Tag: whitetail

Whitetail Deer Hunting Was Texas Tough

White-tailed deer hunting is a big deal in Texas, but hunters had a tough time of it this year in the Lone Star State. “The best estimate is that harvest is down by 30-35 percent this year,” said Alan Cain, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Wildlife district leader from Pleasanton of the South Texas harvest. Some locker plants that process deer are reporting deer numbers are down as much as 40-45 percent!

Cain said to blame the drop on the green-up that came following the drought. “The positive side of this is that a bunch of bucks will probably make it through the season to be available next year and with another year of age,” Cain said.He added that range conditions are still good, and once the bucks shed antlers and begin developing another set they should be healthy. Continue reading Whitetail Deer Hunting Was Texas Tough

Southeast Deer Study Group Nominations Sought

Deer Management Career Achievement Award Nominations Sought

The SOUTHEAST DEER STUDY GROUP Deer Management Career Achievement Award recognizes outstanding contributions to the understanding of white-tailed deer ecology and management in the southeastern United States. The award may recognize a single achievement or contributions over an extended period of time and is presented at the Annual Meeting of the Southeast Deer Study Group. The award is to be given for activities conducted within the member states of the SE Section of The Wildlife Society and the states of Missouri, Texas, Delaware, Maryland and West Virginia.

Nomination is to be made by a member of the SE Section, but the nominee need not be a member of the section. Both individuals and groups are eligible for nomination. Nominations including supporting documentation and letters of recommendation should be submitted by December 1, 2009 to Steve Demarais at P.O. Box 9690, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS 39762 or (preferably) as pdf documents to sdemarais@cfr.msstate.edu.

Retirement Recognition

The Southeast Deer Study Group and Southeast Deer Committee will recognize retiring deer biologists and managers at the 2010 banquet. Awardees need not attend the meeting, and retirement can be pending or past. Self nomination is allowed. No specific time frame for work with deer is required. Nominees not attending the meeting or banquet will receive their certificate by mail. The nomination letter must list the nominee’s name, address, employer(s), dates of employment, and type of work (management and/or research) and must be emailed by January 1, 2010 to Steve Demarais at sdemarais@cfr.msstate.edu.

Whitetail Deer Catches Bucket!

White-tailed Buck with Bucket Between Antlers 

White-tailed deer are amazing animals and they have adapted to live almost anywhere in the United States, from rurual to urban areas and anywhere in between. When it comes to wildlife management, deer have no problem increasing in numbers. In fact, the most important thing we can do is keep deer populations in check with their available habitat through regulated hunting. But that’s an article for another day.

With recent advances in technology, mostly motion-sensitive cameras commonly referred to as game cameras, humans can keep a close eye on what deer are doing out there in the woods. These simple game cameras are triggered by movement and then activate to take a photo. It really is a simple process, but the exciting part as the camera’s owner is never knowing what you will see until the pictures are downloaded. Continue reading Whitetail Deer Catches Bucket!

Case Shows How Easy CWD Could Spread

CWD could spread easier than you think 

Criminal charges recently filed against a father and son who ran a Kent County deer farm provide a shocking look at just how easy chronic wasting disease (CWD) might have spread to Michigan’s wild deer herd. Michigan Department of Natural Resources agents say a day after CWD was confirmed in a deer from their herd, the pair crept onto their quarantined farm at midnight, tranquilized a deer and loaded it into a trailer. DNR agents watching the property say they saw it all. When stopped on a road, the two told DNR officers they planned to release the deer into the wild. They didn’t have proper paperwork for the deer, and wanted to get rid of it. However, tests later showed the deer free of CWD.

The DNR recently said that it may have found the source of the always-fatal disease that’s similar to mad cow disease. The taxidermy shop next to the Kent County deer farm had accepted two deer from customers who illegally brought them from CWD zones in South Dakota and Wyoming. Continue reading Case Shows How Easy CWD Could Spread