Ohio Valley Outdoors Magazine

Whitetails in the Off-Season
By Tommy Kirkland

The time has finally come to store the equipment and let the adrenaline return to normal. The deer you’ve pursued are also back in low gear. For now, the pursuit is over, yet whitetail management and observations during the spring is still a necessity needing attention – not only for creating ideal habitat, but for outdoor enjoyment as well…

We may not realize it, but spring is a critical time for whitetails. Pregnant females need proper nutrition for their growing offspring and bucks need to replenish body weights lost during the rigors of the rut. So, whether it is on-hands through your property or lease or by making recommendations to local landowners and state game agencies, involvement is important for a successful hunt in the months to come.

Good native nutrition can still be scarce in March and April – especially the warm-season forbs commonly called flowering plants. As for the forbs that are able to endure the winter, check to see how they are fairing – making sure that another plant species has not over taken the prime deer foods.
Legumes such as clover are usually able to resist domination but can eventually succumb to certain grass species. For example, if cattle once grazed the hunting locale; then most likely coarse grasses like fescue still remain. Although deer do consume fescue, which is about 16% crude protein, it is difficult for them to digest. Fescue along with other grass types can suppress important deer foods; therefore, a mowing and baling program or proper prescribed burns are necessary to maintain a good source of succulent vegetation for whitetails.

Maintaining vast native habitat is unrealistic, due to time and acreage; therefore small one-acre food plots dispersed in certain locales are an excellent way to provide whitetails with a good nutrition. Here you can supplement the herds with good nutrition.
Once you’ve made recommendations or worked the land, you may want to take the time to observe the herds. Whitetails will congregate and compete over the most nutritious food sources; and this activity can provoke a world of disputes amongst the deer. Not only are they naturally contending for food, they will still display a dominance hierarchy status. Though the rut is over, bucks throughout the year periodically engage in disputes; and as the season progress from summer into fall; these behaviors intensify, as bucks gear up for the rut.

As for the female deer, they too are constantly interacting for matriarchal dominance. Usually the oldest female strives to keep her superiority – aggressively running off intruding lone females. When the time comes, young bucks known as yearlings are weaned. This behavior usually involves the matriarchal doe chasing and kick swatting with her front hooves. She may also hind up and flail – swatting with her sharp front hooves – resembling a boxer.
Other physical motions that reveal the struggle for nutrition and dominance include the ears folded back, bristling or ruffling of fur as well as a slanted body with a slow walking gait commonly called sidling. During the off-season, bucks may still perform a wheeze vocalization – although this behavior is predominantly used by rutting bucks competing for estrous does.

Today just browse the pages of hunting publications. More and more trail cameras are capturing these types of images. If you have the time and opportunity, then as you tend the land, keep an eye and you could actually witness the whitetails show of dominance – in the off-season.