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| Title: | The Hunting Notesfile |
| Notice: | Registry #7, For Sale #15, Success #270 |
| Moderator: | SALEM::PAPPALARDO |
|
| Created: | Wed Sep 02 1987 |
| Last Modified: | Tue Jun 03 1997 |
| Last Successful Update: | Fri Jun 06 1997 |
| Number of topics: | 1561 |
| Total number of notes: | 17784 |
1108.0. "The White-Tail Deer." by MCIS5::PAPPALARDO (A Pure Hunter) Tue Dec 17 1991 13:49
Long but worth the reading.
The following is an excerpt taken from the Bureau of Information and
Education from the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
Most information you already should know, but you might be surprised
to learn something new, seeing we're always learning I thought I'd
enter this to share with everyone here. Maybe a Mule-deer note from
someone in the West???. Anyway, I learned my fingers aren't made for
typing, the're made for pulling triggers....BAwha,ha,ha....Oh well so
much for the humor.....Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
"White-Tailed Deer"
The white-tailed deer, odocoileus virginianus, derives its common name
from the fact that the underside of its tail is covered with white
hair, and when it runs it often holds its tail erect so that the white
undersurface is visible. Whitetails belong to the Cervidae family which
in North America includes the elk, moose, caribou, and mule deer.
Cervids are split hoofed mammals with no incisor teeth in front of the
upper jaw.
They are classed as ruminant animals, meaning they have a 4 chambered
stomach and frequently chew a "cudd". Adult male cervids grow and shed
a set of antlers each year. Most female caribou also grow antlers, and
occasional antlered doe occurs in whitetails.
Scientists have identified 30 subspecies of whitetails in Central and
North America. Whitetails occur from southern Canada south thru the
U.S. and Mexico to Panama, but they are absent from most of Canada,
Nevada and Utah.
The largest species of the subspecies is the "Northern Woodland"
whitetail, and the smallest is the endangered Florida Key deer. The
subspecies occurring thru-out most of Pennsylvania is the Virginia
whitetail, which is slightly smaller than the "Northern Woodland"
whitetail.
In Penn the average adult male buck weighs about 140lbs live weight and
stands 32-34 inches at the shoulder. He is about 70 inches long from
the tip of his nose to the base of his tail. His tail vertebrae add
only 11 inches, but the long hair makes it far more conspicuous. does
tend to average less in weight an body length than males of the same
age from the same area.
Deer weights vary considerably, depending upon age, sex, diet, and the
time of the year the weight is checked. For example, breeding-age bucks
may weigh 25%-30% more at the onset of the breeding season than they do
at its conclusion. Hence a 140 pound buck in December might have
weighed 180lbs pounds in September.
Hair-Color is alike in both sexes, In adults the belly, throat, areas
around the eyes, insides of the ears, and the underside of the tail are
white year long. In summer the upper parts of the body are reddish
brown, and in winter they are grayish brown. Summer hairs are short,
thin, straight, and wiry. Winter hairs are long, thick, hollow, and
slightly crinkled. Winter hairs afford the deer excellent protection
against the cold. Summer coats are shed in August and September, winter
coats in May and June.
Melanistic and albino deer occur but they are rare. Partial albinos,
sometimes called piebalds or calico deer, occur more frequently.
Fawns are born with white spots in the upper coat. When a fawn is lying
on the ground or in dry leaves, this coat looks like the sun hitting
the ground after it passes thru the treetops. This provides
excellent camo for the fawns. Their summer coats are molted about the
same time as the fall molt in adults, and fawns take on the same coat
colors as adults in the fall.
Whitetails have scent producing glands: 2 tarsals, 1 inside each hind
leg at the hock joint; 2 metartarsals, 1 on the outside of each hind
leg between the hock and the foot. The tarsals and metatarsals release
scents conveying excitement or fear, while interdigitals produce ordors
which let deer trail each other by smell.
Deer can run at 40mph for short bursts and maintain speeds of 25mph for
longer periods. They are also good jumpers capable of clearing
obstacles up to 9 feet high or 25 feet wide. The air filled hairs of
their coats enable them to swim easily.
Although whitetails are color-blind and have a hard time identifying
stationary objects, they are easily alerted by movement. Nature has
compensated for their poor vision with keen sences of smell and hearing
which help them detect danger.
Usually deer are silent, but they can bleat, grunt, whine, and when
alarmed or suspicious, make loud "Whiew" sounds by forcefully blowing
air from their nostrils. Doe whine to call their fawns and fawns bleat
to call their mothers.
Although antler growth is evident on male fawns, it is not prominent
and is known as "buttons." A buck's first set of antlers begin to grow
when he is about 10 months of age. Each year after he reaches this age,
he will grow and shed a new set of antlers. Typical antlers curve
upward and outward to point foward, and consist of two main beams with
individual tines growing upward from them. If the yearling buck comes
from an area which has poor food conditions, his first set of antlers
may only be spikes. Spikes are more common in yearling deer than older
ones because antler growth starts at a time when the young buck's body
is still growing rapidly. But because antler development is tied in
closely with the animals nutritional status, older bucks might also
carry spikes if they come from an area with poor food conditions. More
of the nutrients in the young buck's body are going for body growth
than in older bucks, hence, less are available for antler development.
50% or more of the yearling bucks from poor deer range may produce only
spikes, compared to 10% or less from good deer range. Antlers generally
begin to grow in March or April. By August or early September antler
growth ceases and velvet is shed or rubbed off. By the end of February
the antlers should be shed. Shedding will occur earlier in Northern
states than in Southern states.
((I'm running out of space.....see note #1 for the rest of the story))
Rick
| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 1108.1 | | MCIS5::PAPPALARDO | A Pure Hunter | Tue Dec 17 1991 14:15 | 48 |
|
SOCIAL ORGANIZATION:
====================
The social organization of the whitetail deer is largely matriarchal.
Although large numbers of deer are sometimes seen together in feeding
areas or wintering areas, these associations are usually temporary and
do not reflect the same strong ties as family associations between
related does. The most common social group is an adult doe, her fawns,
and her yearling female offspring. Sometimes 3 or 4 generations of
related does are present in a single family group. When fawning season
rolls around in late May adult doe leave the group and remain alone to
bear and rear their fawns. Once pregnant doe leaves the family circle
to bearher fawns, her yearling offspring are left on their own for the
summer. Siblings tend to remain together thru-out most of the summer.
Sibling groups which include yearling bucks separate in September as
the rut approaches. Yearling bucks tend to disperse from the mothers
home range and generally rejoin their mother and her new fawns between
September and October. During the breeding season adult and yearling
bucks tend to stay alone except when in pursuit of a female who is
approaching estrus. After the breeding season in late January, yearling
and adult bucks form loose associations of small groups, usually 2 to 4
animals, which remain together throughout most of the winter and summer
months. These groups break up around September when the rut starts.
REPRODUCTION:::
===============
The mating season starts in September and last into late January.
Breeding activity reaches its peak in mid-November, and most adult
females have been bred by the end of December. Some female fawns
achieve their 1st estrus at 7 or 8 months of age and produce their 1st
fawns at 14 or 15 months of age. Most of these animals breed a month or
two later than older does. The age and nutritional level of the doe
influence her reproductive capacity. Females from the best range
produce the most fawns than those from poor range. The number of fawns
annually produced by females increases as their ages increase. There
is also a pronounced tendency for young females to produce a larger
percentage of bucks than older does. @@
Some questions come to mind:::: 1st, I've never heard our deer here in
N.H.,MASS,MAINE,VT...called the Northern Woodland....have any of you?
2nd, younger does give birth to more bucks than older doe....Hmmmm??
Rick
|
| 1108.2 | There are subtle differences from what I've seen | ZEKE::HOLLEN | | Tue Dec 17 1991 16:45 | 24 |
|
Byron Dalrimple wrote a book called (I think) "The complete book of
Deer Hunting". He had the latin name for the Northern Woodland subspe-
cies in the book, something like the "???-borealus" deer. The
"borealus" in the name must be latin for "north", like the "Aurora-
borealus" ...
There is differences from what I've seen between northern NH deer
and Penn. deer. Northern deer are just plain "bigger" everywhere!
In the head, the body, and the hooves. The deer we saw/took in Penn
this year "seemed" to be lighter colored than the usual darker grey
coats of the NH deer I've seen/taken. That could be because the NH
deer that I've seen/taken have been taken about one month later than
the deer we got in Penn this year. I processed 3 deer from our camp
that went to Penn this year, and even though two of them were fairly
small, they seemed to have less of a fat layer under their hides...
The deer in Pennsylvania ARE loaded with ticks too!!! I have NEVER
seen a tick on a deer in NH. Maybe I didn't look hard enough :-) The
Penn deer are definitely loaded with them little buggers though...
Sounds like some good reading there Rick...
Joe
|
| 1108.3 | natural laws | CSC32::J_HENSON | I'll 2nd that amendment! | Tue Dec 17 1991 17:05 | 20 |
| >> There is differences from what I've seen between northern NH deer
>> and Penn. deer. Northern deer are just plain "bigger" everywhere!
>> In the head, the body, and the hooves. The deer we saw/took in Penn
Back many moons ago when I was a college student, I took a wildlife
managment course as an elective. One of the few things I remember
is that there is some sort of "law" that states the further north
an animal lives in it's range, the large it is. This of course, works
only for the northern hemisphere. It had to do with heat dissipation.
Apparently, larger bodies (larger surface area) are more effecient
in terms of retaining body heat.
Another one of these laws said something to the effect that the further
north an animal lives in its range (again, the northern hemisphere),
the larger it's appendages (ears, etc.) are. Again, it had to do with
heat dissipation.
It appears that the above observation agrees with these laws.
Jerry
|
| 1108.4 | | GIAMEM::J_AMBERSON | | Wed Dec 18 1991 08:23 | 8 |
| Jerry, you remember well. That is why northern coyotes for instances
are larger then southern members of the same species. It is a function
of retaining heat and also of retaining food stores. The winters are
obviously more severe the farther north you go and the deer over many
generations have reacted accordingly. Look at the deer in Alberta for
a good example. It is not that unusual to have 300lb deer taken.
Jeff
|
| 1108.5 | Stilts | JUPITR::BUTCH | | Wed Dec 18 1991 08:30 | 6 |
| Good point Jeff. You also look at their legs. Their legs are longer
than their cousins in the south due to the snow. You wouldn't think
the difference would be that much but I can tell just by looking at
them.
Butch
|
| 1108.6 | | WAHOO::LEVESQUE | Turning Circles | Wed Dec 18 1991 09:09 | 10 |
| > Look at the deer in Alberta for a good example.
Speaking of deer taken in Alberta... I bought a hunting magazine called
HUNT (I think). In it was a write up on some trophy deer lodge in Alberta.
Mama mia. There were about 25 pictures of the biggest racks you've ever seen
in your life. I'm talking HUGE! Made my eyes water, they did. And at the
end, they give you a price. $3750 for a 6 day guided hunt. Ouch! Wish I could
afford it.
Hopefully I'll be able to swing Pittsburg next year...
|
| 1108.7 | | MCIS5::PAPPALARDO | A Pure Hunter | Thu Dec 19 1991 11:01 | 20 |
|
Speaking of Ticks, In 1989 I took a sike in Ipswich, Mass. Which is
located along the coast. Loaded with ticks, Last year my brother took a
button-buck and it also had lots of ticks.....also, by the time I went
from my truck to my stand my pants were covered with ticks....Each
morning while on stand and at night at the truck we had to clean each
others backsides from the ticks...I lost count at 58 one morning on my
legs. The cold weather kept them managable, but they were a pain.
(What we put ourselves through for deer.)
20 miles inland.....no ticks at all...go figure...
Alberta, Canada has some real nice bucks from what I've seen and read,
but $3750.??? No way....I'll get there someday, but I'll scout them
myself thank-you.
Mark, there's no deer in Pittsburg, N.H.....stay south and save your
time.
Rick
|
| 1108.8 | | MCIS5::PAPPALARDO | A Pure Hunter | Thu Dec 19 1991 11:06 | 15 |
|
Oh yeah!
If anyone would like a copy of -0- let me know via vax-mail and I'll
send you one.
It from Penn but good info....it touches on reproduction, food habits,
habitat and herd management.
MCIS5::Pappalardo
See Ya,
Rick
|
| 1108.9 | | WAHOO::LEVESQUE | A Day at the Races | Thu Dec 19 1991 12:40 | 6 |
| > Mark, there's no deer in Pittsburg, N.H.....stay south and save your
> time.
Whaddaya mean, no deer? How come the biggest ones always come from Pittsburg?
Or are ya just tryin' ta keep the place to yerself? :-)
|
| 1108.10 | | ZEKE::HOLLEN | | Thu Dec 19 1991 12:41 | 6 |
| re .-1
It's true that the deer up north are few and far between... But if
you ever get a big one, it'll be a "REAL" big one :-)
Joe
|
| 1108.11 | keep it simple... | BTOVT::REMILLARD_K | | Thu Dec 19 1991 16:19 | 10 |
|
Concerning Albera, Saschatewan (sp.?), etc, didn't they change some
laws so you have to hunt with a registered guide? I thought they
passed this a couple of years ago...it's a bummer, seeing my wife's
Uncle use to go there quite a bit by himself, and we've been hunting
some together lately, and I know he'd take me.
More laws and mandating this and that...
Kevin
|
| 1108.12 | | MCIS5::PAPPALARDO | A Pure Hunter | Thu Dec 19 1991 17:36 | 9 |
|
Kevin,
From what I understand you do need a guide to hunt Canada. Don't know
if you need to have them with you at all times or what. I wouldn't like
hunting deer with someone up my butt all day.
Rick
|
| 1108.13 | Guide needed only in parts.... | TROOA::KING | | Fri Dec 20 1991 11:57 | 21 |
|
Rick and others...
Actually guides are only required in certain areas for 'non-residents'.
Here in Ontario, there's only one spot and that's if your hunting Deer
or Moose. In fact I haven't even heard of the area. (Territorial
District of Rainy River)
FYI - Export permits are "required" to transport Moose, Deer or Bear
(or parts thereof) out of the country. These are acquired at the local
Ministry of Natural Resources office where the animal was taken.
You also have to be able to show your valid "non-residents" license
when you cross the border.
Export permit fees (from last years regs, ie 90-91)
Moose 27.50
Deer 22.00
Bear 22.00
/ Andrew /
|