FORESTRY UPDATE by Gary Allen Burns 12-8

To properly manage your property for white-tailed deer, you need to know the number of deer the habitat can adequately sustain over time – the carrying capacity of the land. The carrying capacity, of course, may fluctuate with climatic conditions, so it is best to be conservative.

Three tools traditionally used to determine carrying capacity are: a browse survey, a population survey, and body condition of the deer. Wildlife biologists examine the condition of vegetation to determine whether the optimum number of deer is present. Browse surveys over time can show trends in browse utilization and deer numbers.

Population surveys, such as game camera surveys, spotlight surveys, and helicopter surveys can provide a baseline of the density and composition of the herd. The choice of which survey to use is based on the habitat type. Helicopter surveys are good for providing herd composition data such as sex ratios, fawn production and antler quality, but may be ineffective in East Texas forests.

Spotlight surveys are good for estimating deer density, but are also difficult to use in heavy forest conditions. Camera surveys are especially helpful to determine buck quality, age classes, and density. As far as body condition is concerned, game cameras and harvest records may be valuable tools in our East Texas forests.