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Arkansas.“The minerals aren’t leached out ofthe surface soils as much as in Texas, somore calcium is taken up by the deerand the plants the deer feed on,” Baxtersaid. “The types of plants they have downthere are also extremely high in proteinalmost year-round, which lets them putheavy growth on their antlers throughoutthe spring and summer.”Arkansas AveragesIt’s not all gloom and doom. Plenty ofgood deer are taken each year on privateand public land in Arkansas. In fact,the biggest deer scored at Arkansas’s BigBuck Classic (the largest deer huntingexpo in the state) have been larger than200 inches on the Boone and Crocketscale during the last three years.“Those are some impressive deer,”Baxter said. “And we hear of plentyothers that people don’t take to thoseexpos or get officially scored. There’salready been one this year that greenscoredover 190 (inches) that was takenby a bowhunter.”Baxter said much of a buck’s antlersize depends on available forage and thenutrients in the soil that are transferredto the buck from the plants they eat.“Agricultural land is rich in nutrientsthe bucks need to grow good antlers,”Baxter said. “Typically, Arkansas’s bestdeer come from areas with richer soils,such as the Delta, Crowley’s Ridge andthe Arkansas River Valley. Every now and“Much of a buck’s antlersize depends on availableforage and the nutrientsin the soil that aretransferred to the buckfrom the plants they eat.”then a monster pops up in the Ouachitas,Ozarks and the pines of south Arkansas,but the average is always going to bebetter where the soil’s richer.”Thanks to years of data collected fromharvested bucks, Baxter can even give agood average of where deer in each partof the state will fall.“For 4½-year-old bucks in the Delta,the average Boone and Crockett scoreis somewhere close to 130 points, butfor 4½-year-olds in the Ozarks, you’relooking at an average score of 110 to 115points,” Baxter said. “You’ll still see someof those big deer that are much largerthan the average, like those on television.You’ll also have a few that are muchsmaller.”Balancing ActBaxter says there’s plenty of potentialfor an even better deer herd in Arkansas,but hunters have to help – the samehunters who complain about small buckshave no problem with does runningamok on their land. When wildlifeagencies were trying to bring deer herdsback from the brink, does were protectedto increase populations. Now that deerpopulations are at all-time highs, theherd must be brought back into balance.Baxter says some areas may have 12to 20 does for every buck in the area. Allthose does compete for food with maturebucks, which decreases the health of theherd and hurts antler development.“The carrying capacity of land isthe most deer an area will hold andkeep healthy,” Baxter said. “But if you’relooking to increase antler size, you needto keep the herd at levels that promotemaximum productivity, which is muchlower than biological carrying capacity.”Too many does can affect the rut.“If the herd is balanced, you’ll have anoticeable rut with deer being very activein a short window,” Baxter said. “Butif the bucks are running around tryingto breed too many does, the rut will belong, drawn-out and much less visible.”All that extra work also impacts thebucks that are left at the end of the year.When the rut is over in late winter, thosedeer will be in bad shape during thetoughest time of the year. Some of thosebucks that were protected may not makeit to the next season.Aged VenisonAccording to Baxter, three thingscontribute to a deer’s antler growth: age,nutrition and genetics.“Landowners can do some things to12ARKANSAS WILDLIFE NOVEMBER • DECEMBER 2011
improve nutrition, such as adequate foodplots and timber management. But it’s upto individual landowners to do it.“Genetics is too complex to effectivelycontrol on a free-roaming herd of deer.Overall, we have good genetics inArkansas; the deer just need the nutritionand age to express it.”Age is the one thing biologists canmanipulate on a large scale to improve adeer herd.“During a deer’s first few years, they’restill using a lot of nutrients and energyto grow their bodies,” Baxter said. “Oncethey’re older, they can devote moreenergy to growing better antlers. Thepeak age for antler growth in Arkansaswhitetails is 5½ years old. Unfortunately,about half of our annual buck harvest,when we include button bucks, iscomposed of deer 2½ years and younger.”Baxter says age has improved in thelast decade. Before the three-point rule,about 75 percent of the antlered deerharvest (not including button bucks) was1½ years old and younger. Accordingto last year’s results, about 10 percentof antlered bucks (not counting buttonbucks) were that young.“The three-point rule has helped thedeer get another year of growth beforebeing harvested,” Baxter said. “Pointsaren’t the most accurate way to judgeage, but it’s the easiest for the averagehunter to measure and does shift theharvest to a slightly older age class. Weare implementing regulations for othermeasurements on some areas of the stateand some of our wildlife managementareas, such as the inside spread of theantlers and the length of the main beam.Using these antler criteria does a betterjob at protecting specific age classes ofdeer, and we’ve seen many private clubsembrace these approaches as well.”Hunters who see an obviously maturedeer with an inferior rack complain aboutthe three-point rule. They’re concernedsuch a deer will pass along poor genetics.“Those deer are an excellent targetfor youth hunters (ages 6-15),” Baxtersaid. “Youths don’t have to worry aboutantler restrictions. Main beam and insidespread regulations also let hunters takethose deer, regardless of points.” AWLEFT: If the number of bucks on an area is closeto the number of does, the rut will be shorter,but it will be predictable and easily seen. Photoby Mike Wintroath.BELOW: If an area is overrun with does, lessfood and fewer nutrients are available forbucks when they’re developing antlers. Photoby Mike Wintroath.NOVEMBER • DECEMBER 2011ARKANSAS WILDLIFE13
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