DEER HARVEST STRATEGIES FOR A DROUGHT YEAR

By Shane Kiefer, CWB®, Senior Wildlife Biologist

As opening day approaches and annual deer surveys begin, I am getting questions about harvest strategies for this coming deer season. The severity of this drought (and its apparent stubbornness about overstaying its welcome) may have you thinking that Mother Nature is doing enough damage to our deer herds so maybe we should go easy on them this year. While I have yet to gather enough information from surveys to say it with certainty, fawn crops in many places will be extremely low, but that doesn't mean that curtailing your harvest is a good idea.

It is natural to think that an extra conservative approach to harvest is warranted and that, perhaps, those harvest recommendations from your biologist should be relaxed a bit. However, it is times like this when following those harvest recommendations is more important than ever. This is particularly true if you are one of the many landowners still in the "population reduction" phase of your management plan.

Given the timing and severity of this drought, you likely have less available forage on your land this year than in any other in recent history, with very little chance of growing much more between now and the end of this growing season. Most properties I have seen, appear to have produced nearly zero new growth this year. No widespread deer die-offs have been reported, and given that the animals have not stopped eating in that time, it means you will enter spring 2012 with less available browse than you had 2 years ago. And unless you keep up with harvest recommendations, you will have a lot more deer than you can support. In short - it's a great time to shoot more deer.

If you are farther along in your management plan, with strong, healthy habitats and a goal of maintaining stable deer populations, then lower fawn recruitment numbers may mean that your harvest recommendations are a little lower than normal. It is still very important to meet those harvest goals to avoid a population increase and a loss of past gains in habitat quality. Those top-choice browse plants you have been growing are stressed by the drought, too, so you don't want extra mouths full of sharp incisors nipping on them all winter. In short - it's still a great time to shoot deer.

Healthy habitats produce healthy, quality deer, just like healthy grasslands produce healthy, quality cows. You wouldn't leave extra cows on the range if it couldn't support them, and you shouldn't leave extra deer on the range, either. When the rains return (and they will, eventually), properties that took the time to reduce their herds during the worst times will recover the fastest.

Yes, many places might lose a whole age class of deer this year, but deer are not in short supply across most of Texas. The herds will respond when the drought lifts, and if you take the time to focus on your long-term goals and follow those harvest recommendations from your annual surveys, you might just be ahead of the game when they do.

P.S. Pay extra attention to body condition of the deer you harvest this year. Lean deer with little fat may be the standard in many areas, but if you see body weights consistent with history on your property and good fat deposits on your deer in a year like this, then that is an excellent indicator that your population management is on the right track.

When the rains return (and they will, eventually), properties that took the time to reduce their herds during the worst times will recover the fastest.

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