What are reasonable expectations for today's intensive deer management programs? Dr. Deer says you must start with clearly defined goals. Are your goals well defined?

Whether you call it quality or trophy management, interest in managing deer herds for better bucks is spreading. It all began in Texas some 50 or more years ago when private ranchers started protecting and enhancing their deer herds. One such rancher was H.B. Zachary, a San Antonio contractor who purchased two ranches in the famed south Texas brush country.

Mr. Z wanted to produce better bucks, so he enticed Texas Parks and Wildlife biologist Al Brothers to come to work for him. Over the next few years, Al not only produced monster bucks for Mr. Z, but he also became an avid apostle for the concept of managing for bigger bucks. Along with that of his good friend Murphy Ray, Al’s work ultimately led to the publication of a landmark book, Producing Quality Whitetails.

My friendship with Al brought me to implement the same landowner-centric strategies. When North American Whitetail began 26 years ago, its founders wanted to deliver sound management advice to hunters and landowners. That’s when I became involved with the magazine, and I’m very proud of what we’ve accomplished since.

THE INFORMATION AGE
Building on the concepts Al and Murphy covered in their book, we set out to conduct research to fine-tune the process. Our long-running series “Building Your Own Deer Factory,” which began in the July 1998 issue of North American Whitetail, was extremely successful. We continue this trend today through this column and other articles by recognized experts.

After visiting the Zachary ranches in the late 1980s, a group of Southeastern biologists led by Joe Hamilton began what now is known as the Quality Deer Management Association (QDMA). At last report, QDMA has grown to about 50,000 members, supporting the idea that “management mania” is definitely spreading.

Yet there are hundreds of thousands of landowners in the U.S. and even more hunting club members. And in spite of all we have done, there is still much confusion about what deer management is all about (especially in regard to growing bigger bucks). Furthermore, there are many misconceptions involving the expectations from such programs. What are reasonable expectations? Even worse, many deer hunters still do not understand the role of state agencies in all this. What I hope to accomplish in this three-part series is to help clarify a few of these points.

GETTING BACK TO BASICS
Some folks in my profession look upon Wisconsin biologist Aldo Leopold as a god. Aldo was a good scientist. During the Depression he tried to find better ways to help landowners manage wildlife, so he justly deserves credit for his part in American wildlife management. The tenets he puts forward in his landmark book Game Management have proved themselves many times.

Aldo pointed out what I also learned the hard way. There are three important aspects of managing any species — people, habitat and populations. Each has to be addressed in order to succeed. There is also one additional aspect, the achievement of which is measurable — a well-defined goal. Without a clear goal, you’ll never succeed.

Whenever I ask a landowner what his or her primary goal is, I usually get the same answer: “Well, we want to produce a lot of trophy bucks.” That is not a goal. It is an expectation! A more reasonable goal would be to say, “We want to harvest four mature bucks annually from our land.” Now, that is a reasonable goal, provided the landowner has enough land on which to make it happen.

PEOPLE, HABITAT AND POPULATIONS
So, let’s now take Leopold’s three components and see how they fit into deer management. The first, people, is the hardest one to deal with. I often have said I can grow big bucks in a parking lot, if people would go along with me! Whether on private or public lands, the manager must understand what the people want. Those wants may be as simple as a single landowner who wishes to exercise “king-like” dominion over his property (easy to achieve). Or they may be more complicated in a state where a public hunting tradition has existed for 200 years (harder to deal with).

A biologist in either case must first assess what is desired. In all honesty, state agencies have come along begrudgingly in the “better buck” management boom. States tend to judge everything from a “hunter opportunity” basis, and they tend to operate from revenues received from licenses, fines and fees. Anything that poses a potential threat to income or public satisfaction is suspect!