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OhDeer-2nd report of Survey on Ranch

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Spending the Evening with Four Men in the Back of a Pickup Truck Part II
Boy, did I get a bunch of phone calls about my last article. I just chalk it up to jealousy. You all are jealous that you are not the ones riding around in the truck in the middle of the night. The second deer count went smoother than the first. Kinda.
Now, we never draw straws on who gets to do what. Remember we have one driver, two spotlight people and one or two recorders. Well, guess who got to drive the truck for the second deer count . . . moi!!! Now this truck isn't one of the new, cute girly trucks. It is a big, old F110 with a bench seat that is held together with duck tape and baling wire. Since the bench seat was unmovable, I had to pull myself up by holding onto the steering wheel just to reach the gas and brake pedals. Thank goodness it was not a manual transmission. I could barely see over the steering wheel let alone the hood of the truck. I had to drive the truck at a speed of 5-7 miles per hour for 4 hours all the while holding myself up by grasping the steering wheel. No causalities occurred but one mailbox came close to being creamed.
Everyone has been asking about the deer count. One more count will be taken and then the Texas Parks and Wildlife Biologist will extrapolate the data. He will train the Wildlife Work Group in these computations so that we may do this study on a yearly basis. But for all you math whizzes out there, I am going to give you the formulas. Get your slide rules ready.
The first deer survey included taking visibility readings every 1/10th mile. The following formula is used to convert 1/10-mile visibility estimates into acres of visibility:
Total yards of visibilities / number of 1/10mile stops +1 X Number of miles X 1,760 / 4,840 = Visible Acres. For example, a 7.7-mile line with 4,744 total yards of visibility the formula would be: 4,744 / 77 + 1 X 7.7 X 1,760 / 4,840 = 170.29 acres. Got that?
Then you divide the total number of deer into the total number of visible acres observed to determine the number of acres per deer on the route. For example: 1,260 acres (one spotlight survey route run 3 times with 420 acres of visibility) divided by 90 (total number of deer observed on that spotlight survey route run 3 times) = one deer per 14.00 acres. The estimated deer population for this ranch can then be estimated by dividing the total acres of the ranch by the estimated acres per deer figure. For example, the deer population estimate for a 5,000 acres ranch with a deer density of one deer per 14.00 acres is 357 total deer.
Also included in this survey will be buck, doe, and fawn ratios. An estimate of the number of bucks, does, and fawns in the population can then be determined by multiplying the total number of deer by the percent of all deer identified that were bucks, does, and fawns. For example:
357 Deer X 0.20 (% identified as bucks) = 71 bucks,
357 Deer X 0.50 (% identified as does) = 179 does, and
357 Deer X 0.30 (% identified as fawns) = 107 fawns
TOTAL = 357 deer
In addition, deer identified as bucks, does, and fawns from the spotlight surveys can provide important information on the buck to doe and fawn to doe ratios. Herd composition is crucial to management of deer populations. The ratio of bucks to does provides information on survival of both sexes and is an indicator of hunting pressure on each sex. Fall fawn per doe ratios provide a good index of fawn survival. For example: 179 does / 71 bucks = 2.52 does per buck and 107 fawns / 179 does = 0.59 fawns per doe. The Post Oak Savannah Deer Herd Past, Present and Future by Wildlife Biologist, David W. Rideout, states that "In the Post Oak Savannah, bottomland habitat will support over the entire year about one deer per 10 acres, and upland habitat about one deer per 25 acres." In case you are wondering, Wood County is considered to be in the post oak savannah ecoregion. Upshur County begins the Piney Woods ecoregion.
Well, if that doesn't curdle your brain, I don't know what will. I think I will just wait and see what the final figures are. Whatever the answer, we should keep Holly Lake Ranch beautiful and that means having a manageable herd of healthy, vibrant deer.
Ann Reynolds, Certified Master Naturalist

 

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