White-tails have canine teeth the irony of which, sadly, is lost on them and incisors on the lower jaw, but none on the upper. But they do have upper and lower molars, and the wear on these is used to tell how old a deer is. Or was, as this is generally done post-mortem. Aging deer started as kind of a home-grown citizen-science project. In years past, keenly observant hunters who could identify an individual deer from yearling stage onward took note of molar wear when it was harvested.
Aside from hunting, another thing driving down the average lifespan of wild deer is predation of fawns by coyotes and black bears.
Surprisingly, in the Adirondacks, the latter may kill more fawns than coyotes do. Predation is hard to quantify, though, as coyotes and bears eat every last vestige — bone, hair and innards — of any animal they kill or find dead of other causes. Deer-vehicle collisions are another huge factor, with the New York State Department of Transportation reporting an average of 65, per year.
But starvation during hard winters, says Kogut, is probably the single factor likely to kill older deer. For various reasons including worn molars, they are likely to have less stored body fat going into winter than a younger deer.
With all this carnage, are white-tails disappearing? Peter Smallidge, the State Forester for Cornell Extension, says New York State had an estimated 20, deer in the early s, fewer than one deer per two square miles. Today there are a million, more than enough to destroy the ability of many forests to regrow, as young trees are devoured by deer while they are seedlings. Lyme disease is also a result of deer overpopulation. Cornell Extension Wildlife Specialist Dr.
Paul Curtis believes that if the deer population went down below six per square mile—still higher than the historic density—then deer ticks, which spread Lyme disease, would become too scarce to be a public health threat. What might cause the deer population to decline like that? His work has appeared in the medical journal The Lancet , as well as Highlights for Children Magazine. These can be common in the western U.
Due to their wide range of distribution, Coyotes are known to be the cause of a large portion of predation issues in areas throughout the white-tail deer range. A study carried out by the U. Forest Service Southern Research Station located at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina reported a total fawn mortality of about 70 percent at the site, and approximately 80 percent of these mortalities were reported to have been done by coyotes.
Mountain lions, black bears, and bobcats are some other well-known deer predators. The most common predator for deer depends on the location you are considering. Apart from hunting and predation, auto accidents involving deers account for about a million death or injury to deers per year. Those that survive the accidents are often left limping till their death.
The chronic wasting disease is a disease that affects the neurological system. It is transmitted through saliva or other body fluids from deer. It is difficult to control and there is no known treatment for the disease. Biting flies transmit epizootic hemorrhagic disease, thereby causing extensive hemorrhaging. Its mortality rate is high and no treatment is known for the disease. BTB is a chronic and fatal disease that affects the respiratory system. It is transmitted through the exchange of respiratory fluid, typically from sneezing or coughing.
Also, there is no known treatment for the disease. He did mention of a Vermont doe that lived for 19 years. If these fawns are reared to one and one half years of age then surplus deer with the least genetic potential spikes or four points should be removed leaving the remainder to reach 5 or 6 years of age. Remember - just because a deer is five or six does not mean it will necessarily have big antlers.
The trick is to remove deer with little antler potential and save those with the best potential. Since older age does are more productive than younger age does, an older age herd produces more off spring from which to cull. However, younger does are more likely to be from the better bucks that were not removed at an early age.
Having buck to doe ratios of 1 to 1. In order to add age to a deer herd some deer need to be removed at a young age and the remainder allowed to mature. Older age deer at maturity can then be harvested.
Buck to Doe Ratios One of the ways mangers have been able to produce older age class deer is by managing for a buck to doe ratio as opposed to a more typical buck to doe ratio. Antler Development. Managing For Age There are three basic components to managing deer herds. As for BTB, in most areas it is insignificant. Related: Scientific facts about how deer see and hear. Getting hung up in fences, breaking a leg or getting trapped in the crotch of a tree.
Many other accidental anomalies occur and kill whitetails before their prime. Any buck you shoot that is older than that is a true trophy to be cherished.
By Mark Kayser July 19, Tags Beginners. Sign Me Up! Join other outdoor enthusiasts who already get great content delivered right to their inbox.
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