deer hunting | Buck Manager

The Movement of Whitetail Bucks

Every animal, including white-tailed deer, has an area that they call home. In the wildlife world this area is know as home range. The home range of an individual white-tailed buck, however, varies by season. One would expect that the range of a buck would be fairly stable for much of the year, only to increase in size during the breeding season. This increase in range would be the result of the buck’s behavior and increased movement in his search for receptive does. Although thought to be true, does this phenomenon really happen?

Summer is a good time to be a whitetail buck. Not only do male deer get along, but packs of bucks run together in beloved bachelor groups. Hunters and managers alike get a thrill every time they stumble across a fraternity of whitetail. These observations often serve as confirmation that their harvest stategies or deer management programs are effective. We all like to see healthy bucks. Bachelor groups, by the way, can range in size from 2 to 3 deer up to as many as 28 bucks. At least that is the largest number of free-ranging bucks seen together that anyone has ever reported to me.

It is also during the summer that bucks move around a fair amount, but not as much as during the rut. As summer draws to an end, most bucks become less mobile and highly patternable. It is the time immediately after bucks shed their velvet that they become aggressive towards one another and a bit more territorial. By September, hunters at southern latitudes will start to see individual bucks visiting the same feeding areas again and again.

This is especially true for hunters that use game cameras to monitor their feeders, ag fields, and food plots. That is, if there is a spring food plot left to monitor after summer and the local deer have their way with it. During much of the summer, bucks will be picked up here and there on game cameras as they travel around the countryside eating where they may, but after developing hardened antlers it is a whole other story. A buck’s antlers are quite tender while covered in velvet. Not the case once they harden.

Changes is hormone levels in addition to physical changes cause bachelor groups to disband. Bucks flying solo will hone in on stable food sources and form a core area until the rut. During the breeding season, whitetail bucks will, for the most part, expand upon their summer range in search of receptive does. Following the rut, bucks will sink back into their core range.

A buck’s seasonal range increases and decreases based on many factors, but bucks fall into a very repetitive routine between the loss of velvet and the start of the rut. Year-in and year-out, white-tailed deer have a fairly predictable home range that will vary between seasons. Much a whitetail buck’s movements are determined by environmental conditions, food availability, and the breeding season. Whether you are a hunter looking to bag a buck this year or a landowner interested in better deer management, pay attention to the areas that whitetail bucks are using and use it to your advantage.

Spotlight Surveys for White-tailed Deer

The importance of estimating a white-tailed deer herd on an annual basis is critical to any ranch interested in deer management. And although several survey types (methods) should be combined to get the most accurate deer population estimate, I prefer to use spotlight surveys to estimate the deer density on any given ranch. With that said, deer spotlight surveys on properties less than 400 acres in size become less reliable. The smaller the ranch, the more I shy away from using spotlight routes. This is not necessarily because the methodology is bad, but because smaller ranches have fewer roads. Fewer roads equates to shorter spotlight survey routes and data that is less reliable.

But it can get even worse, especially if a property owner tries to create more survey length by looping around in a smaller area. Surveying smaller properties increases the potential of counting deer in one area, then looping around and counting them again in another area. To accurately estimate deer density on any ranch, animals can not be repeatedly counted along the route. I refer to the importance of maintaining and recording data on individual deer herds all of the time, but I’ve never mentioned exactly how a spotlight survey should be conducted. We are going to fix that today. If you are interested in getting the best white-tailed deer density estimate possible, then this is how a spotlight survey should be performed. Continue reading “Spotlight Surveys for White-tailed Deer”

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.

Mountain Lion Really Killed This Buck

Mountain Lion Dragging Buck

Have you seen the game camera photo of a mountain lion that killed a buck at or near a feeder? It seems quite amazing that the lion and his kill were caught on camera. However, the mountain lion dragging buck photo appears to be legit. It’s rather lucky photo for the owner of the game camera, but not as fortunate for the buck.

Readers of this site know that I normally write about deer management and anything related to hunting white-tailed deer. In addition, I do my best to get the facts correct before publishing content that I feel is accurate and helpful to hunters and landowners managing the deer and habitat found on their hunting properties.

Well, about a month ago I wrote an article that featured the photo below. It’s a perfect game camera photo of a mountain lion dragging a dead buck directly in front of a feeder. It seemed so perfect, I stated that surely the photo was a fake. As it turns out, the mountain lion dragging a buck photo is not fake. Rather, it’s an actual, amazing trail camera photo taken on a ranch in South Texas.

This photo caught a mountain lion near a feeder after killing a whitetail buck

Mountain Lion Kill Caught on Camera

Every deer hunter that has spent any amount of time in the woods, or more appropriately around a campfire with other hunters, has heard stories related to mountain lion sightings. This can include the alleged black panther sightings that your buddy/uncle/friend/nephew claims he saw, too. The stories always get better as the night goes on.

One of the best things about getting outdoors and into the wildlife woods is that you really never know what you are going to see. And speaking from experience (and the mountain lion photos further below), there are some amazing things going on outside all of the time. After all, nature never really sleeps.

Photos, like campfire stories, are not always truthful. Before writing the first article about this photo of a mountain lion dragging a buck, I did a little research regarding the photo. If this photo had been faked, it would not have been the first. To make a long story short, someone initially admitted that they had “made” the photo. Just to get some attention, someone actually claimed to have faked a real-to-life photo. Wow.

Mountain Lion Dragging Buck After Kill

As it turns out, the real owner of the mountain lion photo saw the article, contacted me, gave me the real story that took place on his South Texas property and even provided me with additional photos to corroborate the mountain lion kill.

The ranch owner even said he found the whitetail buck’s head and remains about 6 weeks after these game camera photos were taken. He confirmed that the buck had been killed by the lion.

The photos below are in time succession and show a deer fleeing the area prior to the buck being killed. You can even see the drag marks in the dirt after the mountain lion walks right in front of the game camera. A truly remarkable occurrence, especially since it was caught on film. A special thanks to Chet Markgraf for his story and these photos!

Photos Document Lion & Whitetail Buck

Mountain Lion Dragging Buck in Photo

Mountain Lion Attacks Buck

Mountain Lion Kills Buck at Feeder

Video: Mountain Lion Kills Deer

Increase Browse for White-tailed Deer

Browse for Deer

Deer and deer habitat varies considerably between the northern and southern parts of the white-tailed deer’s range. The available browse for deer can, too. In the southern U.S., starvation of deer is generally not a problem. Mild winters in the region means deer browse is often available. However, late-winter is still a stressful time for whitetail in terms of food quantity and quality. It’s more stressful when deer density is above the carrying capacity of an area.

When it comes to winter and native deer foods, browse plants are the most important ones on a deer’s menu. In fact, browse plants are of utmost importance during all stress periods, especially summer and winter. This article discusses habitat management activities that can increase browse for deer. Ideally, the information here will take your native browse production and deer management program to the next level.

Talking Deer Browse

Like us, deer eat the best foods they can find. Whitetail consume a plethora of plant species. In fact, one study alone recorded over 400 species consumed by whitetail in an area! However, natural forage is limited to browse, cool season forbs, and hard mast (such as acorns) in the winter. During years of good hard mast production, deer use this forage well into the winter.

However, hard mast availability varies from year to year. As a result, deer turn to alternative food sources. Cool season forb (tasty weeds) availability also varies by latitude and is almost non-existent in freeze-prone areas. Locations at the northern part of the whitetail’s range often come up short on cool season forbs. Likewise, southern latitudes suffer a similar fate during winters with low amounts of precipitation. So how can deer managers increase browse for deer?

Importance of Browse for Deer

Browse plants are the most stable component of a white-tailed deer’s diet. Year-in and year-out, browse is a reliable staple in a deer’s diet. Why? Well, browse consists of the stems, twigs, and leaves of woody plants and these species tend to be long-lived perennials. Think about trees, shrubs, and vines, all of which provide deer browse.

Many woody plants lose their leaves in winter. Then, these deep-rooted plants consistently grow new leaves each spring and summer. This makes plants such as elm, hackberry, poison ivy, green briar, and other small trees and shrubs important browse for deer. They serve as great emergency summer time forage if a lack of rainfall fails to produce warm season forbs.

Perennials, such as trees and shrubs, with established root systems have an advantage over short-lived forbs. Woody plants can access water deep within the soil. Annual plants need consistent rainfall at very specific times of the year. In addition, some browse species–such as important juniper species in the north and live oak in the south are evergreen. These browse species are available for deer during the winter as well as the summer.

Enhancing Browse for Deer

Habitat management that increases browse availability is not very expensive or time consuming. As such, the practice should be a component of every white-tailed deer management plan. Increasing available deer browse is a simple, straight-forward task. It only takes a little work to increase the best trees for deer on your property. In turn, those new browse plants produce additional foods and attract more deer.

Thinning small, 2-5 acre blocks in forested areas is one way to increase browse production and availability. Removing some of the older trees or hinge-cutting them allows sunlight to reach the ground. And blocked-shaped openings are the way to go here. Narrow strip-thinning will not permit enough sunlight for optimal browse growth. Sunlight is needed to allow browse seeds and tree seedlings to take off. This favors some of the best trees for deer and creates more forage for local whitetail.

Alternatively, dense woodlands with totally enclosed canopies offers little for deer in terms of browse, except along the edges. Instead, open up the canopy and allow increased sunlight to spur browse plants and forbs. This increases plant growth, food availability, and ups the number of deer the area can support.

Enhancing Deer Browse

Thinning for additional deer browse is just the start. Another way to further increase browse production is through the use of fertilizer. Adding fertilizer to recently thinned patches substantially increases the productivity of browse plants. Imagine a garden with fertilizer; it does much, much better! In addition, use fertilizer along wood line edges to boost established browse plants, too.

In fact, fertilize the edges of wood lines, along roadways, and even along utility easements. Not only will plants be much more healthy and produce bigger, darker leaves, but deer find fertilized leaves more palatable. It’s just like an unfertilized food plot versus a fertilized one. Deer prefer fertilized areas because they can literally taste the increased nutrition.

In closing, browse is an important food source for whitetail, especially during stress periods. Use these habitat management tips and techniques to increase native forage and browse production on your property. Managing plant communities to increase browse for deer is an important part of a deer management program. Healthy habitat means browse plants that produce year after year, and especially when the deer need them most!