Photo by CRAIG HOLT Growing bigger bucks is a function of allowing smaller deer to walk, according to deer experts nationwide.

North Carolina deer hunters likely can expect another good season during 2006, and the quality of the state’s bucks should continue to improve — even after several years of record kills by hunters.

During the four-month 2005 season, hunters killed 144,315 deer, the highest total since the WRC began tracking harvests. But that record wasn’t a surprise — nor is it a concern — for Evin Stanford, the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission’s chief deer biologist.
“We were bouncing near a record harvest the last few years,” he said. “Four of our top harvests have occurred during the last five years, and we finally bumped over the record set in 2001-02 (142,769 deer) by 2,000 animals last year.”

With approximately 250,000 licensed hunters in North Carolina making 2.9 million trips for whitetails each year — and spending $311 million annually — managing the deer herd is an integral part of the WRC’s mission. Responding to an ever-growing deer population during the early 1990s, the agency began liberalizing seasons. That meant, basically, more either-sex hunting days.

With a current total herd of 1.1 million animals, N.C. hunters reportedly put big-game tags on approximately 12 percent of the state’s deer population during 2005. Other forces (deer-car collisions, poaching and unreported kills, predation, disease) added nearly 100,000 animals to that number for an estimated 2005 total mortality of 230,000 animals (almost 19 percent the state’s herd). Yet even after bagging that many deer in one season, the future looks bright, Stanford said.

“In certain sections of the state, where we’ve liberalized doe harvests, doe deer killed by hunters have taken a big jump,” he said. “And when we started the two-buck rule (at most Piedmont and all western counties), that also increased doe harvests.

“Right now about 40 percent of the total harvest is does.”

Stanford said the yearly harvest has been relatively stable since the mid 1990s when the WRC added either-sex seasons at some areas.

“We had a big jump (in harvests) in 1993, but then (the state’s deer population) went flat line (stopped increasing),” he said.

So basically WRC regulations are keeping the population stable at slightly more than 1 million deer while allowing a generous harvest during N.C’s four-month-long season.

So where should hunters go during the 2006 season if they want to kill a deer? Well, that depends upon their goals — are they seeking venison or a trophy?

Stanford said counties with the two-buck limit (out of a six-deer season limit) or at clubs where the members practice quality deer management enough provide the best chances for a nice buck.

“It seems like now, compared to five years ago, we’re getting more reports of nice bucks,” he said. “It seems to happen at areas with the two-buck limit or where individuals or clubs are practicing quality deer management.”

Stanford said check-station data also indicate a slight increase of bigger-antlered bucks in areas with a two-buck limit or QDM management.

“It appears to be a 5 percent increase overall when you look at antler spreads and points,” he said.

However, taken as a whole, the state’s hunters aren’t showing a lot of restraint in allowing younger bucks to walk out of gun or bow range, Stanford said.

“At the statewide level, (being more discriminatory in choosing to shoot a young buck or let it walk) doesn’t appear to have changed a whole lot,” he said.

Although the game biologist said more individuals and clubs are participating in the WRC’s Deer Management Assistance Program, the overall age of harvested male deer remains 1.9 years.

“Buck harvests in North Carolina continue to be weighted toward younger ages,” he said. “Even in the areas where people are interested in moving toward QDM or DMAP programs, they still don’t want to shoot does. And when we set up check stations, participation is voluntary. People who shoot little deer often drive right past us.”

However, as Stanford’s supervisor, Scott Osborne of Sanford, the WRC’s big-game program director, often has said, shooting does won’t produce better-quality bucks — unless hunters substitute does for young male deer with small antlers.

Best Buck Bets

If a hunter wants to try for a good N.C. buck during 2006, a good bet probably would be at the northwest corner of the state or northern piedmont counties.

Alleghany County, with 6.97 harvested bucks per square mile during 2005, led the state in that category.

Not surprisingly, hunters at counties with relatively high bucks per square mile, such as Ashe, Alleghany and Wilkes, also killed more does in 2006 (between 47 and 51 percent of the total deer kill at those counties was doe deer) than other areas.

However, with relatively few game lands in the northwestern counties, public-hunting opportunities aren’t plentiful. Landowners can restrict hunter access and allow only specific-size bucks be taken. Not only that, the terrain (Appalachian foothills region) makes hunting bucks a lot more difficult than Down East, where dog hunters can scour huge flat fields and drive deer into the open and where more public land (Bladen Lakes State Forest, Croatan National Forest, Holly Shelter and the Roanoke River Wetlands and Wildlife Refuge) exists. So bucks in the northwest corner more easily can avoid rifle crosshairs.

However, fewer doe kills always don’t indicate a lack of willingness to take antlerless whitetails. It also may mean a region has poor deer habitat.

For instance, the lowest doe kills in the state (6/10 of 1 percent and 9/10 of 1 percent of the 2005 harvest) occurred last year at Jackson and Swain counties, respectively, in the mountainous southwestern corner of the state. Hunters tagged just 48 total deer (bucks and does) at Jackson County and 76 at Swain County. Shooting does makes little sense when a region supports only a handful of deer.

Meat of the Matter

If a hunter is simply interested in killing a deer (buck or doe), the top places remain the northeastern coastal plain counties. Bertie, Halifax and Northampton counties, inside the Roanoke River drainage (an area with big swamps and bigger agricultural fields that offers clear long-range shots) rank among the top-three counties in total harvests and harvests by gun (rifle and shotgun). Most eastern counties also allow hunters to drive deer with dogs.

Those counties also rank among the top four in doe harvests.

Wonderful Wilkes

If a hunter likes to use primitive weapons (archery equipment or muzzleloader rifle), Wilkes County in the northwest is a good choice.

Wilkes ranked fourth in total tagged deer during 2005 with 4,249, rated No. 1 in archery and muzzle-loader deer kills. The northwestern county also was fifth in gun harvests (3,080), third in doe harvests (2,014) and fourth in harvested bucks (2,046). Wilkes also had 3.60 bucks per square mile killed during the 2005-06 season, just out of the top-10 ranking.

“We’re been giving (hunters) in the northwestern corner an extra week of hunting opportunities, so that also probably accounts for some of (the county’s big deer) harvest,” Stanford said. “We also have more does in that region now.”

The highest-scoring N.C. non-typical buck at the 2006 Dixie Deer Classic was a 172 3/8-inches buck killed by Tommy Ayers at Surry County, which borders Wilkes. Cheri Chapman bagged the top buck taken by a female hunter, a Wilkes’ deer that boasted 128 1/8 inches of antlers.

An Unusual Year

Stanford said 2005 was a strange year for deer hunters because although the major players remained the northeastern “Peanut Belt” counties of the Roanoke River drainage, the biggest harvest increases didn’t occur at Districts 1, 2 and 3 (the coastal plain).

Coastal plain counties traditionally have led N.C. deer harvests because of habitat — plenty of food, especially lots of agricultural crops such as corn, soybeans and peanuts, along with tremendous cover provided by swamps. That hasn’t changed.

But whitetails apparently have expanded into more suburban areas, and the WRC is giving hunters chances to go after them.

The northern piedmont, northwestern corner and foothills and mountain counties (Districts 5, 7 and 8) saw the biggest jumps in deer kills in 2005 and actually pushed the harvest total to its record. Those districts include some of the state’s largest towns, such as Greensboro, Lexington, Winston-Salem and Hickory. But whitetails have adapted well and filled new niches.

Today it’s almost as common to see a deer as an SUV at many suburban piedmont neighborhoods.

“The harvest was up more than 5 percent overall at the northern piedmont, foothills, and mountain districts,” Stanford said. “So the increase was mostly driven by the northern piedmont and northwestern North Carolina.”

Mast crops apparently didn’t make much difference in last year’s deer-hunter success, especially at piedmont and northwestern counties.

Usually, with lots of acorns dropping from oak trees, deer tend to stay in the woods and don’t venture into the open to eat agricultural crops. That makes them less likely to be seen and shot by hunters.

“Last year was an average year for mast crops,” Stanford said. “Only when we have a bad year, such as 2002 was, does a failed mast crop seem to affect the deer harvest very much.”

EHD and CWD

Another factor that can influence N.C. deer harvests is disease outbreaks, particularly EHD (epizootic hemorrhagic disease).

Transmitted by a biting gnat/midge, in its most virulent form, EHD emaciates deer by depressing their appetites, makes them crave water and causes their hooves to slough off, which makes walking difficult. Many deer die.

Often more prevalent in eastern counties, EHD caused a significant harvest drop after a severe 2002 outbreak. However, since then, just as biologists predicted, deer have built up immunity to EHD infections, and big die-offs of whitetails haven’t occurred.

“We should have a good year for EHD,” Stanford said. “By that I mean few problems.

“We had a little activity in 12 counties last year, spread throughout the state, but there was very little mortality and most of that occurred postseason. Most of (the symptoms) were sloughing hooves; it
wasn’t a virulent strain.”

However, Stanford said he doesn’t discount the possibility of an EHD outbreak during any season.

“We could have another big mortality, if everything comes together — a dry summer and a wet fall,” he said. “It’s something we’ll be watching.”

As a secondary effect, EHD may reduce deer harvests because hunter activity slows and sometimes stops at hard-hit areas.

“If an EHD outbreak coincides with a big mast crop, then deer stop coming to bait piles,” Stanford said. “So hunters aren’t seeing deer, and they quit hunting.”

Some people, he said, erroneously are afraid EHD can be transmitted to humans and stop hunting for that reason.

“I guarantee you every deer hunter who has been in the woods during EHD times in the past has been bitten by a midge,” Stanford said. “That means they’ve been inoculated naturally against the disease. You also can’t get the disease by eating (venison of) deer that have been bitten by EHD-carrying insects. If you’ve eaten venison from a N.C. deer, you’ve eaten meat from a deer that’s been bitten by a midge. But no human has shown the symptoms of EHD; it isn’t transmitted to people.”

On the other hand, Chronic Wasting Disease is a real concern. Akin to “Mad Cow” disease, it may be transmitted by eating infected meat. The WRC has severe restrictions regarding bringing venison — and other deer parts — back to North Carolina from states that have suffered CWD outbreaks.

Although no CWD has been found in North Carolina since the WRC began testing in 1999, the agency continues to test captive deer and elk. At most states with CWD in its deer, the disease first appeared in captive (fenced) cervid herds. Wildlife biologists generally believe the spread of CWD from state to state occurs when deer or elk are sold and transported by cervid farmers, although many such farmers object to that analysis.

“The closest we’ve had a CWD case to North Carolina is West Virginia,” Stanford said.

The WRC has kept in place a 2002 prohibition of inter- and intrastate movements of cervids. Hunters also are restricted from bringing central nervous-system parts (brains, spinal cord material) of deer or elk into N.C. from animals killed in other states.

“Under certain circumstances, N.C. deer can be moved out of state to be slaughtered or get veterinarian treatments,” Stanford said.

Any deer or elk that dies at a N.C. deer farm must be tested by the state for CWD.

“We have a (WRC) biologist, Kelly Douglas, who deals with captive cervids,” Stanford said.

Because all animals that die behind a fenced area must be tested for CWD, it’s also illegal to charge a fee for “canned” or “high-fence” hunts in North Carolina, Stanford said.

“It’s not legal to hunt for a fee behind a fence in our state,” he said. “Some people might be doing it, but it’s illegal.”

Game animals killed inside escape-proof, fenced enclosures also are ineligible for Boone and Crockett (firearms) or Pope&Young (archery) records.