Category: Whitetail

Let’s face it, white-tailed deer hunters like to see deer when they go out hunting. However, they also understand that deer populations should be managed on an annual basis and that harvest through regulated hunting only helps the health of the remaining deer herd and habitat. Many hunters, especially those involved in deer management programs, are interested in determining the exact number of whitetail deer per acre their property can support. Although deer density is important, it’s not critical that the property be managed to contain the maximum number of animals.

Sure, it would be great to have a healthy herd of the maximum number of deer a property can support right now. The problem is, habitat condition and quality is constantly changing. It changes from season to season and from year to year. Deer density is important, but I’ll submit that it’s more important to have a lower density than a higher deer density. For example, let’s just say that a property can support 1 deer for every 10 acres under perfect conditions. That’s great, but how often is habitat in perfect condition? Holding a herd at 1 deer per 10 acres gives no wiggle room, but an estimated deer density of 1 per 12-15 acres means deer will have adequate forage even under less than perfect conditions.

This puts less stress on the deer manager to make the exact right call at the exact right time. It also means deer will be healthy and that habitat will improve. This means the deer found there can be even more selective when it comes to choosing the most desirable, high protein plants. Protein translates into body mass and antler growth. So although we live in a world of maximum everything, I think a less than maximum deer population is right on the money.

Source: “Not all whitetails in North America eat the same amount of food in a day. But strictly for purposes of illustration, let’s assume that an “average” deer, given as much as it would like to eat, consumes 7 pounds per day. In a year, that totals 2,555 pounds.

Let’s also assume that the natural habitat averages 11 percent protein on a year-round basis. (The general consensus among biologists is that whitetails need approximately 16 percent protein during the antler-growing/fawning period from early spring through summer. Eleven percent would be representative of quality native habitat such as is found in South Texas. A study in Alabama showed an annual average protein level of 7 percent in the natural habitat, which would be representative of much of the rest of the Southeast as well.)

Let’s assume that an acre of natural whitetail habitat can produce 200 pounds of deer feed per year, but that only half of that (100 pounds) can be eaten without damaging the habitat. (In the Southeast, average production of native deer forage is closer to 150 pounds per acre.)

Using an annual production of 100 usable pounds of deer browse per acre of natural habitat and an annual requirement of 2,555 pounds of feed per deer, we see that 25.6 acres are required to support one deer throughout the year.

But remember: This is about right for good natural habitat – habitat that has a high protein level. With an average protein level of only 11 percent in the herd’s diet, at a density of a deer per 25.6 acres body and antler sizes are going to be well under the herd’s genetic potential. In addition, many (indeed, most) whitetail populations are underfed, due to excessive foraging pressure on the available vegetation. Put all of this together, and it’s easy to see why we have so many stunted and stressed herds today.”

One of the biggest factors is growing and producing quality whitetail bucks is allowing them to get some age on them, to reach maturity. This is not a whitetail hunting secret by any means, but it can be something hard to implement, especially on smaller properties. It seems the age of harvested bucks may have very well been a limiting factor in many parts of Texas, at least according to wildlife officials with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD).

If you’ve ever been out to the Kerr Wildlife Management Area to attend one of their deer management seminars then you know that age, genetics and nutrition are the key ingredients to growing real trophy bucks. In the past, however, it was hard, maybe even downright impossible, to let a younger, good looking buck walk when you knew the hunter right across the fence was going to put a bullet through his lungs, hang him high in a tree and pop his hide off like a dirty bed sheet. That all changed when antler restrictions hit many Texas counties. It not only providing the regulatory tool for allowing bucks to age, but most hunters feel pretty good about it too.

TPWD: While areas like South Texas are known for producing exceptional whitetail bucks, most anywhere in the state is capable of producing good bucks every year. In fact in 2012, two archery hunters were lucky enough to connect on a couple of large non-typical bucks scoring about 250 Boone and Crockett. Both bucks were wild, free-ranging deer taken on low-fenced properties, one in North Texas and the other in Southeast Texas. Hopefully, that trend will continue in 2013.

“Another positive trend we have observed in the last few years is that the proportion of young bucks in the harvest has declined across the state, and most noticeably in the eastern third of the state where bucks had a hard time surviving to 3 ½ years of age,” Alan Cain, TPWD whitetail deer program leader, points out. “In 2012, bucks 3 ½ year old and older comprised 65 percent of bucks checked during TPWD surveys which are a reflection of the deer harvested each season.”

Digging a little deeper into the data Cain explains that in antler restriction counties, 59 percent of bucks checked during TPWD surveys were 3 ½ or older, a dramatic improvement in age structure when those older age class bucks represented only 30-35 percent of the harvest before antler restrictions were implemented.

“This shift towards harvesting older bucks in the Pineywoods, Post Oak Savannah, and Cross Timbers and Prairies regions is a direct result of the antler restriction regulation,” Cain says. “That harvest strategy has been very effective at allowing many more bucks to reach maturity.  We have received many positive reports from landowners and hunters in those regions who are excited about the number and quality of bucks they are observing on their properties.“

Whitetail bucks are busy working over saplings and rubbing the velvet off of their antlers so that means testosterone levels are ramping up. It also means that the whitetail deer hunting season is just around the corner. Archery season comes first each year and that means practice, practice, practice, because bowhunters get first crack at Texas’ white-tailed deer herd. Though the season is still first, a few things have changed over the years. The archery deer season includes not only bows and arrows, but also crossbows. This hunting methods change has no doubt increased hunter participation during the bowhunting season.

Source: “Nobody knows for sure how many archery hunters will be afield once bow-and-arrow deer and turkey season begins Sept. 28 but it’s probably more than 170,000, according to Tom Newton, license revenue manager for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. For the 2013 season, hunters paid for 36,017 archery endorsements that are required to hunt during archery season. Super Combo Hunting and Fishing Licenses (420,834 in 2013) and Senior Super Combos (60,992 in 2013) include all endorsements fees. Newton said surveys suggest 29.9 percent of Super Combo buyers and 14.6 percent of Senior Super Combo buyers participate in archery hunting.

Whitetail deer management is now practiced widely by Texas hunters. According to Alan Cain, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s White-tailed Deer Program Leader, Texas hunters killed 546,000 deer last hunting season, 304,000 bucks and 242,000 does. That sounds like quite a few deer, but thirty years ago hunters shot more bucks than that. Now the deer harvest is much more balanced with hunters shooting bucks and does at similar rates. The “old timers” never wanted to shoot their mama cows, but anything with horns was fit for the table. Times have indeed changed.

There is now doubt hunters spend a lot of time thinking about deer hunting strategy, tips and tricks. Many hunters will spend thousands of dollars to go on a big trip, but spend little or no time at the rifle range in preparation for their deer hunting trip. This is not recommended because it always pays to check your equipment and get reacquainted with your gun before that split second between success and failure comes.

In order to maximize your hunting success and to ensuring a quick kill, minimizing the possibility of losing a crippled animal, it highly recommend that you spend some time properly preparing for your hunt. Here are a few hunting and shooting tips for those that plan to head out deer hunting this fall, whether it be your lease, public hunting land or a guided trip.

1. Start with an adequate caliber for deer. Generally, a minimum of a .243 caliber with 100 grain bullet is a good starting place, but you can go way up from there. There are many hunters that use smaller calibers with great success, but there is not much margin for error when you get down to smaller bullets.

2. Avoid highly expandable bullets for deer and other big game. Certain ballistic tips and hollow points can explode on the surface or before if they graze even a blade of grass along the way. Partions, A-Frames, bonded bullets and bullets that retain the majority of their mass are preferred on mule deer and whitetail hunts.

3. Make sure to practice! Shoot at least 20 rounds through your gun in preparation for your hunt, with at least two different trips to the range. Lots of hunters know that their gun is sighted in, but is it? Also, you are not simply making sure that your gun is sighted in, but you are also practicing. It pays to become familiar with your trigger pull, follow through, breathing control and everything else that goes with heading out to the field.

4. The most common mistake deer hunters make is having their gun sighted in too high at 100 yards. Move that bullet down! If you forget this factoid when the buck of a lifetime cruises by at close distance, when things happen quickly, you can make a chip shot turn bad in a hurry. On the flip side, if a deer is way out you are not going to forget to aim high. Most calibers will put a bullet into the “sweet spot” at 300 yards out if you simply hold even at the top of the back, if sighted in at 100 yards.

5. Lastly, always check your gun when you get to your deer hunting destination just to make sure that all is still good to go. Sometimes things happen in travel. Sometimes screws loosen up on slings and scopes. Look your gun over and make sure it’s good. Remove the bolt and look down the barrel to make sure a spider didn’t build a web in there. You just never know.

Although hunters take every precaution to make good shots resulting in clean kills while deer hunting, it is inevitable that there will be times that deer must be tracked for longer than expected distances. Tracking wounded deer with dogs is an effective way to locate deer, and it’s commonplace in most areas. In East Texas, however, dogs have been banned for some time, but now Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) is revisiting this regulation. Hunters could use dogs to trail a wounded deer in 12 counties in East Texas, a practice that has been prohibited in this area of the state since 1990, under a proposal being considered by TPWD.

A series of public meetings will be held to provide details of the proposal and give the public an opportunity to comment. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission is expected to take action on the proposed change at its August 22. In 1990 TPWD adopted rules prohibiting the use of dogs to trail wounded deer in 34 East Texas counties. The rule making was necessary because the department determined that dogs were being used unlawfully for deer hunting, which was causing depletion of the resource.

By 2000, TPWD determined that the practice of using dogs for whitetail hunting had declined to the point of being nonexistent in some of those counties and removed the prohibition in 10 of those East Texas counties. TPWD now believes the prohibition could be lifted in an additional 12 counties, including: Harris, Harrison, Houston, Jefferson, Liberty, Montgomery, Panola, Polk, Rusk, San Jacinto, Trinity, and Walker.

Details about the proposal, along with an opportunity to provide public comment, can be found online. TPWD says that comments may also be made in writing to Robert Macdonald, TPWD Regulations Coordinator, 4200 Smith School Rd., Austin, TX 78744, in person at any of the following public hearings or at the TPWD annual public hearing on August 21 at 2 p.m. at the above address.

TPWD Public Hearing Calendar for East Texas Deer Hunting Regulations

• Tuesday, July 30 in Woodville at the Woodville Elementary School Community Room, 306 Kirby Drive.
• Wednesday, July 31 in Lufkin at the Angelina County Courthouse District Courtroom, 215 East Lufkin Avenue.
• Thursday, Aug. 1 in Hemphill at the Sabine County Courthouse District Courtroom, 201 Main Street.

All meetings are set to begin at 6 p.m. each evening. At the conclusion of each public hearing, wildlife officials will conduct a brief presentation on deer management and hunting regulations in the Pineywoods. TPWD staff will present information related to regulations and data collection and take questions regarding deer management, deer hunting and regulations.

There is no doubt that white-tailed deer hunting in Texas has changed over the past few decades. The terminology has definitely has: management bucks, breeder bucks, shooter bucks, deer pens, managed lands deer permits (MLDP), so on and so on. Anyone heading out hunting on a commercial operation had better sign up for a short-course on hunting terminology before even entering the gate. It’s not just deer hunting in Texas as it once was. It’s Texas trophy hunting in Texas. But I’m not even sure about the hunting part anymore.

There’s been some stuff brewing in the state for quite some time regarding deer ownership. It’s a gray area, to say the least. Landowners can buy deer, raise deer and offer deer for sale, but they only own them up to a point. You see, you can only shoot a state-owned deer. After all, every hunter needs either a hunting license tag or a state-issued deer permit. This argument over deer ownership is definitely a hot button, with both sides having valid arguments in my opinion. All I ask is that the good of the whitetail deer population be protected.

Source: If a judge orders TPW to compensate Anderton for them, the decision may prove private ownership in a state where every whitetail, even those conceived artificially and born in a pen, belongs ultimately to Texas and its people. It would signal a fundamental shift in the concept of wildlife as an irrevocable public trust. That outlook dates to the backlash to market hunting and the near extinction of whole deer species for the sale of pelts and venison. Beginning with Teddy Roosevelt’s presidency, a movement to set aside federal wildlife refuges took shape. The secretary of agriculture created hunting seasons and bag limits, effectively ending the mass harvesting of game species for personal gain. Deer populations rebounded.

Now wildlife conservationists can’t help but wonder if this isn’t somehow a creeping return to the bad old days. “We recognize that wildlife is a public trust, and it belongs to all people in the state, held in trust and managed on behalf of the people by private landowners,” says Doug Slack, director of the Wildlife Society’s Texas Chapter. “[Breeders] consider me old-fashioned, but they’re promoting new legislation that’s promoting ideas and concepts that came up in the 1800s.”

But because game species like whitetail deer are no longer in danger of extinction, the industry wonders whether the prevailing public trust model is outdated.

“There’s a lot of religious zeal and elitism in my profession that hangs tenaciously to that old belief that wildlife belongs to everybody, and that wildlife in commerce is an evil thing,” says Dr. James Kroll, a deer breeder and director of Stephen F. Austin State University’s Institute for White-tailed Deer Management and Research. “They’re looking at the days of market hunting, but those were days when there was no regulation.