Deer Hunting's Sweet 16 - Arkansas Game and Fish Commission

Yell
Game Plan
The AGFC’s deer team evaluates the agency’s strategic deer
plan every few years to keep it on target. The last update to the
plan was completed in 2007, and the next incarnation will be
complete in 2013.
Cory Gray, AGFC deer program coordinator, says the plan
constantly evolves with the latest conditions and hunter attitudes.
“We made some good improvements in management during
the 2007 plan, including more public input,” Gray said. “But the
on-the-ground work focused on private land through the Deer
Management Assistance Program and our private land biologists.
It’s time to take the next step and include more detailed
management on public land.”
After a thorough review of AGFC wildlife management
areas, the deer team selected 16 to be showcases in advanced
management and monitoring. The goal on these sweet 16 is
increased opportunity for public land hunters to harvest mature
bucks normally found only on heavily controlled leases and
clubs.
“We chose the WMAs based on their location and potential to
offer high-quality deer,” Gray said. “Some were already known as
big deer areas. We hope the rest will share that reputation soon.”
Sevier
Benton
Washington
Crawford
Sebastian
Polk
Scott
Little River
Howard
Franklin
Miller
Madison
Logan
Pike
Carroll
Region 7
Montgomery
Region 5
12
Hempstead
3
9
8
Johnson
Newton
Region 6
Lafayette
Nevada
Boone
Clark
Pope
Garland
Columbia
Perry
4
Hot Spring
Ouachita
Marion
Searcy
13
Conway
Saline
Dallas
Region 4
Union
Grant
Calhoun
Baxter
Van Buren
11
Pulaski
Stone
Faulkner
Cleveland
Bradley
Izard
Cleburne
White
Lonoke
Jefferson
Fulton
Region 8
Lincoln
Drew
Ashley
Sharp
Independence
Prairie
1
6
10
Region 3
7
Arkansas
Jackson
Woodruff
14
16
Desha
Monroe
Chicot
Randolph
Lawrence
15
5
Cross
Lee
2
Phillips
Greene
Craighead
Region 1
Poinsett
St. Francis
Clay
Region 2
Crittenden
Mississippi
In the Genes
Increasing the quality of deer involves age, nutrition and
genetics. Brad Miller, assistant chief of the AGFC Wildlife
Management Division says only two of these factors can be
impacted on public land.
“We boost nutrition with proper habitat management and
available forage,” Miller said. “And we can impact the age at
which bucks are harvested through regulations, but genetics is
nearly impossible to change on free-ranging deer.”
Miller explains that the genes to create superior antlers and
body size aren’t carried only in bucks.
“The doe that produces the deer carries half of the genetic
makeup as well,” Miller said. “And there’s no way to tell which
doe is carrying those superior genes.”
Miller also points out that you can’t control genetics when
the deer are never allowed to grow to their potential.
“White-tailed deer don’t reach their maximum potential until
five-and-a-half years old,” said Miller. “The average age at which
bucks are harvested on our WMAs is about two-and-a-half
years old.”
Aging Venison
Through the Sweet 16, biologists hope to increase the age
of harvested bucks. Just as the three-point rule protected
most fawns and yearling bucks from harvest, increased antler
restrictions will promote more mature deer on these WMAS.
“We want to move more deer into that three-and-a-half year
old age class,” Gray said. “To do that, we need to change the
way hunters measure deer in the field.
“There are three main ways to judge age by antlers,” Gray
said. “Counting points is the easiest way, but the least accurate.
1 Bayou Meto WMA
2 Dave Donaldson Black River WMA
3 Dr. Lester Sitzes III Bois D’Arc WMA
4 Ed Gordon Point Remove WMA
5 Freddie Black Choctaw Island Deer Research Area WMA
6 Harold E. Alexander Spring River WMA
7 Henry Gray Hurricane Lake WMA
8 Hope Upland WMA
9 McIlroy Madison County WMA
10 Mike Freeze Wattensaw WMA
11 Moro Big Pine Natural Area WMA
12 Rick Evans Grandview Prairie WMA
13 Scott Henderson Gulf Mountain WMA
14 Sheffield Nelson Dagmar WMA
15 Shirey Bay Rainey Brake WMA
16 Trusten Holder WMA
SEPTEMBER • OCTOBER 2012 ARKANSAS WILDLIFE 7