The white-tailed deer is the most popular big-game animal in North America.
The whitetail has been classified into the genus – Odocoileus, and the species – Virginianus.
Whitetails are known to exist in all 48 contiguous states, Canadian Provinces, and throughout Mexico, Latin America, and much of South America.
There are 30 subspecies of white-tailed deer, though only 16 of these subspecies can be found in the ranges of North America.
An adult male white-tailed deer is called a buck and the adult female is called a doe. The young are called fawns.
About 80% of the funding that benefits all wildlife species – not just species that are hunted – are generated by hunters and anglers.
There are an estimated 11 million deer hunters in the country.
On average, a mature whitetail deer stands about 38 inches at the shoulder, somewhere around the beltline height of a typical man.
The length of a deer can range from under 60 inches, to more than 70 inches, depending on the subspecies.
The weight of a deer also varies. For example, one of the smallest subspecies, the Key deer of Florida, doesn’t reach over 100 pounds full grown. Deer of the northern range can tip the scale at over 300 pounds.
Deer have extraordinary senses. Their ability to smell is probably their greatest asset, but deer also have exceptionally keen hearing and eyes that can spot the slightest movement.
Whitetails can reach speeds in excess of 35 miles per hour. They are also capable of clearing a vertical fence up to 8 feet in height and can cover up to 30 feet in a horizontal leap.
Deer coats consist of hollow, kinky hair designed to insulate and reduce heat loss; the color ranges from gray/brown in winter to reddish in summer. Deer are strong swimmers, and the hollow hair helps keep them buoyant in the water.
Most whitetails are born in late May or early June, depending upon geographic location. The normal gestation period of a whitetail is 200 days.
The average weight of a newborn fawn is between 5 and 8 pounds.
A mature doe will typically bear twins, which usually double in size during the first two weeks after birth. The fawn’s development is hastened because of the richness of the mother’s milk. In comparison to cow’s milk, deer milk is richer and much more nutritious.
The familiar spotted coat of young deer aids in concealing the newborn by blending with the surrounding woodlands or habitat.
For bucks, antler development usually begins in April or May, and by the month of August, the antlers are fully grown. Antlers fall off after the breeding season, typically in January or February. Antlers and horns are different things; antlers grow and fall off every year (such as with deer, elk, moose, and caribou), while horns are permanent and grow throughout the animal’s life (such as with sheep, goats, bison, and cattle).
Deer antlers are among the fastest growing tissues in the animal kingdom, possibly growing as much as an inch per day during peak development. This is the only skin tissue that regenerates in mammals. The development process and ultimate size of the rack can vary greatly, and depends upon the genetics, general health, and nutrition available to each deer.
Growing antlers are covered with a living tissue called velvet. During development, a deer’s antlers are very delicate and extremely sensitive.
Deer are known as ruminants or cud chewers. They have a four-compartment stomach that allows them to take in food quickly and regurgitate it later for final chewing and digestion.
Mature whitetails have a total of 32 teeth, consisting of 12 molars, 12 premolars, 6 incisors, and 2 canines.
Like humans, deer have ‘baby teeth’ which fall out and are replaced by permanent teeth.
The whitetail is considered a “browser” because they wander, feeding on tender buds, twigs, and leaves, yet they remain close to the woods for quick escape cover.
The feeding habits and nutritional requirements of the whitetail vary by season and by region. In times of plant abundance, usually during the growing season, adult deer will consume nearly 10 pounds of food per day. In winter, when food resources are scarce, they eat what they can find, sometimes as little as a few pounds per day.
A high browse line on trees and brush signals a tough winter with a shortage of food. Very often, both the youngest and oldest of the deer herd die in winter. Some very bad northern winters have resulted in a 75% mortality rate in local deer herds. This is Mother Nature’s way of managing the deer population.
One square mile seems to indicate a close approximation of the home range of deer. Within these borders they can usually find all the necessary requirements for survival.
During the breeding season, bucks will at times overstep their normal boundaries in search of a mating partner.
Bergmann’s Rule is a biological principle that states that animals tend to be larger as you travel further away from the equator. As the animal becomes larger or when body mass increases, proportionally the surface area of the animal decreases which results in less loss of body heat. This rule is vitally important to deer subspecies living in both the warm tropical flats of Florida as well as the cold climax forests of North America.
Allen’s Rule is a biological principle that states that in the more northern ranges of the whitetails, regions likely to be colder, the outer parts or extremities of a deer, including legs, tail, and ears, tend to be shorter than in the regions of the south where the climate is more mild and warmer, and where deer more often have larger or enlarged legs, tail, and ears.
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