High Fenced Deer Density?

[Oz_Ag]

A friend of mine has 530 acres high fenced. Land is in South TX with good brush, great supplemental feeding and great water. We do not see any coyotes, some bobcats and lots of hogs.

We estimate that there are 30 bucks and about 30 does (estimates before this years fawn crop). There are about 10-15 axis and about 15 blackbuck.

What do you think the whitetail deer density should be considering he keeps the exotic numbers the same?

[kruppa24]

1buck to many and I am willing to help with that.

[Antlers86]

1buck to many and I am willing to help with that.

I was thinking 2. I'll help with the other!

[texashunter56]

WT density if fine at those numbers if the habitat is excellent but to many exotics. If I were to drop WT numbers it would be on doe only and keep more bucks than doe. I would keep enough doe to produce enough fawns that are needed.

[Hawkpuppy 1]

Animal density doesn't matter too much on species, it based on how many mouths are in there. That being said, depending on what exotics you have can vary on stocking rate if they are grazers and not browsers. Down where you are talking about, I wouldn't go more than about 1:18. Based on your number estimates, you're setting at about 1:5.8 which IMO is too many....

[LHPanther]

How much does he want his feed bill to be each year? There's your answer

[Lawhorn]

This is a very difficult question to answer without knowing the amount of native browse available to the herd. If you have great native browse and supplement their diets with some other sort of feed (protein or cotton seed) I would say your numbers are about right. We have a total of 422 acres and are running 30 bucks and about 40 doe as we speak. We have 6 feed stations where we feed free choice protein and cotton seed year around. This is our 6th season under high fence and we began with 4 bucks and 12 doe. We've been shooting a few doe every year to keep our numbers in check. This year we will try and equalize our numbers and begin culling intensively. Every year I've been targeting the less than desirable bucks in each age class. We are now seeing great bucks and larger bucks than the property has ever grown.


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[BTLowry]

Animal density doesn't matter too much on species, it based on how many mouths are in there. That being said, depending on what exotics you have can vary on stocking rate if they are grazers and not browsers. Down where you are talking about, I wouldn't go more than about 1:18. Based on your number estimates, you're setting at about 1:5.8 which IMO is too many....

I have no clue how to accurately determine what you need but I agree with Hawkpuppy that 1:5.8 definitely sounds like too many.

Of course if you want zero vegetation from ground to head high and/or have plenty of money to buy feed then it would not matter.

My suggestion is to get in touch with the state biologist in that area and ask him a lot of questions concerning carrying capacity for that area.

[150class]

How much does he want his feed bill to be each year? There's your answer

Exactly

Deer density doesn't mean much anymore if pockets are deep enough to dump out feed

[Oz_Ag]

This is a very difficult question to answer without knowing the amount of native browse available to the herd. If you have great native browse and supplement their diets with some other sort of feed (protein or cotton seed) I would say your numbers are about right. We have a total of 422 acres and are running 30 bucks and about 40 doe as we speak. We have 6 feed stations where we feed free choice protein and cotton seed year around. This is our 6th season under high fence and we began with 4 bucks and 12 doe. We've been shooting a few doe every year to keep our numbers in check. This year we will try and equalize our numbers and begin culling intensively. Every year I've been targeting the less than desirable bucks in each age class. We are now seeing great bucks and larger bucks than the property has ever grown.


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Cotton seed year around? Aren't you supposed to stop feeding cotton seed in late summer. It makes deer sterile doesn't it?

[Lawhorn]

Cotton seed year around? Aren't you supposed to stop feeding cotton seed in late summer. It makes deer sterile doesn't it?

No. We've never seen any negative effects. We've been doing this for 20+ years. We do stop feeding the cotton seed during the bow season months September-December but solely because I want the deer coming to corn. The sterility question started because of a study done in cattle whose sole diet was cotton seed for extended periods of time. Deer, even in a high fence environment, have variety in their diet and therefore you need not worry about your bucks becoming sterile.


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[trophyhunter]

Animal density doesn't matter too much on species, it based on how many mouths are in there. That being said, depending on what exotics you have can vary on stocking rate if they are grazers and not browsers. Down where you are talking about, I wouldn't go more than about 1:18. Based on your number estimates, you're setting at about 1:5.8 which IMO is too many....

I don't necessarily agree...as there are FAR too many variables to consider. We have averaged about 1 deer per 3 acres on our Brown County ranch for over 10 years (mix of WTs and Exotics). We have 5 "year round" protein stations and 7 corn feeders.

I've always been very concerned about the pressure we have applied to the habitat, but have NEVER seen a browse line or any signs of overgrazing. We really cranked up our Axis numbers this year (with little impact to overall numbers) and are now seeing a browse line around the feeding stations for the first time in a decade. We have had record rainfall the past two years, so vegetation has been superb.

You can definitely accomplish higher carrying capacities with a solid feeding program, but I would encourage you to monitor your browse lines. Natural forage will always be a preference.

Given the recent observations, we will be offering axis doe hunts very soon!

Best of luck with your program.

[Oz_Ag]

Thanks guys! You've been very helpful.

[txstguy]

1buck to many and I am willing to help with that.

haha. very neighborly of you