staff to focus private lands technical guidance efforts on site-specific wildlife population and habitat management recommendations.

Land Management Assistance Continued

“Our primary goal is to continue developing long-term relationships with private landowners, engage and educate them about the importance of management in promoting healthy habitats and wildlife populations, and ultimately put more resource conservation on the ground,” said Cain.

Despite the state’s economic growth, there is little doubt that white-tailed deer hunting and management will continue to be extremely popular in Texas. It will be interesting to hear how changes impact current program participants. Additional information and details about the deer management permit program is available online at TPWD.