Whitetails:

The Results Are In
Average VT buck weight jumps 13 pounds

By Dr. Shawn Haskell

Well the deer season is over. As of January 10th nearly all reports are in and recorded, and the results look good, as predicted following the decent winter of 2006-07. Preliminary buck harvest of 2007 stands near 8,670. At least 5,300 antlerless deer were taken, including 508 doe fawns, 511 antlerless bucks, and 4,278 adult does. As usual, the antlerless buck to doe fawn ratio was about 1:1. Including a few unknowns, total harvest was about 14,050 deer. In contrast, the 2006 total harvest of 12,678 consisted of 7,804 bucks and 4,856 antlerless deer.

The heaviest does reported for youth, archery, and muzzleloader seasons were 180 (Andover), 167 (Northfield), and 174 pounds (Gilford), in that order. Heaviest bucks by similar seasons were 225 (Orleans), 210 (Peacham), 196 (Franklin), and 250 (Vershire) pounds during rifle season. There were 47 does reported weighing at least 150 pounds and 76 bucks at least 200 pounds—presumably, these were field-dressed weights.

According to data collected by biologists at check stations during opening weekend of rifle season, the age structure of harvested males continues to increase since the spike-ban antler regulation implemented in 2005. Prior to 2005, a decade of annual age data revealed a fairly consistent age structure of about 60-25-12-3 percentages of 1-2-3-4+ year-old males, respectively. Estimated age structure of the harvest (not population) increased in 2005 to 44-32-19-5 percent of the same age classes. In 2005, the increased percentages of 2 and 3 year-olds sampled from the harvest were simply an artifact of the new antler regulation, not because there were more old deer in the population. The spike-ban mandated that percentage of yearlings in the harvest decrease in 2005, which because such percentages are inversely related, meant that others had to increase. However, percentages in 2005 can then be a baseline to assess effectiveness of the spike-ban designed to increase age structure of the male population.

In 2006, the estimated age structure of harvest was 37-42-19-2, again based on data from the bio-check stations. That was the 1st time that 2 year-olds outnumbered yearlings, suggesting that the spike-ban did spare yearlings in 2005 that were subsequently harvested as 2 year-olds in 2006. In 2007, estimated age structure was 26-50-22-2, quite a swing from 2005. The surge of 2 year-olds this year may have been due to good fawn survival during the mild winter of 2005-06. Perhaps a small percentage of those yearlings protected in 2005 made it into the harvest this year as 3 year-olds; we’ll know better after next year.

Average weights of bio-checked deer have increased by nearly 13 pounds because of the shift in age structure. Average dressed weights in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 were 125.2, 125.1, 134.1, 135.6, and 138.0, respectively. These are statewide figures, and regional differences will be examined later.

So, the statewide antler restriction is having the desired effect. While we mostly see the successful and jubilant hunters during opening weekend, my discussions with folks around the state and other biologists suggest that hunters are pleased to see more signs of rutting deer than in past years. I think having more old males should be a natural situation because historic deer predators (such as wolves and catamounts) probably did not deplete the male portion of the herd as heavily as we do—which of course we do out of necessity to maintain the producing females in the face of such heavy hunting pressure. Breeding behavior is important, and I’m guessing those girls are happy to see some bigger males around. I’ve watched a yearling moose try to court a mature cow, and she wasn’t having any of it.

We’ll be watching the spike-ban experiment closely. This winter started pretty rough for deer, but we’ll see how things finish after the recent January thaw. To monitor characteristics of the fawn and yearling populations, I hope to get a representative sample of data from youth hunters next year—more on that later.

Dr. Shawn Haskell is the Vermont Deer Project Leader.