Need some lively debate at your next deer camp meeting? Just bring up the subject of fenced enclosures for white-tailed deer.
Deer enclosures are deplored in many circles, especially when hunting takes place behind the wire. But make no mistake, without fenced enclosures, deer researchers, hunters and the general public would still be in dark about many whitetail topics that are now considered common knowledge. Research done within enclosures has enabled us to learn more about every aspect of deer behavior — from how much they sleep to the details of their rutting behavior.
During the past 20 years, nearly every conceivable whitetail trait and behavior has been researched behind high fences. Here are the Top 7 categories:
1. Rutting behavior. From the 1940s to the 1960s, a great deal of emphasis was placed on determining when various aspects of the whitetail rut would occur. Activities like rubbing, scraping and breeding were monitored closely behind high fences. The results of studies by Bill Severinghaus, Louis Verme and John Ozoga, to name a few, provided hunters with the information they needed to become better woodsmen.
As good as these early studies were, additional discoveries were made when professional photographers began documenting behavior in the early 1980s. High-fenced operations allowed photographers like Leonard Lee Rue III, Mike Biggs and myself to chronicle deer behavior that was previously undocumented.
2. Bedding behavior. The amount of time whitetails bed is tied to many factors, especially daytime bedding activity. Human pressure, time of year (rut vs. non-rut months), weather conditions, temperature and feeding schedule are a few of the reasons whitetails do or don’t bed.
Research and telemetry studies in enclosures have shown whitetails are bedded, on average, a whopping 70 percent of the time. Of course, the 70 percent figure does not apply throughout the year. We’ve learned deer can bed as much as much as 90 percent of the time in winter and as little as 30 percent of the time during the rut. Such information is highly beneficial to hunters, allowing for better planning and execution of hunting strategies.
3. Activity Patterns. In 1995, I built a 35-acre research facility on our farm to study deer behavior. The farm’s wild population and the enclosure herd have created the ultimate whitetail lab for observation.
I’ve found that most of the behavior observed in the enclosure has nearly mirrored the free-ranging population. When my enclosure bucks begin scraping and rubbing, I know our farm’s wild deer will be starting about the same time. The same holds true for bedding and daytime activity patterns.
4. Age and antler potential. Before there were deer enclosures, little was known about antler growth potential, at least not what we know today. Enclosures have allowed breeders to
72| August 2008
CHARLES ALSHEIMER
Deer enclosures have allowed researchers and behaviorists to chronicle previously undocumented whitetail behavior.
observe bucks from birth to death, which has allowed us to better understand the role age plays in the antler equation.
5. Genetic effects. Deer hunters rave about genetics. Unfortunately, enclosures are the only places where the impact of genetics can be truly observed. In such situations, it’s clear that antlers can be improved by matching a quality buck with a quality doe.
6. Stress factors. We’ve also learned that stress plays a key role in antler and body development. There are six main stressors; environment (weather, disease and parasites), nutrition, over-population, sex ratio, predation and the rut. Any of these factors can adversely affect antler growth. When more than one is present, the negative impact can be incredible.
7. Nutritional effects. The saying “you are what you eat” applies to both humans and wildlife. All whitetail habitats are not equal. Enclosures have shown us that in order to have the best possible deer herd, good nutrition must be available year-round. They have also illustrated that the visual by-product of great nutrition will almost always be better antler growth.
A deer needs about 1½ tons of nutritious food per year. And, for greatest antler growth, nutrition must be optimum at all times. Food sources must provide essential vitamins and minerals in spring, and high amounts of carbohydrates in fall.
These are just a few of the things we’ve learned by studying whitetails behind high fences. High-fenced operations might be the scorn of some hunters. However, like them or not, without enclosures we would only know a fraction of what we do about America’s greatest game animal.
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