deer | Buck Manager

Ecological Impacts of Supplemental Feeding of Deer

White-tailed deer habitat consists or food, water, shelter, and also space. Thus, food plots and supplemental feeding only impact the nutritional carrying capacity of a particular piece of property, not the total or actual carrying capacity. Assuming there are both adequate water and cover, supplemental feeding can greatly increase the number of the local deer population. Supplemental feeding has become commonplace in deer management programs across the country, but is it healthy?

One thing to keep in mind is the amount of space and and habitat per deer decreases as the population size increases! More deer in an area means less area for each individual deer. This may not be a problem if the number of deer is below the carrying capacity of the area, but this rarely seems to be the case with white-tailed deer.

One of the arguments used by those in support of supplemental feeding is that it not only enhances the nutrition and resulting health of the deer, but that it could possibly take pressure off of the natural vegetation by decreasing deer browsing. Unfortunately, there is little data to support this and plenty of data to refute it. Continue reading “Ecological Impacts of Supplemental Feeding of Deer”

Five Important Deer Food Plot Tips and Considerations for Wildlife

Reasons of establish food plots usually involve supplementation of white-tailed deer during times when forage quantity and/or nutritive value is low. Cost-efficient and biologically effective supplementation can only be accomplished by understanding the seasonal nutritive requirements of white-tailed deer. A wildlife food plot could also be used as an attractant to enhance opportunities for survey, harvest, photography, or simple observation. Continue reading “Five Important Deer Food Plot Tips and Considerations for Wildlife”

Find a Hunting Lease in Texas

If you hunt deer then you are always looking for a new place to hang a stand, a new place to setup a trail camera and see what happens.

If you are looking to find a place to hunt white-tailed deer in Texas, then this may be just what you are looking for! The following places are provided as sources of hunting leases and offer hunting for white-tailed bucks, management buck hunts, doe hunts, turkey, and some even hogs and migratory bird hunting.

Check ’em out!

Hunting Lease
Lease Hunter
Texas Hunting Lease
Deer Texas
High Tech Redneck
Texas Lease Connection
Hunter’s Domain
Wild Goose
Magnum Guide Service
Warner Hunting Leases
Texas Outdoorsman

Varmint Hunting Like a Fox

Controlling varmints should be a part of the overall management scheme to better manage the deer herd found on your property. Varmints, specifically coyotes, are the biggest threat to fawn recruitment on most lands throughout the United States. However, we may really want to keep an eye out for them if they are getting this smart!

Blue Tongue in White-tailed Deer

Blue tongue is an insect-borne, viral disease primarily of sheep, but it occasionally goats and even white-tailed deer. The disease is non-contagious and is only transmitted by insect vectors, especially during periods of drought. The disease is actually caused by a virus belonging to the family Reoviridae.

Species That Can Be Affected

As mentioned, this is primarily a disease of sheep but other species such as goats, cattle, buffalo, antelope and whitetail deer can be infected. Don’t worry, humans can not be infected.

Distribution of Blue Tongue

The virus is present in the United States, so any area can potentially harbor the virus. However, outbreaks typically occurs repeatedly in areas where it has occurred before and especially during dry conditions.

Key Signs To Look For

Characters of disease include fever, widespread bleeding of the oral and nasal tissue, excessive salivation, and nasal discharge. In acute cases the lips and tongue will become swollen and this swelling may extend below the lower jaw.

Lameness, due to swelling of the cuticle above the hoofs and emaciation, due to reduced feed consumption because of painful inflamed mouths, may also be symptoms of this disease. The “blue tongue” that actually gives the disease its name occurs only in a small number of cases.

How Blue Tongue is Spread

The virus cannot be transmitted between susceptible white-tailed deer without the presence of insect carriers. The incidence and geographical distribution of bluetongue depends on seasonal conditions, the presence of insect vectors, and the availability of the density of deer. The insect carriers, biting midges, prefer warm, moist conditions and are in their greatest numbers and most active after it rains.

Life of the Blue Tongue Virus

Bluetongue virus does not survive outside the insect vectors or susceptible hosts. Deer carcases and products such as meat and hide are not a method of spread. Survival of the virus within a location is dependent on whether the vector can over winter in that area.

Controlling Blue Tongue

Within a wild population of deer, there is not much that can be done. With domestic animals, you can use a combination of quarantine and movement controls to prevent spread and reduce transmission and protect susceptible animals. As with just about every disease, less animals will become infected under lower densities.