A young deer is walking through the woods. All of the sudden its mother is shot. Many people know the story of the fawn named Bambi. However, many don't know much about his kind, the whitetail deer. Many people only think of deer as an animal to hunt and eat its meat, but it’s much more. In order to fully understand the whitetail deer, one must understand its complex anatomy, its interesting way of mating, and its simple diet.
The whitetail deer, or Odocoileus virginianus, is a mammal in the cervidae family. Because of this, they are one of the few creatures with antlers. Antlers are projections from the head that are connected to, and part of, the skull. Antlers vary in size and contrary to popular belief, are based on genetics and not health.
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The mating rituals begins with a rut. Ruts start with males proving their dominance with a grunt-snort-wheeze pattern. Then the males begin to fight each other by attacking each other with their antlers. They do this to earn the right to every doe in the area. Each doe usually have one fawn in its first mating season, but will likely have twins in each of the following years. Fawns are born with white spots on their backs making them easy to see. Does are very protective of their newborn fawns, only leaving them for short intervals to graze for food. When the mother is absent, the fawn will lay motionless on the forest floor, camouflaged from predators (American Expedition 2017). After one month the fawn will start to follow the mother around. One to two months later it will lose the white spots. Fawns mature at one year be will not be mated until they are 18 months old. In the wild the deer will grow to be around six feet tall and weigh about 200 pounds. However the largest deer recorded are found in their native regions of Minnesota and Ontario.
Even though whitetail deer can grow to large sizes they don't even eat meet to do it. Deer are strictly herbivores that don't even chew. A deer’s stomach consists of four chambers. Because of this, they can eat some poisonous mushrooms that are lethal to humans. However, deer mainly eat legumes, shoots, and members of the grass family. Deer use
To manage this population of mule deer in Colorado a detailed Microsoft Excel spreadsheet has been used for 29 years. To ease management of this population I would not utilize trial and error based on this spreadsheet. However, it does provide ample insight into how various management strategies will play out in the landscape. Moreover, due to the dangers associated with stochasticity and constant
The deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus) is the most widely dispersed mammal in North America and is the primary reservoir species for SNV (University of California Agricultural and Natural Resources 2013). Deer mice are nocturnal and are found throughout all types of habitats ranging from forests to scrublands, making this a very ubiquitous species that primarily feed on grains and seeds(University of California Agricultural and Natural Resources 2013). However deer mice are very adaptable animals that can change their diets to suit their environment and their diet can consist of invertebrates, fungi, fruits, and green vegetation. The typical lifespan of deer mice is 2 years and they typically do not breed during the winter, although in times of abundant food supply and warm temperatures they may breed year round with liter size varying from three to six young SNV (University of California Agricultural and Natural Resources 2013).
One of the first differences is Whitetails live in the midwest but the mule deer lives in the western U.S. Another thing is usually Whitetails roam by theirself but Mule deer roam in herds. The last thing is Mule deer have a “Y” in both antlers although Whitetails do not. Obviously Mule deer and Whitetails have similarities and differences.
They do this to adapt to the colour of the current season they are in. This can benefit in many ways such as camouflage or hide from predators. The White-tails deer is an important part of the environment as it is a good food source for bobcats, panthers, and coyotes. Another extremely important role in the environment they play is eating invasive plant species since they are herbivores. If the White-tail deer was to be taken out of the ecosystem, a lot of these plants would invade or
The ultimate dream of nearly all outdoorsmen in the United States of America today is to kill a mature old whitetail buck, and these chances have been very few and far between in the state of Tennessee in the past. In order for a male whitetail deer to grow into, what some might call, a trophy buck, it will take a
So to put that into perspective from Kansas, down to Mexico, and from Kansas up into Canada, and all the way to the water on the East Coast. Typically Whitetail Deer in the Midwest will eat on green sprouting plants in the summer when its hot. Such as turnips, clover, alfalfa and even beans and corn before it starts to change in color and start to harden. In the winter time, the Whitetail Deer will move more to cover to keep out of the harsh elements. They revert to acorns falling from the trees and also corn and beans before its about to be harvested. Also having food plots planted for them with greens on it for the late season will also keep the deer on your place. If you leave food on your land and the deer know about it they will be there until you run out. Whitetail deer typically get the biggest out of the four different types of deer. Many Whitetails go beyond the 300 pound mark. Antler size ranges on the Whitetail the farther east u go towards the water. This is because there is less crops for them to eat such as were Kansas, Iowa, and Illinois produce some of the most crops in the United States on yearly basis were North Carolina hardly produces any crops. Typically more food the state has for deer, the bigger the deer will get in body size and also body
“Life has no Justice,” “Trying to paw itself free of the top, it had scratched his neck with his hooves, and raw underside showed red stripes and some bleeding in muscles.” ( page 38, paragraph 38) This shows that deer had dug a hole for itself, and was trying its best to survive .“ we watched the deer, and nobody said much.” (
When people talk about deer, they are commonly talking about the North American Whitetail. That is because they are so prevalent in this country. They can be found in every state in the US. The only place where you will not find any whitetails is in parts of Arizona and California. In most states the whitetail is very prevalent, especially in the northeast. They are one of the most hunted animals in this area, particularly in Pennsylvania and Michigan. Despite the amount they are hunted, both in and out of season, you can not drive more than a few miles out of the towns without seeing one that was hit by a car. The deer population in this area just keeps growing. It is unclear what
Mountain lions and wolves are the natural predators of the white-tailed deer. Wolf and mountain lion populations have been lowered due to overhunting and habitat loss. This loss of a natural predator for the white-tailed deer, along with other factors, has led to overpopulation of the white-tailed deer in some areas.
The amount of hours spent hunting and the actual time of day have a major effect on seeing trophy deer. The old saying that “you can’t see a deer when you’re not hunting” is exactly true. Successful hunters who continually harvest large whitetails all spend countless hours scouting, planning, and hunting throughout the season. The best hours for hunting are typically the hours closest to sunrise and sunset. Deer often travel during this period to and from food and bedding areas. During rut many successful hunters spend all day in the field.
17. All kills including, predators, must be reported to the hunt club president and secretary via picture message (if neither are present the day of the kill) and inserted into the Game log kept inside the lodge. All jawbones from harvested deer will be removed for aging. A trophy buck jawbone may be removed by taxidermist. Deer must be weighed, measured and logged appropriately in accordance with the DMAP program using the cleaning station behind hunting lodge. (You do not have to clean your deer here if you choose not to).
White tails can become huge by what they eat. The nutrients goes into there horns and keeps them getting bigger during the summers. Some white tails can grow drop tines or kickers. Kickers are usually are of the g2 or g1. Each horn has a name and the first one is G1 and then G2 etc. Most deers that have drop tines are at the end of the antler because they cant grow of the middle or the biggining of the antler. White tails are more of golden body deer. They Can weigh up to 300 pounds. The Trophy bucks are ones that score up to 190+ inches. You score a buck bye taking measurements of the antlers. Each antler can get up to around 90
As the morning wore on I began to get anxious and fidgety feeling that no deer were going to come. As I was contemplating whether to leave my stand in the field, I recognized two deer grazing peacefully in the middle of the field. I quickly pulled up and looked through my scope and saw nothing but green fuzz. I was so nervous that I had forgotten to readjust the focus on my scope. As I did, the deer saw me move and began to trot away from me and into the protection of the forest. I managed to get my scope in focus in time to see that there was a buck and a doe. My chance had finally come. I was going to get my first Vermont buck. I immediately stood up from my stand and jogged over to where they had entered the woods. Once in the woods, I evaluated the surroundings and had a good
Deer season begins on thursday and I really hope I will be able to shoot my first deer. My dad, my brother, and I are leaving after school wednesday and heading up to our deer camp in Ishpeming, Michigan. The car ride was long but it went by very fast mainly because I slept most of it. Once we finally arrived are cousins Case and his son Collin were already out at the camp. Case tells us that the deer population was very low and that their arn’t very many bucks around. He says that it was caused by the frigid winter the year before. It was pretty late and we wanted to get up before dawn to go out and hunt so we just went to sleep excited for the following morning.
Deer season began on a Thursday. It wasn’t my first hunting season, but this particular year I was hoping to shoot my first deer. My dad, brother, and I drove up to our cabin in Ishpeming, Michigan. The car ride was eight hours long, but it went by very quickly because I fell asleep. Once we finally arrived, my cousin Casey and his son Collin were already out at the cabin. After we unloaded all of our stuff we sat around inside. Casey told us that the deer population was very low and that there weren’t very many bucks (male deer) around. He told us that it was caused by the frigid winter the previous year. After hearing this, I became doubtful about shooting a deer this season. It was getting late, so we all went to bed. So we could head out to hunt at dawn the next morning.