Biology And Management Of White-tailed Deer In Alabama

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later estrous cycles will have fawns at a time when habitat conditions are at their poorest. As a result, later born fawns often have lower weights and poorer antler development than their earlier born cohorts. It may take several years for late born fawns to catch up with respect to physical condition. In populations heavily skewed toward females, population density often is excessive and out of balance with existing habitat conditions. Attempts to control overall herd density through harvest becomes increasingly difficult as sex ratio becomes more skewed toward females. Does have different habitat requirements and preferences than do Excessive deer numbers and few antlered bucks often are problems associated with deer populations heavily skewed toward female deer. bucks outside the breeding season. Poor growth rates among younger deer and poor reproductive success for does generally are associated with increased competition for food and cover. These negative impacts are typically the result of too many does, rather than too many bucks (Miller et al. 1995). In herds with doe-heavy sex ratios, bucks have to do very little 50
searching for breeding opportunities. This means hunters have less opportunity to encounter a buck out searching for a receptive doe. Having too many does in a herd also appears to contribute to the suppression of many natural buck behaviors, such as rubbing and scraping. Bucks simply do not have to expend the energy on such behaviors in order to ensure breeding opportunities. BUCK AGE STRUCTURE Buck age structure is of equal importance to a deer population. The term age structure refers to the proportion of animals in differing age classes for both sexes. There is a good proportion of mature deer (3- 1/2 years old and older) in the buck segment of a normal deer herd. The total number of mature bucks in such a population generally is fewer than the number of younger age class bucks (1-1/2 and 2-1/2 year animals). This can be attributed to greater competition for breeding opportunities and higher natural mortality for older bucks. As mentioned earlier, deer of both sexes have well defined dominance hierarchies. In herds where adequate numbers of mature bucks exist, the older bucks do most of the breeding and suppress breeding activity in younger, immature bucks. Breeding is an extremely stressful period for white-tailed bucks. Mature bucks are more physically suited to handle these stresses than are immature bucks. Well proportioned buck age structures result in immature bucks being spared the rigors of the breeding period. Consequently, these animals often enter the spring in much better condition. When coupled with balanced adult sex ratios, the effects of proper buck age structures also are manifested in the form of increased 51
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Biology and Management of White-tai
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Table of Contents PREFACE .........
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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 and 54: cycle of poor deer herd and habitat
Page 55 and 56: dam and her new fawns later in the
Page 57 and 58: POPULATION DENSITY The number of an
Page 59: determining exactly how many indivi
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
Page 109 and 110: 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
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ings of the Role of Genetics in Whi
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APPENDICES 141
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Appendix 1: AVERAGE BODY WEIGHT, AN
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Appendix 3: AGING DEER USING TOOTH
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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
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Appendix 5: GUIDELINES FOR AGING LI
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Appendix 7: FIELD OBSERVATION FORM
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Appendix 9: COOL-SEASON PLANTING GU
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CRIMSON CLOVER Planting Date: Septe
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RAPE Planting Date: August 15 - Nov
Page 173 and 174:
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
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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