The white-tailed deer is a big game mammal found throughout the state. Estimates place its population at more than four million. It feeds on twigs, leaves, grasses, forbs (weed plants), fruits and nuts. Breeding takes place as early as September in the coastal area and reaches a peak in South Texas in December. Fawns, born in seven months, are hidden for the first two weeks, but follow the mother as soon as they are able. The buck s majestic antlers are shed between December and March, and a new rack is grown the following year, appearing in May. Predators include the coyote, bobcat, cougar and wild dog. Hunting helps keep the deer population in balance with its food supply.

White-tailed deer occupy both forest and non-forest habitat types throughout the South. Deer usually prosper following fire, timber harvest, storms or other events which produce new vegetative growth.

Food

Deer feed upon a variety of mast, succulent fruit, herbs, grass, twigs and leaves of woody plants, and fungi throughout the year. In fall and winter, the high priority deer foods are evergreen browse, hard and soft mast, herbaceous vegetation, and fungi. Adult deer require 6 to 8 pounds of green food per 100 pounds of body mass daily. Reproductive rates and survival of adverse winter conditions depend on the relative body fat stored during summer and fall feeding.

The abundance and quality of summer-fall foods largely govern the reproductive condition of deer. Nutrition, age, and genetics govern antler development. Antlers emerge in the spring and grow throughout the summer. Antler rubbing begins in August and ends by mid-October. Breeding activity peaks from late October through December. Antlers are shed from late December to mid-April.

Cover varies somewhat depending on the time of year. During the summer deer may be found wherever sufficient food, water, cool shade and seclusion are available, which is usually in creek bottoms. Oak stands are probably the best cover, as long as other habitat elements are available.

Winter cover consists of evergreen thickets, dense young timber stands, cut over slash, broom sedge fields, old beaver ponds, or thick hardwood swamps. The edges of tall grass or hay fields, along with brushy, overgrown fields, are frequently used by does for fawning cover. Mowing of these fields should be delayed until August to avoid killing fawns.

Water

Deer require free water occasionally. Lactating females need it daily. Succulent green plants only partially meet a deer's water needs so a lack of free water may deter deer from using certain parts of otherwise suitable range.

Home Range/Population Concerns

A deer's home range is seldom more than 300 to 400 acres in the Coastal Plain, Piedmont or Southern Appalachian Mountains, although bucks may range wider in the fall. Deer populations usually increase at an annual rate of 40% on good range. If not subjected to either-sex hunting, deer populations may quickly exceed available food supplies. Disease outbreaks that can reduce the herd and increases in crop and seedling damage can result from overpopulation. When a population reaches the maximum that the habitat can support, harvest strategies may be applied to achieve a 1:1 buck to doe ratio. Harvest strategies can also be applied to maintain the health of the herd.