Biology And Management Of White-tailed Deer In Alabama

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Mississippi study found most yearling spikes were not inferior and if allowed to mature, developed antlers at least as large as forked antlered yearlings. Researchers also concluded nearly all antler characteristics appear to have low heritability from sire to male offspring, so culling of the smaller antlered yearlings should not improve overall antler size of a deer herd over time (Demarais 1998, Jacobson and Lukefahr 1998). They also concluded many other factors, such as birth date, birth type (single or twins), milk production, etc., all appear to have a much more pronounced effect on the size of a buck’s first set of antlers than his sire’s antler size (Jacobson and Lukefahr 1998). Based on these results, the MSU researchers felt deer managers should not expect to improve overall antler quality on a piece of property by removing genetically inferior yearling spikes. Rather, if improvement in average antler size is the management goal, deer managers should protect yearling bucks to maximize the recruitment of these bucks into the older age classes. So which one of these approaches is correct? In short, no one really knows. In Alabama, where most breeding occurs in January and most fawns are born in August, it seems likely most yearling spikes are a result of late birth dates rather than poor genetics. Instead of having 15 or 16 months to grow before developing their first set of hardened antlers, most yearling bucks in Alabama are only 13 to 14 months old when their first set of antlers are fully developed. They simply have not had enough time to grow a larger set of antlers. If these spikes are removed as culls in an attempt to improve the antler genetics of a deer herd, deer managers could potentially be removing 80 percent or more of a single age class of bucks. 80
It appears removing spike antlered yearling bucks to improve antler quality of a deer herd is not a wise management practice for most properties in Alabama. Too many factors affect antler growth to condemn a yearling spike as an “inferior” deer. If allowed to get older, most yearling spikes will grow antlers at least as big as forked antlered yearling bucks of the same age. These two pictures show the same free-ranging buck at 1-1/2 and 3-1/2 years old. The buck obviously had the genetics to grow large antlers; he just needed the time to express more of his potential. Photos courtesy of Harry Jacobson. Some deer managers and hunters will continue to use selective buck harvest to remove bucks believed to have limited antler growth potential. These deer will be culled in an attempt to improve the overall antler genetics of a deer herd. In most cases, allowing such harvest 81
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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
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 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: Two controversial questions related
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 and 120: HERBICIDE TREATMENT Another techniq
Page 121 and 122: TIMBER HARVEST Periodic removal of
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
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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
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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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