Seasons – July 2021

Some people often see high fencing a property as a cure-all for managing deer populations to their liking but don’t always realize the responsibility that comes with it. Properly managed high-fenced properties can often produce impressive trophy bucks and overall healthy and productive populations. However, if not managed properly it can create just as many problems, if not more than it does benefits. If you choose to high fence, the herd that used to have free roam over a wide area has become a captive herd and it is now your responsibility to ensure they have quality habitat, food, and resources provided to them every day.

Most of the Hill Country already has a white-tailed deer overpopulation issue. Confine them to an enclosed area, allow them to overpopulate and those effects can become exacerbated quickly. Competition for resources among deer in overpopulated areas increase, putting extra pressure on some and often resulting in poorer antler and body conditions. Eventually, the overall habitat quality and diversity will decrease and plant communities will suffer. These plant communities are a landowner’s most important asset. Diverse, quality plant communities not only benefit deer populations but also songbirds, small mammals, quail, turkey, and all other wildlife that may be utilizing the property. With healthy rangelands you will have more diverse plant life and wildlife populations, superior hydrologic functioning (less runoff and erosion, more infiltration, higher spring flows), and a more aesthetically pleasing property.

Population Management & Recommended Densities

Proper population management is essential not only to a healthy habitat but also to improving herd quality, i.e., fawn crop, average body weight, and antler size. If left improperly controlled, populations will eventually increase until the habitat becomes limited, resulting in decreases in the overall quality of the herd. It is important to be aware of the current densities occurring on your property for proper population management. The recommended white-tailed deer herd density for a well-managed, seasonally hunted Hill Country property in good condition should be approximately 10-15 acres-per-deer. Mixed native-exotic herds are more complicated depending on the type of exotics and dominant vegetation you have. Exotics that are primarily grazers can complement white-tailed deer, but others will compete directly with them. Maintaining optimal mixed-herd sizes, much like appropriate livestock stocking rates, will help sustain the health of a property ensuring that it will continue to provide high-quality forage for the benefit of other wildlife species.

Sex ratio can also play an important role in the proper management of deer. In an ideal world, you would want a sex ratio somewhere around 1 to 2 does-per-buck for a sustainable herd. If there is an abundance of does but very few breeding bucks, it can result in negative impacts for the herd. When the does-per-buck ratio is much higher, there is a high possibility that a receptive doe will not be bred when she first experiences estrus (becomes sexually receptive) in the fall. If a doe isn’t initially bred, she will come out of estrus temporarily but will experience estrus multiple times during the rut until she is bred. If the doe is not bred until the end of the rut, the resulting fawns will be born much later than if they had been conceived near the beginning of the doe’s estrus cycle. Greater stress is then put on the doe and the fawns will typically be smaller than others born in the same year class. More typical than not, a late-season fawn will be undersized.

If doe-per-buck ratios are closer to desired ranges it can help improve the overall body conditions of the herd as well as encourage breeding competition between bucks so that the strongest and largest bucks are the ones that end up breeding with the does. Keep in mind that one buck can impregnate multiple does. If there are substantially more does than bucks, breeding competition will be low and a poor quality buck can potentially breed with multiple does lowering the overall herd quality. Also, the overall population growth potential will be extremely high.

These densities and ratios can often be difficult to achieve, especially in mixed-herd populations, as you are adding more breeding populations that need to be actively managed and controlled in addition to white-tailed deer populations. Not being able to harvest enough animals required to meet desired densities every year is an understandable and often expected occurrence, and should not be discouraging. Management and control efforts of any kind to reduce the population size is an ongoing process toward long-term goals of healthy ungulate herds and habitat. Should any difficulty be encountered in meeting these goals, the majority of hunting efforts should be strongly concentrated toward does in order to help reduce sex ratios and limit an undesirable high productivity rate.

With all this in mind, it is very important to have one or more census activities to get proper estimates and keep track of trends and activity within the populations. Camera and/or spotlight surveys can be conducted every year in order to identify and analyze population trends as well as determine the efficacy of applied management practices. Harvest records, stand counts, and incidental observations can be kept and diligently maintained in order to detect changes, measure progress, evaluate management success, and predict future needs. Daytime incidental observations are an excellent way to supplement and improve the accuracy of other survey estimations. Monitoring browse pressure on key food plants can indicate if the habitat can support the population. The results from these activities are essential to maintaining and managing a healthy population.

Will supplemental feeding help if I have too many deer?

Supplemental feeding is often seen as a quick fix to overused land but can instead intensify the degradation of the surrounding habitat, especially around feeding locations on a high-fenced property. If the property becomes overpopulated and overused, supplemental feeding alone will not work. Deer will often visit these feeding sites more often than usual and feed on the surrounding vegetation, resulting in the local degradation of habitat. This local degradation can increase less desirable or invasive plants as the deer reduce the competitive ability of the native plants. To try and minimize the negative aspects of supplemental feeding, you can move the location of your feeding stations periodically which will allow the surrounding habitat to recover from excessive browsing.

Can having exotics on a high-fenced property affect my Wildlife Management valuation?

Some appraisal districts do have issues with high exotic populations. Since they are not native, exotics are considered livestock, not wildlife, by the state of Texas. High densities of exotics on a property could create questions about your primary use for wildlife management, potentially resulting in the loss of a wildlife management valuation. For most well-managed properties this shouldn’t be a problem but the primary use issue can come into play when there are far more exotics on the property than natives. If this is the case for you, it may be in your best interest to consider a switch from wildlife management to ag for an exotic livestock valuation. If you choose this route, it would essentially be the same as traditional ag for cattle or goats but with exotics as your “livestock” and a few key points would need to be considered/met:

• Exotic animal operations raise the animals for the production of meat or other commercially viable products such as leather, feathers, or byproducts used in cosmetics or for medicinal purposes. Exotic livestock will need to be actively bred, sold, and/or traded
• Hunting is not considered a commercial product of exotics; it is considered a recreational activity. If hunting is the principle use of the exotic animals then the land will not qualify for agricultural use valuation
• Typically a minimum of 3 animal units are required, but can vary by county and animal
• Property should have adequate fencing suitable for livestock containment
• Water supply suitable for the number of stock
• This type of operation, depending on the species of animal, usually requires a “deer-proof” high fence.

If you have questions, or you’re interested in scheduling a camera or spotlight survey for your property, contact us at [email protected] or (512) 894-3479.