White-tailed Deer Habitat

by Fulbright, Timothy E.

• ISBN13: 9781585444991
• ISBN10: 1585444995
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-02-28
• Publisher: Texas A & M Univ Pr

Summary

For most of the last century, range management meant managing land for livestock. The best measure of success was how well a landowner grew the grass that cattle ate. In this century, landowners look to hunting and wildlife viewing for income; rangeland is now also wildlife habitat, and landowners are managing their land not just for cattle but also for wildlife, most notably deer and quail. Unlike other books on white-tailed deer in places where rainfall is relatively high and the environment stable, this book takes an ecological approach to deer management in the semiarid lands of Olklahoma, Texas, and northern Mexico. These are the least productive of white-tail habitats, where periodic drought punctuates long-term weather patterns. The book's focus on this landscape across political borders is one of its original and lasting contributions. Another is its contention that good management is based on ecological principles that guide the manager's thinking about: - Habitat Requirements of White-Tailed Deer - White-Tailed Deer Nutrition - Carrying Capacity - Habitat Manipulation - Predators - Hunting

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Habitat Requirements of White-Tailed Deer	3	(34)
White-Tailed Deer Nutrition	37	(22)
Ecological Principles Underlying Habitat Management	59	(28)
Estimating Carrying Capacity	87	(16)
The Cow: Livestock and White-Tailed Deer Habitat	103	(18)
The Plow: Food Plots	121	(18)
The Ax, Plow, and Fire: Brush Management for White-Tailed Deer	139	(42)
The Gun: Harvest and Management Planning	181	(12)
Appendix 1. Common and Scientific Names of Selected Animals and Plants	193	(4)
Appendix 2. Metric--English System Unit Equivalents	197	(1)
Appendix 3. Determining Adequate Sample Sizes	198	(1)
Appendix 4. Planting Summary for Selected Forages	199	(8)
References	207	(28)
Index	235