Biology And Management Of White-tailed Deer In Alabama

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stood, the management process can progress without an excessive number of mistakes or lapses in judgment. To further expedite achievement of deer management objectives, both doe harvest and buck restrictions should be as aggressive as the participating hunters can tolerate. Currently there are many more management options available to correct shortcomings in deer habitat than exist for herd management (see HABITAT MANAGEMENT, page 103). Very few areas in Alabama lack cover or water suitable for whitetails, but most areas are short on quality food. For this reason, most habitat management practices should be directed at improving both the quantity and quality of deer food. As with herd management, a more aggressive approach to improving the deer habitat will bring quicker changes. Of course, the amount of habitat improvement that can be achieved will be limited by the available resources (money, equipment, etc.), location of the property, current land use, and land ownership. Once the management plan has been implemented, it will be necessary to monitor the deer herd’s progress on a regular basis. To ensure proper management decisions are made, accurate and complete deer harvest and observational data must be collected (see DATA COL- LECTION, page 89). By reviewing these data on an annual basis, fine-tuning of the herd and/or habitat management practices can be made to ensure continued progress. The ultimate goal of most deer management plans is the satisfaction of the people involved. If the people involved are not satisfied with the program’s progress, the chances of them continuing to support the management practices being used are small. Just as the deer data may dictate a change in management strategies, hunter dissatisfaction 88
may justify a modification of the deer management plan. Once positive results are seen, however, hunters and others involved typically become more enthusiastic and willing to continue working toward their goals. This enthusiasm can quickly spread to adjoining properties, which, in many cases, greatly improves everyone’s chances of succeeding. The satisfaction level of the participants is probably the best gauge of a deer management program’s success or failure. Hard work and commitment has paid off for these hunters. Photo by Jean Watson. DATA COLLECTION HARVEST DATA One of the most important parts of any long-term project is the periodic evaluation of the project’s progress. This is especially important when the project is the management of a herd of white-tailed deer. 89
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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
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 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: tivity of the property (Woods 1999b
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
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
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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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