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The deer management
techniques that we use on our property have changed
a lot over the past thirty years in relation with
the changing deer herd. Whitetail deer numbers
in the entire state of West Virginia have grown
considerably and our land has been no exception.
We started shooting
does in 1997 after the pictures from our scouting
camera revealed that we were overloaded with does.
Since then we have shot 22 does and only 7 bucks.
Three of these bucks, two 8-points and one 10-point
are the three largest antlered bucks that we have
taken in the last thirty years. We had noticed
that there were larger antlered bucks when the
deer population had just started to climb in the
eighties and then antler sizes began to decrease
as the deer numbers grew too high and we were
shooting the young bucks each year.
All of this made
us realize that we needed to lower the deer population
by shooting does and letting the young bucks grow
up.
We are currently
doing several different things in an attempt to
have a well-balanced, healthier deer herd on our
farm. These include:
* Harvesting does.
* Letting young bucks grow up.
* Planting food plots to help boost the nutrition.
* Mineral licks.
* Keep records on the deer harvested and a log
of the bucks seen during hunting season.
* Leave an area of sanctuary during the hunting
season so that the deer are not pressured.
* Provide a limited amount of shelled corn with
automated wildlife feeders.
On some occasions
we also cut down trees to provide browse in the
winter and fertilize plants growing along the
edges, especially the honeysuckle.
The Results
Since changing our
hunting strategies we have noticed some changes
for the better. We have seen bucks fighting, which
we had seldom seen in past years and bucks have
started reacting to calling, particularly grunting.
We are finding shed antlers now; sheds are hard
to find when they're just spikes. Also the numbers
of bucks as compared to does caught on our scouting
camera pictures has increased dramatically. This
tells us that our buck to doe ratio is improving.
On the other hand,
we still feel that our total deer numbers are
too high. The body weights of the deer we are
shooting are still low. The body weights of the
three does that we shot in 1997 ranged from 65
to 85 pounds while the weights of the four does
in 2003 varied from 55 to 82 pounds. Although
we are not deer aging experts we do look at tooth
wear to determine the approximate age of the deer.
We usually look at the lower front teeth. A couple
of the does that we've shot have had these lower
front teeth worn all the way to the gumline.
Record Keeping
I believe that the
records that we keep have given us a lot of valuable
information. We record every buck that we see
during hunting season. We include the date, time,
number of points, location, person who saw buck,
time, and rack width and characteristics. During
the season of 2003 we recorded 87 buck sightings,
of course many of these bucks showed up several
times. It is neat to look back and see the bucks
grow up that we have recorded. The rack characteristics
are similar from year to year and allow us to
identify many of the deer that we see. Most years
I am able to look at this list and figure out
an approximate number of different bucks that
we have seen.
We have also kept
deer harvest data since 1997 and I wish that I
had started doing this earlier. This data includes
the time, date, number of points, location, hunter,
dressed weight, inside antler spread and approximate
age. I think that we can tell a lot from the weight
data and wish that we had kept track of the weights
from the bucks that we had shot several years
ago when we first got our scales. The weights
of the bucks that we have shot since 1997 have
ranged from 72 to 130 pounds. The 72 pound deer
was a spike that my 9 year old son shot in 2002.
The 130 pound buck was an 8-point that I killed
in 2000. I knew that this buck was at least three
and one-half years old and most likely a year
or two older. I had watched this buck for the
two previous years when he was a nice wide 6-point
and had found one of his shed antlers in 1998.
We also had a few pictures of him from our scouting
cameras.
One suggestion that
I would have for every deer camp would be to buy
a set of scales. They provide a lot of information
for the relatively cheap cost. Whitetail deer
management is not difficult, is good for the overall
health of your deer herd, and a lot of fun.
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