Send us your best whitetail stuff (and don't forget to attach pictures!)
Russell Graves - Believes whitetails shouldn't be photographed in the back of a truck with their tongue hanging out.
Location - Texas
Brian Strickland - Has 369,518 acres of land that you can hunt on. Call him at (555) 281-HUNT.
Location - Colorado
Tony Hansen - Is pretty confident Michigan will release at least 300,000 archers into the woods this fall.
Location - Michigan
Jake Fagan - He's really just here to hang out, so don't mind him.
Location - Georgia
Will Brantley - Loves hunting in a dorag because it makes him look Ramboish. Some may call it Little Man Syndrome.
Location - Tennessee
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Learning from Students Part 4
In this abbreviated report, my high schoolers looked at the impact of deer management on Boone & Crockett entries...
The Effects of Intensive White-tailed Deer Management on Texas Boone & Crockett Club Entries
In 2007, a study was conducted to reveal the affects of whitetail deer management on the amount of Boone & Crockett (B&C) bucks harvested annually. We suspected that whitetail deer management (which includes harvest, nutritional, and habitat management) has increased the chances of harvesting a B&C buck and hoped the data would reveal such. As it turns out, intensive deer management did have a major effect on the amount of B&C bucks reported annually. Whitetail deer management is a very broad subject that could be anywhere from setting harvest limits, to just providing an environment that provides for all of a deer's needs (water, food, cover and space).
To conduct this study we needed reliable sources of information. The key source of information was the Boone & Crockett Club website (www.boone-crockett.org). In addition, we needed to know when whitetail deer management started, so we could compare our results to the period in which it started.
The last step of this project was to decide whether whitetail deer management had any effect on the amount of Boone & Crockett bucks harvested annually. To decide this we had to examine our graphs and figure out where the trend line ascends most rapidly. On both graphs, the amount of B & C entries increased the most after the 1970's – when the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department began to emphasize whitetail deer management to landowners.
Results
According to the first chart, very few Boone & Crockett bucks were reported in the early decades of the 20th Century. The number of entries grew substantially after the 1980's when it increased from twenty-eight bucks to seventy-eight bucks in the 1990's. This decade has had forty-nine bucks harvested and by the end of this decade, that number should be close to one hundred if the present trend continues.
Chart 1
Typical Entries
Decade and No. of Entries
1900-1909 ~ 4
1910-1919 ~ 2
1920-1929 ~ 11
1930-1939 ~ 7
1940-1949 ~ 16
1950-1959 ~ 13
1960-1969 ~ 29
1970-1979 ~ 25
1980-1989 ~ 28
1990-1999 ~ 78
2000-2009 - projected ~ 103
The non-typical entries for Chart 2 are very similar to the typical entries in the aspect that the number of bucks did not fluctuate until after the 1980's. According to the chart, the number of entries more than doubled from the 1980's to the 90's. Through the first five years of this decade, it appears that the number of entries could reach the same level as the thirty-five B & C Bucks reported in the 1990's.
Non-Typical Entries
Decade and No. of Entries
1890-1899 ~ 1
1900-1909 ~ 4
1910-1919 ~ 3
1920-1929 ~ 10
1930-1939 ~ 8
1940-1949 ~ 11
1950-1959 ~ 8
1960-1969 ~ 16
1970-1979 ~ 8
1980-1989 ~ 15
1990-1999 ~ 35
2000-2009 - projected ~ 34
This information backs up our belief that whitetail deer management has increased the likelihood of harvesting a B & C buck. As management has spread it has caused an increase of trophies bucks particularly in the Texas Panhandle, the counties near the Oklahoma border and in central and east Texas.
It could be argued that the number of deer has increased across Texas that could explain the rise in B&C entries. However, according to the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, whitetail deer numbers have remained around 4 million animals for the past twenty-five years.
Conclusion
Whitetail deer management in Texas started in earnest in the 1970's and has played a major role in increasing the amount of bucks that enter into the Boone & Crockett Club’s record books. As information was passed on to game managers and land owners throughout Texas the number of B & C bucks harvested annually increased and people began to kill trophy bucks in more areas of Texas. This tells us that if you practice some type of whitetail deer management (there are many types) on your property then you will increase your possibility of shooting a trophy buck.
The Effects of Intensive White-tailed Deer Management on Texas Boone & Crockett Club Entries
In 2007, a study was conducted to reveal the affects of whitetail deer management on the amount of Boone & Crockett (B&C) bucks harvested annually. We suspected that whitetail deer management (which includes harvest, nutritional, and habitat management) has increased the chances of harvesting a B&C buck and hoped the data would reveal such. As it turns out, intensive deer management did have a major effect on the amount of B&C bucks reported annually. Whitetail deer management is a very broad subject that could be anywhere from setting harvest limits, to just providing an environment that provides for all of a deer's needs (water, food, cover and space).
To conduct this study we needed reliable sources of information. The key source of information was the Boone & Crockett Club website (www.boone-crockett.org). In addition, we needed to know when whitetail deer management started, so we could compare our results to the period in which it started.
The last step of this project was to decide whether whitetail deer management had any effect on the amount of Boone & Crockett bucks harvested annually. To decide this we had to examine our graphs and figure out where the trend line ascends most rapidly. On both graphs, the amount of B & C entries increased the most after the 1970's – when the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department began to emphasize whitetail deer management to landowners.
Results
According to the first chart, very few Boone & Crockett bucks were reported in the early decades of the 20th Century. The number of entries grew substantially after the 1980's when it increased from twenty-eight bucks to seventy-eight bucks in the 1990's. This decade has had forty-nine bucks harvested and by the end of this decade, that number should be close to one hundred if the present trend continues.
Chart 1
Typical Entries
Decade and No. of Entries
1900-1909 ~ 4
1910-1919 ~ 2
1920-1929 ~ 11
1930-1939 ~ 7
1940-1949 ~ 16
1950-1959 ~ 13
1960-1969 ~ 29
1970-1979 ~ 25
1980-1989 ~ 28
1990-1999 ~ 78
2000-2009 - projected ~ 103
The non-typical entries for Chart 2 are very similar to the typical entries in the aspect that the number of bucks did not fluctuate until after the 1980's. According to the chart, the number of entries more than doubled from the 1980's to the 90's. Through the first five years of this decade, it appears that the number of entries could reach the same level as the thirty-five B & C Bucks reported in the 1990's.
Non-Typical Entries
Decade and No. of Entries
1890-1899 ~ 1
1900-1909 ~ 4
1910-1919 ~ 3
1920-1929 ~ 10
1930-1939 ~ 8
1940-1949 ~ 11
1950-1959 ~ 8
1960-1969 ~ 16
1970-1979 ~ 8
1980-1989 ~ 15
1990-1999 ~ 35
2000-2009 - projected ~ 34
This information backs up our belief that whitetail deer management has increased the likelihood of harvesting a B & C buck. As management has spread it has caused an increase of trophies bucks particularly in the Texas Panhandle, the counties near the Oklahoma border and in central and east Texas.
It could be argued that the number of deer has increased across Texas that could explain the rise in B&C entries. However, according to the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, whitetail deer numbers have remained around 4 million animals for the past twenty-five years.
Conclusion
Whitetail deer management in Texas started in earnest in the 1970's and has played a major role in increasing the amount of bucks that enter into the Boone & Crockett Club’s record books. As information was passed on to game managers and land owners throughout Texas the number of B & C bucks harvested annually increased and people began to kill trophy bucks in more areas of Texas. This tells us that if you practice some type of whitetail deer management (there are many types) on your property then you will increase your possibility of shooting a trophy buck.
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