Biology And Management Of White-tailed Deer In Alabama

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herbicide can greatly improve the quality and quantity of deer forage in a forested stand. Use of herbicides in unsuitable areas or under unfavorable conditions by persons inexperienced in their use can result in the loss of many valuable trees and other desirable plants. As with any forest management technique, herbicides only should be applied by professionals trained and experienced in their use. A professional can determine if the site to be treated is suitable for herbicide and then can make the application without causing harm to the non-target trees and plants. MOWING/DISCING Limitations due to location, money, or available equipment may not allow the use of fire or herbicides in some situations. <strong>In</strong> these cases, other methods can be used to control plant succession, remove accumulated plant matter, and encourage the growth of quality deer foods. Techniques such as mowing or discing are great ways of improving food production in abandoned agricultural fields, natural forest openings, roadsides, utility right-of-ways, etc. Using these techniques just prior to the growing season encourages new plant growth during the spring and summer months and in many cases, normal farm implements can be used to maintain these openings. As with prescribed fire, mowing and discing should be done on a regular basis (two or three year cycles) to maintain the desired plant species. When managing larger openings, it is best to mow or disc only part (1/2 or 1/3) of the opening each year. This provides deer with more of a variety of food plants in various stages of development. 110
TIMBER HARVEST Periodic removal of trees can do a great deal to improve deer habitat. This removal can be in the form of thinning or clearcutting. Taking out these trees opens the forest canopy and allows more sunlight to reach the forest floor. The harvest also improves habitat diversity by creating plant communities of different ages and transition areas from harvested stands to unharvested stands. The type of harvest used will depend on several factors, including Thinning opens the forest canopy and allows more sunlight to reach the forest floor. The production of deer foods improves as a result. tree species, tree age, site quality, rotation length, and economics. Timber thinning not only improves deer habitat, it also can improve growth rates on timber, which can increase future economic returns. <strong>In</strong> general, pine stands usually are more conducive to thinning than hardwood stands. The first thinning of pine stands should occur at 12 to 20 years of age, depending on the site and growth rate of the trees (Yarrow and Yarrow 1999). Stands then should be thinned as needed to keep the trees growing at an adequate rate and to keep the canopy sufficiently open until the end of the stand’s rotation. When managing deer habitat, stands should be thinned to a basal area of 60 111
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Biology and Management of White-tai
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Table of Contents PREFACE .........
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JAWBONE EXTRACTION ................
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors gratefu
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PREFACE White-tailed deer (Odocoile
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TAXONOMY The white-tailed deer is o
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darker winter coat. Fawns are born
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Deer have many glands that are used
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tiates antler growth. The secretion
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DEER BEHAVIOR VOCALIZATION AND COMM
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Among bucks, two males of equal sta
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out the Southeast have reported dis
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check their scrapes regularly to de
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The sex ratio of fawns at birth is
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(midges) are highest. To date there
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is extremely unlikely to fall prey
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and even fawn production—will be,
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and living body tissue. Many of the
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trace elements are important to a d
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are compatible with other objective
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tural crops may be used heavily as
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providing nutritious cool-season fo
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SPATIAL ARRANGEMENT OF HABITAT COMP
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Soil quality has a significant impa
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Determining CC for deer habitat can
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cycle of poor deer herd and habitat
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dam and her new fawns later in the
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POPULATION DENSITY The number of an
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determining exactly how many indivi
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searching for breeding opportunitie
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comes intense with improved buck ag
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the 1960s, deer were restocked in m
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sive quality deer management progra
Page 69 and 70: factors such as reproductive succes
Page 71 and 72: egulation of deer populations ensur
Page 73 and 74: The above graphs represent the hypo
Page 75 and 76: acceptable hunting satisfaction bec
Page 77 and 78: proportioned. Clearly, all the elem
Page 79 and 80: hunters to see numbers of deer whil
Page 81 and 82: In suboptimal habitats, body weight
Page 83 and 84: changes occur in herd structure and
Page 85 and 86: product of QDM and not a major goal
Page 87 and 88: offset the influences of dispersal
Page 89 and 90: Two controversial questions related
Page 91 and 92: It appears removing spike antlered
Page 93 and 94: guarantee the superior bucks hunter
Page 95 and 96: Perhaps the most common cause of di
Page 97 and 98: tivity of the property (Woods 1999b
Page 99 and 100: may justify a modification of the d
Page 101 and 102: ces and make management recommendat
Page 103 and 104: A method for removing jawbones that
Page 105 and 106: extractor towards the deer’s nose
Page 107 and 108: spread, basal circumference, and ma
Page 109 and 110: LACTATION Checking a doe for the pr
Page 111 and 112: deer seen into more specific classi
Page 113 and 114: and harvest recommendations for the
Page 115 and 116: of the year as a comparable type fo
Page 117 and 118: during the spring and summer, but t
Page 119: HERBICIDE TREATMENT Another techniq
Page 123 and 124: foods in any area. Fertilizer incre
Page 125 and 126: WILDLIFE OPENINGS Of all the manage
Page 127 and 128: areas. Very few of the crops common
Page 129 and 130: samples. These boxes are usually av
Page 131 and 132: ag of fertilizer, while soil test r
Page 133 and 134: Applying the Seed Seed should be ap
Page 135 and 136: cult. Many of these new crops show
Page 137 and 138: acre), and wheat (one bushel per ac
Page 139 and 140: using small portions of the opening
Page 141 and 142: able weight loss at the conclusion
Page 143 and 144: trace minerals. Another considerati
Page 145 and 146: Number 8. P-R Project W-35, Alabama
Page 147 and 148: Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Volume 2, Page
Page 149 and 150: ings of the Role of Genetics in Whi
Page 151 and 152: APPENDICES 141
Page 153 and 154: Appendix 1: AVERAGE BODY WEIGHT, AN
Page 155 and 156: Appendix 3: AGING DEER USING TOOTH
Page 157 and 158: Appendix 3: AGING DEER USING TOOTH
Page 159 and 160: Appendix 4: SELECTIVE ANTLERLESS DE
Page 161 and 162: Appendix 5: GUIDELINES FOR AGING LI
Page 163 and 164: Appendix 5: GUIDELINES FOR AGING LI
Page 165 and 166: Appendix 7: FIELD OBSERVATION FORM
Page 167 and 168: Appendix 9: COOL-SEASON PLANTING GU
Page 169 and 170: CRIMSON CLOVER Planting Date: Septe
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RAPE Planting Date: August 15 - Nov
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SUBTERRANEAN CLOVER Planting Date:
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Appendix 10: WARM-SEASON PLANTING G
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COWPEAS Planting Date: May 1 - July
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RAPE Planting Date: April 15 - June
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Appendix 11: CONTACT INFORMATION FO
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Appendix 12: SUGGESTED READING AND
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ABOUT THE AUTHORS Chris Cook receiv
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Biology And Management Of White-tailed Deer In Alabama

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