Drawing problem deer into the WMA's!!!

[Matty]

Another poll for you guys.

 

It basically speaks for itself.

 

However, I wanted to take the opportunity to also post an interesting video regarding how deer move. This case in particular is a radio-collared mature buck from 4.5 to 6.5 years old. He travels up to 9 miles to eat. I thought it relates well to this topic.

 

http://outdoorchannel.com/showvideos.aspx?show-id=965&pid=xpDqSrBoKqhs

 

 

 

 

I personally used to hunt planted WMA's, but haven't seen any of them planted in recent years. (over 5+ years)

 

It would be wonderful to see the state re-establish crops on these properties and more.

 

 

To give you an idea of what I would love to see, here's a good general plan.

 

Plant a minimum of one food plot for every 40 acres of habitat. The plots should be a minimum of approximately 1 acre for corn, wheat and other grains as well as soybeans. The plots should makeup 2-5% of the overall acreage.

 

Furthermore, to help diversify the number of different species that benefit and to balance and spread out hunting pressure on public lands, it would also be very beneficial to add several smaller plots spread throughout the property in addition to the larger one(s). These plots should be 1/2 an acre or less and linear in shape with soft edges to allow for more balanced use of the plots by small animals, never leaving the feeding animals very far from cover. 

 

For deer, this can cause them to wipe out a plot quickly, but aids the smaller animals. This is the reason behind planting plots of both sizes. (overall planted plots should still not exceed 5% of total property)

 

Depending on what is planted, deer, turkeys, quail, pheasants, rabbits, bears, songbirds and other species can all benefit from the plots.

 

 

 

The following list of benefits is from an Indiana report on food plots.

 

Establishing food plots can be a costly endeavor. 

Therefore, it is important to understand what food plots 

can do, for example:

• They can potentially attract more deer to an area.

• They increase the chance of seeing one or more 

mature deer that have large racks.

• Food plots potentially concentrate deer during the 

hunting season, especially if the food plot is planted to 

a green fall or winter crop such as winter wheat or rye.

• They provide a supplemental food source for deer 

that might be important during harsh winters or 

when hard mast failures occur. This is true for 

corn in particular, but also for winter wheat and 

sometimes grain sorghum. 

• Food plots increase the likelihood of seeing other 

wildlife.

• They potentially increase the populations of smaller, 

less mobile wildlife, provided their other habitat 

requirements are met within their home range.

 

 

 

 

So what do you think about crops on WMA's?

 

 

 

 

[Rusty]

I would amend the first choice of the last question.  It will attract local deer but I don't know that it will pull deer from miles away.  Deer are reluctant to leave their home range even if there is better food down the road.

Edited January 8, 2014 by Rusty

[Matty]

Rusty, I thought that might catch your attention.

 

I couldn't find a definitive answer on how far they will travel for food, especially in winter. However, the buck from the video was supposedly travelling 9 miles to eat from a crop field.

 

I've also heard of other people saying deer will travel over a mile to reach these food sources in areas where food is lacking. I plan to do more searching and reading on the matter, but for now it does say "potentially", which I feel comfortable with. lol

[Rusty]

Rusty, I thought that might catch your attention.

 

I couldn't find a definitive answer on how far they will travel for food, especially in winter. However, the buck from the video was supposedly travelling 9 miles to eat from a crop field.

 

I've also heard of other people saying deer will travel over a mile to reach these food sources in areas where food is lacking. I plan to do more searching and reading on the matter, but for now it does say "potentially", which I feel comfortable with. lol

 

I voted "yes" for that one anyway.  

[Bucksnbows]

Interesting thought - that more food plots on our WMAs might draw deer in to some degree.  I defer to Rusty who's our resident deer biologist, but I know a buddy of mine that owns some property on a mountain in Warren County that shoots some great bucks each year.  His deer are full of corn and the nearest corn fields are in a valley at least 2 miles from his land.  So deer do move some distance to feed, even if only at night.  

 

The WMAs I hunt in are only for non-deer hunts.  I see corn and millet mostly.  It would be good to see a crop like clover which doesn't need to be planted each year like corn and doesn't require the herbicides and pesticides most corn crops do.  There are other crops that would be beneficial as well.  And, of course, we don't only want to plant for deer, but for turkey and small game as well.  Plus bears do a real number on corn up north although that is less of a big deal when the crops are being raised for wildlife food instead of for people food.       

[boomsox24]

I think it will be greatly benefitial. For example there used to be rye fields planted each year in Greenwood wma and Stafford forge wma in the pine barrens. Those fields pulled deer in for miles. If there was a perennial grass like clover planted there it would help the herd exponentially. As for corn I would like to see something that is perennial and cost efficient so that the state wouldn't be so swift to remove it in hard times.

[Rusty]

 a buddy of mine that owns some property on a mountain in Warren County that shoots some great bucks each year.  His deer are full of corn and the nearest corn fields are in a valley at least 2 miles from his land.  So deer do move some distance to feed, even if only at night.        

 

The deer we shoot on Sparta Mt are full of corn too, but it's all from my neighbors bait piles.  

[robnj]

The fields when planted or when the new spring growth is growing is a giant draw that pulls large amounts of deer. There's really not very many problem deer in zone 21 but it does give them a nutritional boost that's very needed in the low quality wma's. They never plant and don't even fix the the roads anymore. It's a shame

Edited January 9, 2014 by robnj

[Matty]

I want to make it clear that I don't claim to have previously known most of this information (some of it, but most I've been finding by searching through several different studies).

 

Because of the number of studies I've referenced, it's not surprising I'm finding some conflicting reports on how far deer will move for food, but I have noticed some trends.

 

While it's generally accepted that an average deer home range is approximately 1 square mile or 640 acres, it becomes very clear that so many factors play into the size of a deers home range. Because of this, deer home ranges vary greatly, from over 2 square miles down to just a couple hundred acres. With "trips" or "excursions" occurring occasionally that can take them well away from their home range.

 

Some of the factors that appeared most often to effect the size of home range were: snowfall, amount of rainfall, deer density, availability/quality of food, and whether the area is rural, suburban or urban.

 

It seems fewer studies have been conducted on urban populations, but from what has been done, it appears they generally have much smaller home ranges than rural and suburban deer. Which seemed to boil down to the fact that urban areas only offered small pockets of deer habitat and the deer are almost forced to remain in them despite declining quality of habitat. The smallest home ranges that I've found so far were recorded in Chicago.

 

Deer will also move greater distances in snowy regions. With one NY telemetry study showing deer moving 12 miles for food when snow depths reached 15" or more. However, they don't travel this distance on a regular basis,  they are moving to "yard" in the area until snow depth decreases, allowing them to slowly move back to their standard home range, and returning quickly if snow depths increase again. It was surprising to learn they make the trip to the "yard" in 24 hours or less, but take 1-2 weeks to return.

 

There is also "dispersal" to consider. As Rusty has told us before, does don't generally disperse. So focusing on does, it appears they account for only ~13% of permanently dispersing deer, while bucks under age 3 make up the large majority. But one report pointed towards higher dispersal among both sexes in areas of higher deer density and low food availability but offered no exact numbers. Another factor was availability of fawning areas. When limited, more does will disperse to better areas.

 

All very interesting stuff that I'll continue looking into just for fun.

 

Certainly a lot of factors at play in NJ's broken landscape that could greatly effect home ranges all over the state.

Edited January 9, 2014 by Matty

[Bucksnbows]

The deer we shoot on Sparta Mt are full of corn too, but it's all from my neighbors bait piles.  

 

Good point.  But I should have added that my buddy owned this land as he sold it off to the state years ago.  And the observations of his bucks (and does) being full of corn were from the pre-baiting era.  My bad.  As you said, all deer in NJ today are full of corn regardless of location.