Wildlife workshop details deer management

By MINDY POEHL | Central Texas Edition

Corey Mason, Jay Whiteside and Billy Lambert (L to R) with Texas Parks and Wildlife spoke about deer at the Wildlife Workshop in Fairfield. Photo by Mindy Poehl

Oct. 7, 2004 - In a good wildlife program, especially where deer are prevalent - the overall management process applied to a wildlife site is reflective of what kind of deer harvest that program might produce.

At the 2nd Annual Wildlife Workshop in Fairfield, Sept. 28, a number of speakers from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department addressed the very aspects of good deer management programs.

A healthy deer herd should have a high reproductive rate, said Jay Whiteside, Texas Parks and Wildlife biologist. For instance, Whiteside's colleague, Corey Mason, Texas Parks and Wildlife Waterfowl biologist, said the white-tail deer management program at the Richland Creek Wildlife Management Area (RCWMA) is in a situation where deer numbers are a big issue. The reproduction rate of deer at the site is high. Consequently, as the population of deer doubles each year, more deer management challenges are caused, he said.

"The deer have a high population and reproductive success," Mason said. "As the population goes up, so does browse utilization."

RCWMA is a tributary to the Trinity River, consisting of 14,000 acres that lies within the Trinity River flood plane. It is owned by Texas Parks and Wildlife and was created to compensate for the losses associated with the construction of the Richland-Chambers Reservoir.

Since 2000 there have been mandatory antler restrictions for hunting deer. The deer must have four or less total points or five points on one side, in order for it to be hunted, Mason explained.

"Having five points on one side allows the deer to be around 4. 1/2 years," Mason said. "But, there are no perfect antler restrictions."

Fewer old age does are found in the harvest at RCWMA because the population is turning over quickly. The area has a one to three buck-to-doe ratio. Mason said the solution is to remove deer.

"We are going to continue to evaluate antler restrictions and possibly lower the bottom end restriction to spikes only," Mason said. "We are also going to increase youth antlerless hunts."

Billy Lambert, Texas Parks and Wildlife regulatory biologist, asked why it was important to age deer in a deer wildlife program. "Because you need to know which ones to leave in the deer herd and which ones need to be harvested."

An important rule to follow when hunting is to prevent the harvest of an immature deer, Lambert explained. Therefore, aging deer before hunting them can help narrow down the decision from which deer to shoot, he said.

"Each and every time you pull the trigger you are going in the right direction or the wrong direction. You will either kill a deer that is too young or you will kill a mature deer," Lambert said. "Every deer is critical."

Lambert spoke about using certain characteristics to age deer. "But," he warned, "it can be tricky, so don't determine the age using only one characteristic. Use several characteristics to determine the age of the deer."

"Chest girth correlates best with age," Lambert said. "As the deer ages, the breadth and width of his chest grows."

Next, notice the deer's eyes, he said. A young deer has wide eyes that are open. An older deer usually has squinty eyes.

Many people look for a Roman nose on a mature deer.

"I think this one is pretty worthless. You can throw this one out," Lambert said. "The older he gets, the more convex the nose gets, supposedly."

A characteristic Lambert likes is neck size. "It's the best indicator you're going to have. The older he gets, the more the neck blends into the rest of the body," he explained. "If you draw a line down between his eyes and his neck lies within the eyes, the deer is young. If it is even with the eyes, he is middle age, like a 3 1/2. If his neck is well outside the eyeballs, he is usually a mature deer."

Five other characteristics to help identify the age of deer are leg length, pronounced gut, swayed back, facial color and condition of ears. A young deer's legs look long and skinny, compared to his body.

"I don't like to use the pronounced gut, because this one depends on posture," Lambert said.

However, the older the deer, the more pronounced his gut can be. Older deer are also supposed to have a more swayed back.

"This one isn't good, either. It relates to the gut," Lambert said. "The gut makes an older deer's back sag, like saddle back."

The older a deer gets, the more facial color it has. A younger deer's ears are more upright, too.

Another good aging characteristic are the antlers.

"There is a huge difference between a yearling and a 2 1/2-year-old. And, there's a huge difference between a 2 1/2-year-old and a 3 1/2-year-old," Lambert explained. "The antlers get bigger up to a certain point, then they drop off a little bit."

At 1 1/2 years, the antlers look "kind of funny," Lambert said. The antlers can range from spikes to uneven points to a nice rack for a young deer. At 2 1/2 years, the antlers begin to even out and at 3 1/2 years, "it's starting to be good," Lambert explained. Deer peak out at six, seven or even eight years of age.

Using several characteristics to age the deer will help in identifying young deer from mature deer. And, allowing young, good looking deer to develop, allows for better looking, mature deer.