I had pursued my quarry for over an hour. Belly-crawling through the tall, thick, overgrown grass to within 30 yards; she had no idea I was there. While the whitetail stayed bedded I slowly rose to one knee, lifted my weapon, emulated a doe bleat and fired a shot. The result was a beautiful picture of a month old fawn staring curiously into the lens of my Cannon Rebel XT.
As obsessed as I am with deer and deer hunting, I am equally engulfed in practices of Quality Deer Management (QDM). On our property we practice QDM to its fullest extent through healthy harvests of does, established food plots and mineral stations, created sanctuaries and eliminated the harvest of younger bucks. All of the aforementioned ingredients are vital in creating a true QDM establishment. However, understanding the habitat in which your hunting property provides, and how to improve for the benefit of your deer herd is equally important.
That “photo-op” of the young fawn would not have been possible had the field I was stalking through had not been overgrown. From the moment a whitetail is born, it instinctively knows and quickly learns thick, dense habitat provides safety from predators and shelter from extreme weather.
In regards to deer habitat, the saying “thicker is better” is often used. A big, mature buck will almost always have a thick, overgrown bedding or staging area to which he can retreat to and feel secure in. Does alike will also congregate and rear their fawns in heavy woodlots, or tall, dense grasslands.
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Several benefits can be achieved through properly maintained deer habitat. Take our property in western Virginia for example; we have approximately 12 acres of open fields that, prior to this year, were bush-hogged to provide deer with grazing opportunities. However, through successful food plots; the deer receive ample nutrition there. Realizing the fields now provided little nutritional influence to the herd, we elected to allow the fields to grow up and provide much needed cover and protection. The dense fields now offer our herd extra bedding areas and more importantly; fawning areas. In order to produce mature, healthy whitetails, the does must be able to produce and raise healthy fawns.
The first two weeks of a fawn’s life are the most crucial. Granted a fawn survives those first weeks, its chances for survival drastically increase. Fortunately for young fawns, their mother’s take extremely good care of them. In fact, the first several weeks a fawn is virtually scent-free. The mother consumes the fawn’s defecation and constantly licks her young thoroughly to eliminate any odor that may attract predators.
As important as the aforementioned safety precautions are, fawn mortality can be as high as 70% within the first month, with nearly half being by coyotes or other predation. This is when ideal deer habitat becomes an important factor.
For the first few weeks of their lives, fawns will lie still and remain motionless when danger has been detected. They will even try to flee at just a week old if they feel they have been discovered (at this stage in their life, they can easily outrun a human). However, their primary defense against danger is to remain still. (Unfortunately this survival mechanism results in the fatality of many fawns as this time of year often coincides with the early hay season. Instinctively they lie undetected as the tractors pass by several times; it is not until the farmer passes over the fawn does he realize it was laying there.) Having or creating thick, overgrowth for you deer herd will result in a higher fawn survival rate. In this case “more is better” in regards to fawning areas. Does become very territorial when rearing their fawns and the denser the habitat you are able to provide increases the likelihood of your property holding more deer.
Aside from a management perspective, creating a “whitetail jungle” also provides fun and exciting hunting opportunities as well. As stated earlier, both does and old wary bucks prefer dense habitat over open areas. Whether it be stalking on an old doe through a field of goldenrod, or ambushing a trophy buck as he meanders his way through a creek bottom; the thicker the habitat, the better the hunting.
There are several ways to better the habitat on your property. On our property we let nature take its course without interfering the least. Many food plot companies have now developed annuals that provide exceptional nutrition while growing as high as six feet tall; Japanese honeysuckle and standing corn fields are also excellent alternatives. Thinning woodlots to open the forest canopy will allow for new growth and regeneration to occur providing excellent deer browse as well as added cover. It is recommended that you do this during the winter to minimize forest scarring by logging machinery. Leaving the tree tops on the ground will provide much needed winter food; also, the buds in spring again provide excellent deer browse.
As you can see, having and/or creating thicker deer habitat offers many advantages. Whether you are trying to manage your property to attract and hold more deer, or just searching for different hunting strategies; hunting in a whitetail jungle is a win-win opportunity.
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