Biology And Management Of White-tailed Deer In Alabama

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cases where population levels are at CC, increases in habitat quality are generally negated because coinciding reproductive increases may add additional deer to the herd, further compounding the problem of too many deer. POPULATION BIOLOGY Many factors of population dynamics affect deer populations— sex and age structure, mortality, reproductive success, and dispersal. There are contributing variables for each of these factors. For example, physical condition and age of a doe affect reproductive output. Overall sex and age structure are influenced by selective mortality factors, primarily in the form of hunting. <strong>Deer</strong> hunters and managers can significantly influence many of these factors, while others are more or less beyond their control. POPULATION STRUCTURE With the exception of the breeding season, adult males and females have little contact throughout the year. Bucks typically form small bachelor groups, while does tend to be less social than bucks, rarely forming associations with unrelated herd members of similar age and standing. The bachelor groups of bucks remain intact until the onset of the breeding season. Then the groups temporarily disband until the breeding season is over. During late summer and fall, doe groups typically include an adult doe, her female offspring from the previous year, and her fawns of the year. Several doe groups may feed together. Shortly before the birth of her fawns, a doe may forcibly drive away her fawns from the previous year. Yearling does may rejoin their 44
dam and her new fawns later in the fall. Yearling bucks, on the other hand, almost never rejoin this group. Sex ratio among fawns in a deer herd is typically 1:1. Due to higher natural mortality among bucks, however, the overall Doe groups often consist of a matriarchal doe and several generations of her female offspring. Photo by Jeff Shaw. population is generally slightly skewed to favor female deer. Adult sex ratio and age structure vary from one population to another. These aspects of population structure depend primarily on selective mortality factors influenced by management objectives or philosophies. Age structure and adult sex ratios are more natural in properly managed deer herds and include more older age class bucks in the population. Poorly managed herds, where hunting mortality selects heavily against antlered bucks, often are heavily skewed to favor female deer. SOCIAL ORGANIZATION AND HIERARCHY A strict dominance hierarchy is observed among both sexes. With females, dominance is closely related to age. Older does tend to 45
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Biology and Management of White-tai
Page 5 and 6: Table of Contents PREFACE .........
Page 7 and 8: JAWBONE EXTRACTION ................
Page 9 and 10: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors gratefu
Page 11 and 12: PREFACE White-tailed deer (Odocoile
Page 13 and 14: TAXONOMY The white-tailed deer is o
Page 15 and 16: darker winter coat. Fawns are born
Page 17 and 18: Deer have many glands that are used
Page 19 and 20: tiates antler growth. The secretion
Page 21 and 22: DEER BEHAVIOR VOCALIZATION AND COMM
Page 23 and 24: Among bucks, two males of equal sta
Page 25 and 26: out the Southeast have reported dis
Page 27 and 28: check their scrapes regularly to de
Page 29 and 30: The sex ratio of fawns at birth is
Page 31 and 32: (midges) are highest. To date there
Page 33 and 34: is extremely unlikely to fall prey
Page 35 and 36: and even fawn production—will be,
Page 37 and 38: and living body tissue. Many of the
Page 39 and 40: trace elements are important to a d
Page 41 and 42: are compatible with other objective
Page 43 and 44: tural crops may be used heavily as
Page 45 and 46: providing nutritious cool-season fo
Page 47 and 48: SPATIAL ARRANGEMENT OF HABITAT COMP
Page 49 and 50: Soil quality has a significant impa
Page 51 and 52: Determining CC for deer habitat can
Page 53: cycle of poor deer herd and habitat
Page 57 and 58: POPULATION DENSITY The number of an
Page 59 and 60: determining exactly how many indivi
Page 61 and 62: searching for breeding opportunitie
Page 63 and 64: comes intense with improved buck ag
Page 65 and 66: the 1960s, deer were restocked in m
Page 67 and 68: 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
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LACTATION Checking a doe for the pr
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deer seen into more specific classi
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and harvest recommendations for the
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of the year as a comparable type fo
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during the spring and summer, but t
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HERBICIDE TREATMENT Another techniq
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TIMBER HARVEST Periodic removal of
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foods in any area. Fertilizer incre
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WILDLIFE OPENINGS Of all the manage
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areas. Very few of the crops common
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samples. These boxes are usually av
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ag of fertilizer, while soil test r
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Applying the Seed Seed should be ap
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cult. Many of these new crops show
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acre), and wheat (one bushel per ac
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using small portions of the opening
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able weight loss at the conclusion
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trace minerals. Another considerati
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Number 8. P-R Project W-35, Alabama
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Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Volume 2, Page
Page 149 and 150:
ings of the Role of Genetics in Whi
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APPENDICES 141
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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
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Appendix 4: SELECTIVE ANTLERLESS DE
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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
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CRIMSON CLOVER Planting Date: Septe
Page 171 and 172:
RAPE Planting Date: August 15 - Nov
Page 173 and 174:
SUBTERRANEAN CLOVER Planting Date:
Page 175 and 176:
Appendix 10: WARM-SEASON PLANTING G
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COWPEAS Planting Date: May 1 - July
Page 179 and 180:
RAPE Planting Date: April 15 - June
Page 181 and 182:
Appendix 11: CONTACT INFORMATION FO
Page 183 and 184:
Appendix 12: SUGGESTED READING AND
Page 185:
ABOUT THE AUTHORS Chris Cook receiv
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Biology And Management Of White-tailed Deer In Alabama

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