2006-07 deer Report - Arkansas Game and Fish Commission

Executive SummaryIn 1999 the Arkansas Game and FishCommission approved the StrategicDeer Management Plan. The majorpurpose of this plan is to provide strategic,long-term guidance and direction for theCommission’s white-tailed deer program.The Strategic Deer Management Plan dividesthe state into six Deer Management Units (DMU)based on the following physiographic regions: OzarkMountains, Ouachita Mountains, Arkansas RiverValley (ARV), West Gulf Coastal Plain (WGCP),Mississippi Alluvial Valley (Delta), and Crowley’sRidge (CR). The statewide zones are subdivisionsof the DMUs. Zones allow separate managementstrategies to address differences in deer populations,habitat composition, and land-use patterns withineach DMU to maintain the established populationand biological goals.Current ManagementAll regions of Arkansas support white-tailed deerpopulations. The highest densities occur in the WestGulf Coastal Plain where about 50 percent of allharvest occurs. The deer populations in the OzarkMountains, Ouachita Mountains and the ArkansasRiver Valley are considered stable to increasing.Despite the high degree of habitat fragmentation,the Mississippi Alluvial Valley supports a moderatedeer population, primarily because of high soilfertility and high-quality food sources. Crowley’sRidge has soil types and habitat compositiondrastically different than the surroundingMississippi Delta. The deer population on Crowley’sRidge is considered stable.The deer database contains 69 years of harvestdata, 17 years of biological data (body weights,lactation, age and antler measurements), 6 yearsof herd health data (kidney fat indices, conceptiondates, parturition dates and fetal counts), and 3years of bowhunter observation data. Because oflack of standardization of deer zone boundariesthroughout the years, data analysis by deer zone isdifficult. Data available can best be evaluated byDMU because of unchanging boundaries.A total of 165,663 deer were checked in the2006-07 deer season. This represents a 25 percentincrease from the 2005-06 harvest of 132,415. Thebuck harvest increased 26 percent (90,028) fromthe 2005-06 harvest of 71,253. The doe harvestincreased 28 percent (47,778 to 61,179) during the2006-07 season. Button buck harvest increased12 percent (12, 747 from the 2005-06 harvestof 11,428).“A total of 165,663 deerwere checked in the2006-07 deer season.”The 2006-07 biological data demonstrates themajority of bucks (36 percent) and does (25 percent)harvested statewide were 2.5 years old. The peakin the 2.5-year-old buck harvest is primarily aresult of the statewide antler point restriction thatdefines a legal buck as having at least three pointson one side. Average dressed body weights for adultbucks ranged from 109 pounds in the OuachitaMountains and the West Gulf Coastal Plain to 131pounds in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley. Averageadult doe dressed body weights were highest inthe Mississippi Alluvial Valley (89 pounds) andlowest in the Ouachita Mountains (77 pounds).Statewide lactation rates in adult does were belowthe 80 percent target set by the Strategic DeerPlan. The highest adult lactation was 78 percent5