whitetail deer | Buck Manager

Feeding Soybeans to Supplement White-tailed Deer

Roasted Soybeans and Deer

The benefits of supplemental feeding for white-tailed deer have been well-documented by researchers and land managers in recent years. In white-tailed deer management today, the combination of habitat management and supplemental feeding go hand-in-hand on most properties interested in providing optimal, year-round nutrition.

Though some land managers choose to supplement through food plots, others prefer to use protein pellets for ease and reliability. Regardless of the product used to supplement deer, the primary reason for providing supplemental feed is to improve the overall health of each individual animal in the herd.

Deer Nutrition

The health of a white-tailed herd is readily measured through the individual body condition of deer, the antler quality of bucks, and annual fawn production. Although the presumed outcome of providing additional food is better and healthier deer, land managers often look for different inputs — or different food options. For managers, it always comes down to ease of access to the produce they are feeding, deer performance while consuming the feed, and costs.

I’ve been asked time and time again over the years about feeding whole, roasted soybeans as a supplement for whitetail. Roasted soybeans are a good supplement for deer, but not a silver bullet for a deer management program. Feeding roasted beans can be done, and it can be done successfully, but it’s always good to look at the pros and cons.

Feeding Roasted Soybeans to Deer

First, let’s not confuse baiting deer with supplementing deer. Baiting deer with corn or other agricultural products can be great for attracting deer for the purpose of harvest, but corn is not a supplement. A true supplement adds nutritional value to an individual deer’s diet. Sounds simple enough, but why would a deer manager consider different options for supplementing deer? Well, the biggest concern is typically costs.

The dollar does not go as far as it once did, so hunters and deer managers are constantly looking for less expensive options. Currently, corn is $7, roasted soybeans are $12, and protein pellets are $11 per 50 pound bag (depending on where you buy them). Corn only offers 6 to 7% protein, soybeans average about 40% protein, and the pellets I quoted above are 20% protein.

All of these products get cheaper at bulk prices, but let’s look at the value. In other words, what do the deer on your property get for each dollar that you invest?

Comparing Soybeans to Other Supplements

Corn is an attractant so the value is that it will draw deer into your area. However, the money you spend on a bag of corn does nothing to actually help the deer other than making their belly feel a little more full. The addition of protein, however, really can improve the diet and body condition of individual deer. Roasted soybeans and protein pellets are both more expensive than corn by weight, but the value (what the deer gets versus what you pay) is much better!

Soybeans, at 1.7 times the price of corn, deliver over 5 times the amount of protein when compared to corn. Protein pellets, at 1.6 times the price of corn, deliver over 3 times the protein. Roasted soybeans also have 3 times the fat content of corn.

The value of roasted soybeans and pellets over corn is obvious, but there is more to consider when it comes to supplementing a deer’s diet. In addition to macronutrients (protein, carbs, fats), what about the essential micronutrients required by by white-tailed deer?

Soybeans and Protein Considerations

Protein is great, but deer can not survive on protein alone. Important micronutrients for whitetail include calcium, phosphorous, potassium, copper, selenium, zinc, and vitamins A and E. This is where protein pellets pull away, so to speak, from whole or roasted soybeans. Soybeans can have good levels of micronutrients, but not always.

The nutritional value of the bean will depend on the conditions under which it was grown and this affects the macro- and micronutrient levels. This will ultimately impact the amount of nutrients that are digestible by deer. In addition, roasted soybeans have more (bypass) protein than raw soybeans. This means roasted soybeans provide more available, usable protein than raw soybeans.

Roasted Soybeans for Whitetail

Where they are readily available, roasted soybeans are a practical way to supplement the nutrition of white-tailed deer. Of course, any food added to a deer’s natural environment should only be considered a supplement. Supplemental food is not habitat in a sack and can not be substituted for good deer habitat management. However, roasted soybeans can be used effectively to supplement animals where good deer habitat exists, but micronutrient levels can vary.

Whitetail Fawn Eaten by Feral Hogs

For as long as there have been white-tailed deer there have been predators that have relied on deer as a source of food. Of course, before feral hogs (and European wild hogs) were introduced into Central and North America, that was one less predator whitetail had to worry about. Not so now days, with hog populations on the rise throughout much of the whitetail’s range.

Not only do feral hogs compete with native wildlife for food, habitat, and space, but hogs also have direct impacts on wildlife populations through predation and direct consumption. Every bite of native food that a hog eats and every fawn that a hog kills takes a little more from the deer herd on your property.

Whitetail doe gives birth to a fawn

Predators and White-tailed Deer

I’ve examined the relationships between deer population management and the impacts of whitetail predators — particularly coyotes — and deer populations can still thrive in the presence of healthy predator populations as long as high quality habitat is available for whitetail.

However, even in the best habitat predators will have some impact on white-tailed deer populations. I think most landowners, deer managers, and hunters understand this fact. But even so, it can be difficult to sit back and wait for predators to do what they do best considering the time, energy, and money that property owners and hunters put into their property, leases and deer management programs.

It can be even more discouraging when such offenses are caught on camera. Such is the case with the attached photos that I received via email recently.

Feral Hog Eats Deer Fawn

One hunter, located in Schulenberg, Texas, sent me some very unique game camera photos that captured a whitetail doe giving birth to a fawn. The photos are interesting because rarely do we have the opportunity to see a fawn being born, but in this case we’re lucky because it happened right next to a deer feeder and it was all caught on camera.

As you look through the pictures, the photo series shows the whitetail doe setting up in front of the camera, giving live birth to the fawn, and then cleaning up the newborn deer. All of this happens between roughly midnight and 3:30 a.m. in the morning.

Though these photos give us an idea of the amount of care and attention a whitetail doe gives a newly-born fawn, the real drama takes place shortly after 4:00 a.m. In the first photo below, you can clearly see that two large feral hogs arrive on the scene. Also, if you look very carefully, you can see that the spotted fawn is lying flat on the ground directly in front of the feral hogs.

What happens next we will leave to imagination, although the outcome is very real — and we can only conclude that the hogs did kill and consume the 4-hour old fawn. The last photo shows a turkey vulture showing up on the scene to pick at any possible remains.

Do Wild Hogs Eat Deer?

Yes. Food habit studies on feral hogs have often found white-tailed deer tissue in hog stomach contents, but there has also been debate on whether hogs actually killed the deer or simply consumed their flesh post-mortem as carrion. The take-home from this series of photos is that yes, feral hogs do eat white-tailed deer. It also appears that new-born fawns are quite susceptible to feral hog predation.

Deer are most susceptible to predators as fawns, but especially just hours after birth. The only remnants the landowner found of this fawn were some of the skin and a small portion of the skull cap. He concluded his email to me in this way:

“As far as viewing the pictures, it seems everyone that sees the sequence of photos has the same reaction: lots of oohs and awhs quickly followed by disgust and anger. But I guess life and death in the wild is never fair… it’s just about survival of the fittest.”

On Predators and Whitetail

Fawns are the deer most susceptible to predation and this fact is also why it is important that fawning within a deer herd take place over a relatively short time period. Tight fawning dates, meaning a very short window from the first fawn born to the last, means whitetail fawns within a local population hit the ground almost simultaneously and predators only have limited access to them during the period when they are most vulnerable.

After a short period of time, fawns are much more alert, mobile and are able to more or less fend for themselves. Managed deer populations tend to have higher annual recruitment rates that those not management and part of the reason is compressed fawning dates.

The length of the fawning period for your area is directly related to the buck to doe ratio. A high percentage of doe deer in the population means a single predator has a greater chance of encountering a new-born fawn because the fawning dates will be spread out. Anyway you slice it, there is a lot to consider when it comes to predators, even such as feral hogs, and deer management. Thanks to Michael Jurica for submitting these photos.

Deer Warts or Tumors?

When deer hunters head out into the field they don’t usually think to themselves, “Man, I want to harvest a healthy deer.” But we all do, even though we don’t really think about it. So., what if you harvested a deer with warts? Most hunters would be a little concerned because, after all, warts are not normal on white-tailed deer.

Although injuries and diseases are some things hunters and property owners serious about deer management try to avoid having in their herds, it usually can not be avoided.

These “deer tumors”, which are more accurately wart-like growths, and are formally referred to as cutaneous fibromatosis. The virus that causes such growth on the skin can be transmitted between deer, at least experimentally.

Deer fibroma occurs occasionally in white-tailed deer living in North America. Although the ailment is not common, it not extremely rare either. The cutaneous growths can vary in diameter, but usually vary from about 1/4 inch to 4 inches in size.

These wart-like growths can be found growing by themselves or in clusters, typically on the front-end of an infected deer. The whitetail buck featured in the above photos has warts caused by cutaneous fibroma on the underside of his neck and face.

Although these tumor-looking growths are not believed to directly harm the deer, the presence of these warts could cause additional stress or points for additional injury on an animal.

From a hunting or deer management perspective there is little that can be done once a deer contracts fibroma. In some cases the infection may not even be noticeable, but as in the example above, the warts may be very obvious. The virus has been successfully spread under experimental conditions from deer to deer, but the chances of this happening in wild deer herds is unknown.

Rutting in Whitetail Deer – Early vs. Late

What about the early and late ruts? Hunters often talk about the rut being early or late. In much of Texas at least, the breeding season for white-tailed deer is fairly predictable each year. This is the case just about everywhere there are deer, but it can vary a little. Within a specific area, habitat conditions not only affect fawn survival but can affect the timing of breeding, as well. For example, a doe in poor condition, i.e. not enough deer food, or a young doe may not enter estrus/breed until later in the season when her physical condition improves.

Additionally, a whitetail doe may be found “attractive” by bucks for about five days, but may be willing to breed for a period of only about 24 hours. In areas where there are a low number of bucks compared to does, a doe may not encounter a buck when she is first receptive to breeding so may not be bred until one of her later cycles. If a doe is not bred during her first cycle then she will come into estrus again about 28 days later.

A hunter who sees the late breeding activity may be convinced that there was a late rut. On the other hand, those who see does attended by bucks in the early part of the season believe there was an early rut. This biological reasoning helps explain the wide variety of opinions on the timing of the whitetail rut during a particular year. Although there is typically a peak, it can be ongoing. Continue reading “Rutting in Whitetail Deer – Early vs. Late”

Five Essential Management Tools for Deer

Aldo Leopold wrote in his 1933 textbook titled Game Management, “The central thesis of game management is this: game can be restored by the creative use of the same tools which have heretofore destroyed it: axe, plow, cow, fire, and gun. Management is their purposeful and continuing alignment. ” The key to managing natural resources and specifically deer habiat is to use a holistic approach, where these “tools” and others are applied to develop, maintain and manage healthy ecosystems. Although you may be focused on whitetail deer management, remember that single species deserve less attention, while the system in which they thrive requires more.

Axe for Wildlife Managment

The axe is synonymous with methods and techniques used to manage woody vegetation. Land is under constant change due to the cumulative influences of man and his land uses. Overgrazed rangelands often lead to the invasion by woody species such as Ashe juniper, mesquite, oak species, greenbriar, or prickly pear cactus, often to the point of diminishing value as wildlife habitat.

Openings, clearings and areas once dominated by native grasses often become infested with juniper and mesquite which over time dominate the landscape. Areas that historically were kept as open grasslands by fire now support growth of woody plants or other nonnative grasses and forbs. In many areas, oak woodlands in the east were relatively open with scattered trees and brush are now thickets with closed canopies and sparse understory or ground level vegetation.

Brush management (the axe) is often necessary to maintain or improve the quality of rangelands for livestock grazing and habitat for wildlife. Initial treatments may require mechanical methods such as hand cutting, bulldozers, spot treatment with herbicides, or use of hydraulic shears. Methods that result in a minimal amount of soil disturbance and allow selectivity are preferred to prevent soil erosion and degradation of plant communities. Species such as Ashe juniper (cedar) can be cut at ground level and will not resprout. Young trees can be easily cut by hand. Mesquite will resprout from a subterranean bud zone and must be grubbed or spayed.

The habitat requirements for food and cover for all wildlife species present should be considered prior to initiation of brush management operations. Brush is relatively easy to remove but very difficult to replace. Over the long term, periodic follow up management will be required to maintain areas where brush management operations are conducted. Without it, the consequences may be worse than at the beginning.

Specific approved herbicides may also be used to manage some invasive woody vegetation. Spot treatment methods of individual trees offer land managers greater flexibility by reducing the overall impact on other vegetation or woody plants important as wildlife habitat for food or cover.

A brush management program should be economically feasible, environmentally practical, and comply with the overall goals of a management plan. It also should not impact habitat for endangered or threatened wildlife species or their habitat. Care should be made to not remove desirable plants that are important as food and cover for wildlife. Critical riparian zones along streams may be important as roosting sites for species such as Rio Grande turkeys and critical habitat for songbirds and many other wildlife species. Care should also given to avoid increased soil erosion by brush removal on sloping terrains.

Cow for Habitat Management

Bison, pronghorns, white-tailed deer and free-ranging cattle were present in Texas until the mid to late 1800s. The presence of these herbivores on the landscape had began to impact vegetation and plant communities by the time early settler arrived to occupy the land and native Americans were displaced. The demand of northern markets for cattle and the resulting expansion of ranching, compounded by the appearance of barbed wire fences that restricted movement of livestock and native wildlife, began to further change vegetation on the landscape.

Large areas of grasslands that were once subjected to intensive short term grazing by bison and free ranging cattle were now being grazed year round. Periodic naturally occurring fire that help regenerate native grasses and helped suppress the invasion of woody plants became less common as they were quickly extinguished to protect fencing and other improvements. Highly preferred native grasses were grazed-out, only to be replaced by less palatable native and non-native species, brush, and noxious species.

Periodic drought and increased grazing pressure further depleted rangelands. This resulted in abused rangelands lacking adequate groundcover and available browse to support healthy livestock and wildlife populations. Overgrazing with domestic livestock has continued through the 20th century and many rangelands in Northcentral Texas continue to suffer.

Leopold often referred to the “cow” as an effective wildlife management tool. Cattle can be used as a tool to manipulate and enhance wildlife habitat and plant diversity (as bison did). The main role of grazing in a wildlife management program is to reduce the quantity of grass, allowing sunlight to reach the lower growing forbs, which are important wildlife foods. Furthermore, this process creates more structural diversity, which helps to improve nesting, brood rearing, and cover for many upland game and nongame bird species.

Range improvement can be attained through proper grazing rates and by scheduled rest periods to allow pastures to be free of grazing by domestic livestock. Rotation grazing systems allow pastures to be rested (deferred) during a specified time of the year.

Some examples of grazing options in order of preference are: a short duration or “time control” system; a high intensity – low frequency system (HILF); a 3 pasture-1 herd system, and the 4 pasture-3 herd rotational grazing system. Each requires different degrees of involvement and fencing. All require available water sources – another important component of good wildlife habitat.

Plow for Wildlife Habitat Improvement

Tilling the soil is another approach to setting-back plant succession to promote the growth of desirable wildlife foods (forbs). Bison once “tilled” the soil as they moved and grazed through areas, promoting more plant diversity.

Today, soil cultivation by mechanical equipment can be used to set back plant succession, plow and plant native grasses and forbs back in fields or on rangelands (rangeland reseeding), planting annual or perennial vegetation as crops or as food plots for wildlife (farming), and mowing vegetation of reduce thatch or old growth of vegetation to stimulate new growth and greater plant diversity (mowing).

Any plans for soil cultivation operations to improve habitat for wildlife must take into consideration the impact on existing native vegetation, potential for increased soil erosion, and soil type. Soil maps are available for each county in every state from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and should be reviewed prior to initiating any soil disturbance operations.

Fire for Prescribed Management

Fires, natural and man-made, played an integral role in the evolution of plant communities throughout the United States. Since the late 1800s, man has suppressed fire to protect fences, buildings, homes, and other land improvements. The grasslands were once dotted with occasional motts of woody plants. Due to the lack of fire, much of the region now supports parklands and woodlands dominated by juniper, mesquite and other woody species depending upon the area of the country.

Post oak woodlands once relatively open with scattered trees and an understory of tall grasses and scattered brush once burned, preventing formation of closed canopies and thickets of brush. Suppression of fire and overgrazing by livestock of native grasses has resulted in an increase in oaks and the invasion by brush in the understory and species such as mesquite and juniper species.

A prescribed burn program that is used properly in combination with livestock grazing deferment and deer harvest management is an effective tool for managing wildlife habitat. Burning can promote an increase of native perennial grasses and forbs and enhances habitat diversity for a wide variety of wildlife species. It will also help reduce the invasion of invasive woody species onto rangelands and grassland openings.

Many plant species are tolerant of fire and others require fire to stimulate germination of seeds. Use of prescribed “cool season” fires during the winter months and prior to spring green-up is preferred to minimize the impact on wildlife species and critical nesting habitat for birds. Even with the best planning, burning “windows of opportunity” always depends on relative humidity, wind speed and direction, air temperature, and fuel moisture.

The inexperienced manager should ask for assistance and/or advice from agencies such as your states department of natural resources or the NRCS for assistance in developing a burn plan. While instructional materials are available, it is suggested that people without rangeland burning experience assist on a burn conducted by an experienced person before attempting their first controlled burn.

Pastures can be grazed following burning to reduce growth of annual grasses that compete with forbs, then deferred to allow the pasture to rest. Portions of the property should be left in permanently unburned cover to insure that plants intolerant of fire are part of the ecosystem diversity.

Gun for Wildlife, Deer Management

White-tailed deer populations are present in most counties throughout central and eastern United States. Population levels often fluctuate depending on weather, range and habitat conditions, annual reproduction and survival, water availability, and the accumulative influences of man and his land uses. Hunting (the gun) is an important tool available to landowners to help maintain a balance between deer numbers and the ability of the habitat to support healthy individuals and populations of deer.

In areas where deer numbers are allowed to exceed the carrying capacity of the habitat, habitat degradation will result, thus impacting food and cover required by many other species of wildlife. Browse lines or excessive browsing that begin to appear on preferred woody species are a sure sign that excessive animals are present and steps should be made to regulate numbers of livestock and/or white-tailed deer. Areas with deer densities above range carrying capacities often have lower fawn crops, smaller body weights, and poorer quality antlers.

These symptoms are a result of abused rangeland, where white-tailed deer (and often exotic deer and domestic livestock) have eaten all available forbs and browse. Such rangelands have poor plant diversity and may become dominated by invasive plant species.

Hunting is an effective tool available to landowners to help maintain white-tailed deer number at or below the carrying capacity of the habitat, regulate sex ratios, and achieve long-term goals and objectives for quantity or quality of individual animals. Hunters are an important component of a deer management program and can assist landowners in achieving their goals and objectives. Hunting revenue is also an incentive for landowners to provide and manage good quality habitat for deer and other wildlife species.

Principles of Wildlife Management

Today, it is very important that land managers understand the basic ecological principles of plant succession, plant growth, food chains, water requirements, minerals and soil nutritive cycles that affect rangeland, wildlife, and grazing management.

A thorough knowledge of the habitat requirements, food habits, population dynamics, life history and biology of all wildlife species present is fundamental to managing land and the ecosystems found here. As individual land size of farms and ranches continues to decrease, more emphasis must be placed on proper wildlife and habitat management to sustain wildlife populations for the future.

The ax, plow, cow, fire and gun continue to be important tools that land managers can use to manage habitat resources for wildlife.