The Latest Research on Deer
The Truth about the Effects of Breeder White-Tailed
Bucks
 Editor’s
Note: Today outdoorsmen have begun to learn more about
the white-tailed deer. In the past, we haven’t
known the right questions to ask. But now scientists
and researchers have started studying deer more intensely.
Brian Murphy, QDMA executive director, has kept his
finger on the pulse of new deer research to inform the
members of QDMA and outdoors enthusiasts how to better
manage whitetails. This week, we’ll bring you
the latest research concerning deer.
For many years, hunters have had the perception that
if they leave the big older bucks with massive antlers
and heavy body weights in the herd that these breeder
bucks will breed about 50 percent of the herd, resulting
in better genetics. Some hunters also believe that numbers
of big bucks (breeder bucks) will keep subordinate bucks
fro m
breeding, just like a boss gobbler will keep subordinate
gobblers from gobbling and breeding. “A study
done by Randy B. Young at Texas A&M in Kingsville,
Texas, who’s also done some research at Mississippi
State University, tests this theory by using DNA as
a research tool,” Brian Murphy, executive director
of the Quality Deer Management Association (QDMA) in
Bogart, Georgia, explains. “Young captured deer
and pulled DNA samples to recreate a family tree for
the herd he was studying with some degree of precision.
He was able to determine which bucks bred which does,
what bucks and does were related to each other, and
how many fawns an individual buck was actually producing
each year. His research revealed some very-interesting
data. 
“Three different areas were studied in Oklahoma,
south Texas and Mississippi. One place was a traditionally-managed
herd – a public WMA in Mississippi; one was a
quality-managed area in Oklahoma with good buck-age
structure and good population saturation; and the third
region was the King Ranch in Texas, which probably had
and still has the best buck age structure in the nation.
The study revealed that:
* “yearlings and 2-1/2-year-old bucks accounted
for 1/3 or more of all fawns produced in all three areas,
even regions under an intense trophy-management program.
Even on the King Ranch where 50 percent of the bucks
were 4-1/2-years old or older, the 1- to 2-1/2-year
olds accounted for 1/3 or more of all fawns produced.
* “an increased number of fawns were produced
by bucks 3 and 3-1/2-years or older, but there wasn’t
a significant huge difference.
* “the average buck only accounted for about three
fawns that survived each year, in all three areas, which
shattered the idea that a big mature dominant buck might
produce 20 or 30 fawn s
a year. Big bucks apparently had a low impact on the
overall genetic input of the entire herd.
* “the top breeder over a 6-year period in this
study only produced 14 fawns that could be identified.
The study coordinator believed that these fawns accounted
for about 2/3 of all the fawns produced by that buck.
* “25 percent of the twin fawns had multiple sires,
which meant that a doe that dropped twin fawns could
have been bred by more than one buck.”
The fact that white-tailed deer breed entirely different
from elk has influenced the results of Young’s
study. A white-tailed buck has to search, find, stay
with and possibly breed a doe over about a 2-day period
from start to finish. The buck has to spend plenty of
time locating that one hot doe. After he breeds her,
he stays with her and defends her until she’s
no longer receptive. At the same time, other does will
come into heat and become available.
To learn more about QDMA, go to http://www.qdma.com
or call 1-800-209-DEER.
Tomorrow: Whether to Cull White-Tailed
Bucks, and What about the Possible Inferiority of Spike
Bucks
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