Aging Deer Using Tooth Wear and Replacement (Jawbone Method)

I'm sure everyone remembers every detail of what to look for when aging deer using jawbones. Hopefully you were even paying close enough attention to my presentation that you noticed (as my wife so graciously pointed out to me) that I misspoke a few times by instructing you to look at the 4th tooth to determine if it was tri-cuspid. Just in case you don't remember everything you saw and heard in my presentation on Tuesday or weren't able to attend the meeting, click on the title of this post to view a full-color PDF brochure titled "A Guide to Age Determination of White-tailed Deer" published by Texas Parks and Wildlife.

Remember that recording the age, weight, gender, presence or absence of lactation, and antler measurements of all the deer harvested on your property each year is vital to determining the health of the heard and their habitats and directing future harvest and management recommendations. Use the information provided in this brochure and the one you received on Tuesday to age the deer you harvest next hunting season. If you need a refresher course or some jaw bones to practice on next year, please feel free to contact me.

Wildlife and Fish Management Calendars

During Tuesday's Harvey WMA meeting, I was asked to discuss habitat management activities that should be performed during the spring and summer months. It later occurred to me that I had calendars in my truck that contained much of the information I presented. I had intentions of giving them out, but forgot. So, I wanted to let you know where you could get that information for yourselves.

Clicking on the title of this post will direct you to Texas Parks & Wildlife's Private Lands Calendars in PDF format. This calendar contains "Habitips" in addition to beautiful pictures and information about TPW's Wildlife Management Areas.

I also highly recommend you take a look at the Texas AgriLife Extension's Wildlife and Fish Management Calendar for Texas and the Southeast. This is a full-color calendar that will teach you how to manage your property for wildlife and fish, but also when to perform critical management tasks. It contains information on how to improve fishing in your ponds, understand population dynamics of your deer herd, age deer in the field, select supplemental forages for wildlife, etc. A PDF of this calendar can be obtained from http://tcebookstore.org/ where it can also be purchased for $7.95+ tax and shipping.

For those of you managing green-tree reservoirs and moist soil unit wetlands for wintering waterfowl, go to http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_pr_w7000_1179a.pdf. TPWD's East Texas waterfowl biologist, Corey Mason, has put together a one page wetland management calendar of recommended activities.

I've included 3 great resources for wildlife management guidelines. However, all 3 provide only general guidelines. If you need more information about any of these activities and how to apply them to your properties, please contact me.

Observing and Evaluating Whitetails

During the meeting on Tuesday, someone requested information on aging deer on the hoof before they were harvested. Several of the members suggested a book titled "Observing and Evaluating Whitetails" by Dave Richards and Al Brothers. This is book is full of great pictures used to describe the characteristics for distinguishing between age classes of bucks. The paperback version can be purchased for $29.99 from Quality Deer Management Association at 800-209-3337 or www.QDMA.com

Burn Workshop

On March 1, 2008, the Harvey WMA hosted a prescribed burn workshop sponsored by Texas Wildlife Association, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Texas Parks and Wildlife at The Physician's Center in College Station. The weather and burn bans prevented us from participating a burn that day, but the NRCS and TPW speakers gave good information to those of us interested in planning and implementing a burn on our own properties. A land owner from Grimes County shared some pictures and video of his first prescribed burn conducted just weeks prior to our workshop. Below are a few pictures from this workshop. We plan to host at least 2 such workshops/field trips/seminars every year. We hope more of you will be able to join us for the next one. Stay tuned to the blog for topics and dates.

Welcome to the Harvey WMA blog site

Many of our members and potential members have requested a web location where information about upcoming activities, relevant information, and pictures could be posted. Well, it's finally here! We hope that this blog will help to achieve our goal of fostering relationships and communication among Harvey WMA members. If you have suggestions for information, links, pictures, etc. you would like to see on this blog, please let us know and we'll do the best we can.