Management Articles by WWS
Common Deer Diseases/Viruses and Their Management Implications
Every hunting season we get questions like... "We've seen a deer that looks like he's covered with warts. What's wrong with him?", or "We've harvested a few deer this season with cracked hooves. Is something wrong with our deer?" Both instances refer to diseases that are common to white-tailed deer. Hopefully this article will address these questions and shed some light on the more common deer diseases, causes, and their management implications.
Economical Food Plot Management Strategies - Maximize Your Dollar
As the long, hot summer days gradually begin to cool, virtually every deer hunter across the country begins anticipating the approaching hunting season. Each work day is continually interrupted by thoughts of upcoming days spent in the woods or constant emails from hunting companions containing the most recent trail camera photos. Many are counting the days until the first weekend spent on their property or hunting lease to kick off the season by preparing food plots, cleaning up hunting stands, trimming roads and stand entrance trails, etc. One of the most popular pre-season activities is planting fall food plots. Supplemental food plots have become a major component in nearly every quality deer management program.
Brain Abscesses - A Potential Thorn in the Side of Intensive Deer Management Programs
Are you interested in producing mature bucks on your property? What about harvesting mature bucks? Without a doubt, deer management programs promoting an older-buck age structure are becoming increasingly popular throughout the whitetail's range. Today, more and more hunters are willing to pass opportunities to harvest young bucks to allow them to reach maturity with the expectation of improving antler quality.
High Fences: State-by-State Regulations Across the Southeast
Like many people, my job, hobbies, and other activities often cause me to spend the greater part of a day in my truck. As a hunter I often find myself searching every pond, pasture, and woodlot for ducks, turkeys, deer, and other wildlife. As a biologist, I notice different habitat types, management practices, and the chronic spread of suburbia. Over the past several years, as I have navigated countless interstates, highways and county roads that dissect the South, I have noticed an increasing number of eight-feet, woven-wire property lines. Based on these observations, there is no doubt that in some parts of the country, the use of high fences to confine and manage deer herds are becoming more common.
So You Want To Grow Turkeys
If you have not experienced spring turkey hunting, you are missing out on some of the most exciting hunting available. Spring turkey hunting is more than just sitting next to a tree and waiting for a gobbler to pass by. It is a sunrise pursuit of an unpredictable love sick gobbler roaming the woods gobbling his head off that forces the hunter to be mobile while exercising strategy, woodsmanship, patience, and nerves of steel. It is hard to describe the thrill and adrenaline rush experienced when everything works right and a gobbler closes into range in full strut and thunders out a gobble at eye level with you! At this point, tunnel vision sets in and the hair on the back of your neck rises. One wrong blink at this range could wreck the hunt. It is this thrill that hooks more and more new turkey hunters each year.
Micro Management - Analyzing Successful QDM Strategies on Small Properties
One of the most common questions asked regarding managing a property for deer is, "How large of a property do I need to successfully manage for a quality deer herd?" Obviously many variables determine how successful a QDM program will be on any given property, whether large or small.
Optimizing Small Properties
How to successfully manage deer on your small piece of paradise.
Effects of the 2007 Drought on Wildlife & Wildlife Habitat
The 2007 drought across the Southeast was nothing less than severe. In five of the six worst-hit states, rain totals this year are more than a foot below normal. It was difficult to ignore the effects of the drought on people and communities this past summer, but how did it affect the south's wildlife, wildlife habitat, and hunting?
It Takes a Village
Clover - Still the One
How do you attract wildlife to your property or specific areas of your property, while simultaneously provide high quality forages that will promote healthier, more productive wildlife populations?
Composting - An Alternative to Gut Piles
The composting of deer remains has proven to be an acceptable method for hunters to dispose of deer carcasses. Not only is it a safe and environmentally sound method of disposing deer remains, but will result in a nutrient rich material (actually called compost) that can be added to food plots, supplemental fruit tree plantings, other areas on your property, or your garden.
Wildlife Clearcuts - Another Tool for Creating Quality Wildlife Habitat
What is ideal whitetail deer habitat? Regardless of where you are in the whitetails' range, ideal habitat for deer will include a complex of many habitat types of various ages that provide adequate food and cover resources.
Age This!
Accurately estimating the age of bucks in trail-camera photographs is an invaluable skill for any quality deer manager, whether you use your trail cameras to conduct accurate surveys of your deer population or just to gather snapshots of neighborhood deer.
Protecting Bucks (1)
OK, so you've set up some buck harvest restrictions that will protect young bucks. You're on your way to producing mature, quality bucks, right?
Protecting Bucks (2)
In Part 1 we discussed the vital role that doe harvest plays in the success of your quality deer management program. In summary, doe harvest is essential to maintain a desirable deer density, maintain or improve the adult sex ratio, and reduce buck fawn dispersal.
Scouting After Harvest
Don't leave that rumen in the woods! Take it back to the skinning shed and get ready to do some scouting.
Vanished 
Food Plots
Properly managed food plots can significantly benefit a deer herd and play a vital role in the success of your deer management program.
High Fencing 
White-Tailed Deer
Wildlife Consulting