June Whitetail Deer Management
By June the bucks and does should be on their summer home ranges, and the does should be fawning. It's time to start working on habitat improvement, fertilizing, mowing, spraying, and clearing trails and paths. You can also start glassing from the roads, to see if there are any big bucks out there, and where they hang out.
How Social Status Affects Health and The Rut
It may be that current deer management and hunting practices in many areas (which result in lower than normal buck:doe ratios) that are the cause of the rut being delayed until late November, and continuing into January and even February in many northern states. In a deer management study by Dr. Larry Marchinton between 1981 and 1986, an increase in the buck to doe ratio from 25:100 in 1981-82, to 54:100 in 1983-84 resulted in the average breeding date changing from November 11 in 1981 to October 15 in 1982, almost a month earlier than normal; and the length of the breeding period was shortened from 96 to 43 days. In another study using quality deer management techniques, the average breeding date occurred almost two months earlier.
During Marchinton's study the average number of fetuses per does over the age of 2 1/2 years increased from 1.6 in 1985 to 1.9 in 1986, and pregnancy in doe fawns was detected in 1985. Fetal male:female sex ratios shifted from 64:36 during 1981-83, to a more balanced 47:53 during 1984-86. The average weights of yearling bucks increased from 90 pounds in 1982 to 110.5 pounds during the 1983-86 portion of the study. There was a significant weight increase in the 3.5 year and older bucks in a similar study by McKelvy. The positive results of these studies were credited to the increased age structure of the bucks.
An increase in the number of older dominant bucks in the deer herd has a direct suppressing effect on the testosterone levels of younger bucks, which reduces their aggressiveness and competition for breeding privileges. Since a low position in the breeding hierarchy results in less reproductive behavior and lower weight loss, those young bucks that do not breed grow to greater body size before they become dominant. This results in an overall increase in the number of older dominant bucks, which leads to earlier fawning dates and heavier body sizes of yearling bucks; and this leads to higher survival rates and eventually to increased buck numbers.
If both game managers and hunters can agree to reduce the number of does and let the younger bucks grow, while still keeping the herds balanced and within the carrying capacity of the habitat, there will be an increase in the number of older bucks. There is also a good probability that the younger non-breeding bucks, because they are not stressed by breeding activity, will produce larger racks.
The increased number of older bucks may also shorten the length of the rut and result in an earlier rut. This could mean that hunters who prefer to hunt during the rut might be forced to hunt a month earlier, and they might be forced to take up archery hunting, or game managers might be forced to change the timing of some hunts. But, the end result of an increased number of older bucks will create a healthier more balanced deer herd, and increase the odds of hunters seeing more and bigger bucks.
If you think you have too many deer, too many does, or not enough older bucks in your area, maybe it's time you and your buddies and neighbors thought about reducing the herd by taking more does, and increasing the number of older bucks by letting the 1.5 to 2.5 year old bucks go.
Antler Growth If you want to see more big racked bucks in your area the first thing you have to do is use a little restraint. You have to let the young bucks go, so they can grow. I often hear hunters complain that they don't see anything but small racked bucks in their area. These hunters often wait patiently through the season for a big racked buck to appear. Then, instead of going home empty handed they end up taking a small racked buck. If this pattern continues year after year those hunters will continue to see nothing but young, small racked bucks, because the young deer never live long enough to grow big racks.
Age and Antler Size
Deer experts used to believe it took 4 1/2 years for a whitetail buck to develop a trophy rack. It is now believed that a whitetail doesn't achieve full body size until it is about 7 1/2 years old. Until that time much of the food and mineral a buck takes in is used to develop bone and muscle mass. Once the buck is fully mature excess food and mineral can be used to develop antler mass, and many hunters equate antler mass with a high score. A close look at any scoring chart will reveal that it is the number and length of tines that makes up the majority of inches needed for the rack to score high enough to enter the record books. The difference between a massive rack and a thin rack might only add 10 inches, which is 1/14 of a 140 class buck, not enough to really matter. Milo Hanson's world record whitetail has several tines with extremely long points, and it has long main beams, with a good spread, but it is not massive. The length of the tines is what made it the new world record. Game officials aged the buck at 4 1/2. Obviously it had superior genetics, and it lived until it was 4 1/2 years old. It is conceivable that a 3 1/2 year old buck could make the archery record book but most trophy bucks are over 4 1/2 years of age.
In many areas bucks don't make it past their first year, and the chances of a 2 1/2 year old buck making the book are slim. If you want to see more trophy bucks you have to let the 1 1/2 to 3 1/2 year old bucks go, so they can grow. By letting the young bucks grow, and taking does, you not only keep the herd below carrying capacity, you increase the buck to doe ratio in favor of bucks. Eventually you will have more older bucks, which may translate into more trophy deer.
If you are interested in more deer hunting tips, or more deer biology and behavior, click on Trinity Mountain Outdoor News and T.R.'s Hunting Tips at www.TRMichels.com. If you have questions about deer, elk, turkey or waterfowl log on to the T.R.'s Tips message board. To find out when the rut starts, peaks and ends in your area click on Whitetail Rut Dates Chart.
This article is an excerpt from the Whitetail Addict's Manual ($19.95 + $5.00 S&H), by T.R. Michels, available in the Trinity Mountain Outdoor Products catalog.
T.R. Michels is a nationally recognized game researcher/wildlife behaviorist, outdoor writer and speaker. He is the author of the Whitetail, Elk, Duck & Goose, and Turkey Addict's Manuals. His latest products are Hunting the Whitetail Rut Phases, the Complete Whitetail Addict's Manual, the 2006 Revised Edition of the Elk Addict's Manual; and the 2006 Revised Edition of the Duck & Goose Addict's Manual. For a catalog of books and other hunting products; or for information on a wide variety of Natural History Eco-Tours, viewing and photographing regional and national scenic areas, songbirds, big game animals, elk bugling, wolf howling, sandhill crane, swan, prairie chicken, sharp-tailed grouse, swan tours or other trips with T.R. Michels contact: T.R. Michels, Trinity Mountain Outdoors, E-mail: TRMichels@yahoo.com, Web Site: www.TRMichels.com.
