Biology And Management Of White-tailed Deer In Alabama

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Biologists use fetal measurements to determine dates of conception and parturition (fawn drop) for whitetails in Alabama. REPRODUCTION STUDIES IN ALABAMA State wildlife biologists examine deer reproduction through a statewide study that includes the collection of pregnant does. These collections yield a valuable data set with respect to overall reproductive indices in Alabama. With these collections, biologists are able to analyze reproductive data from a broad spectrum of herd and habitat conditions. Biologists observe tremendous variability among many of these collections with respect to average conception and parturition (fawn drop) dates. Average breeding dates consistently occur in mid-November in some areas of the state, while collections from other areas document average breeding dates as late as early February. Most areas in Alabama have mean conception dates around mid- to late- January. To understand the possible reasons for this variability, historic restocking practices must be examined. Numbers of white-tailed deer in Alabama were extremely low at the turn of the century. During the period after World War II through 54
the 1960s, deer were restocked in many locations throughout the state. Most of the deer used in this restocking effort came from southwest Alabama, along the Tombigbee River and its associated swamps. For reasons yet to be fully explained, these deer have a relatively late breeding period when compared to those in other southeastern states which were restocked with deer from Midwestern and Northeastern sources. Deer from Texas, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, and other states also were stocked in some areas of Alabama. Along the Chattahoochee Valley region, present deer populations are thought to be the result of past immigration of deer from Georgia. In areas where present populations originated from non-native stock, mean conception and parturition dates range from one to two months earlier than in areas where populations were originated from native stock. Intuitively, genetic origin and influence must be considered a major factor in these markedly different breeding/fawning periods. Often, these deer are managed under identical harvest regimes, yet the discrepancy in reproductive patterns remains unaffected. While most of Alabama’s deer herd appears to be predisposed to a later breeding period, the vast body of evidence gathered to date indicates most breeding occurs within the confines of the regulated deer hunting season. However, some user groups contend much of the breeding occurs in February. Since Alabama’s deer hunting season closes at the end of January, these groups feel hunters are being deprived of peak rut hunting opportunities. Biologically, there appears to be little basis to this claim. To be accurate, a small percentage of the reproductive collections do document mean conception dates in February. Only 20% of all 55
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Biology and Management of White-tai
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Table of Contents PREFACE .........
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JAWBONE EXTRACTION ................
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors gratefu
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PREFACE White-tailed deer (Odocoile
Page 13 and 14: TAXONOMY The white-tailed deer is o
Page 15 and 16: darker winter coat. Fawns are born
Page 17 and 18: Deer have many glands that are used
Page 19 and 20: tiates antler growth. The secretion
Page 21 and 22: DEER BEHAVIOR VOCALIZATION AND COMM
Page 23 and 24: Among bucks, two males of equal sta
Page 25 and 26: out the Southeast have reported dis
Page 27 and 28: check their scrapes regularly to de
Page 29 and 30: The sex ratio of fawns at birth is
Page 31 and 32: (midges) are highest. To date there
Page 33 and 34: is extremely unlikely to fall prey
Page 35 and 36: and even fawn production—will be,
Page 37 and 38: and living body tissue. Many of the
Page 39 and 40: trace elements are important to a d
Page 41 and 42: are compatible with other objective
Page 43 and 44: tural crops may be used heavily as
Page 45 and 46: providing nutritious cool-season fo
Page 47 and 48: SPATIAL ARRANGEMENT OF HABITAT COMP
Page 49 and 50: Soil quality has a significant impa
Page 51 and 52: Determining CC for deer habitat can
Page 53 and 54: cycle of poor deer herd and habitat
Page 55 and 56: dam and her new fawns later in the
Page 57 and 58: POPULATION DENSITY The number of an
Page 59 and 60: determining exactly how many indivi
Page 61 and 62: searching for breeding opportunitie
Page 63: comes intense with improved buck ag
Page 67 and 68: sive quality deer management progra
Page 69 and 70: factors such as reproductive succes
Page 71 and 72: egulation of deer populations ensur
Page 73 and 74: The above graphs represent the hypo
Page 75 and 76: acceptable hunting satisfaction bec
Page 77 and 78: proportioned. Clearly, all the elem
Page 79 and 80: hunters to see numbers of deer whil
Page 81 and 82: In suboptimal habitats, body weight
Page 83 and 84: changes occur in herd structure and
Page 85 and 86: product of QDM and not a major goal
Page 87 and 88: offset the influences of dispersal
Page 89 and 90: Two controversial questions related
Page 91 and 92: It appears removing spike antlered
Page 93 and 94: guarantee the superior bucks hunter
Page 95 and 96: Perhaps the most common cause of di
Page 97 and 98: tivity of the property (Woods 1999b
Page 99 and 100: may justify a modification of the d
Page 101 and 102: ces and make management recommendat
Page 103 and 104: A method for removing jawbones that
Page 105 and 106: extractor towards the deer’s nose
Page 107 and 108: spread, basal circumference, and ma
Page 109 and 110: LACTATION Checking a doe for the pr
Page 111 and 112: deer seen into more specific classi
Page 113 and 114: and harvest recommendations for the
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of the year as a comparable type fo
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during the spring and summer, but t
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HERBICIDE TREATMENT Another techniq
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TIMBER HARVEST Periodic removal of
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foods in any area. Fertilizer incre
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WILDLIFE OPENINGS Of all the manage
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areas. Very few of the crops common
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samples. These boxes are usually av
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ag of fertilizer, while soil test r
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Applying the Seed Seed should be ap
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cult. Many of these new crops show
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acre), and wheat (one bushel per ac
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using small portions of the opening
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able weight loss at the conclusion
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trace minerals. Another considerati
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Number 8. P-R Project W-35, Alabama
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Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Volume 2, Page
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ings of the Role of Genetics in Whi
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APPENDICES 141
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Appendix 1: AVERAGE BODY WEIGHT, AN
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Appendix 3: AGING DEER USING TOOTH
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Appendix 3: AGING DEER USING TOOTH
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Appendix 4: SELECTIVE ANTLERLESS DE
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Appendix 5: GUIDELINES FOR AGING LI
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Appendix 5: GUIDELINES FOR AGING LI
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Appendix 7: FIELD OBSERVATION FORM
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Appendix 9: COOL-SEASON PLANTING GU
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CRIMSON CLOVER Planting Date: Septe
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RAPE Planting Date: August 15 - Nov
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SUBTERRANEAN CLOVER Planting Date:
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Appendix 10: WARM-SEASON PLANTING G
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COWPEAS Planting Date: May 1 - July
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RAPE Planting Date: April 15 - June
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Appendix 11: CONTACT INFORMATION FO
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Appendix 12: SUGGESTED READING AND
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ABOUT THE AUTHORS Chris Cook receiv
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Biology And Management Of White-tailed Deer In Alabama

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