Outdoors On Edge

Although the sight of whitetailed deer in herds of upward to a thousand in number may seem difficult to believe, many early settlers and explorers in Texas, even as far back as the 1700s, made reference to such tremendous herds in diaries, journals and letters home.

Juan Antonio de la Pena wrote in 1722 of the whitetail in Texas, “During the remainder of the day we passed through a flat country and found a great many deer. We saw around us, almost at the same time, as many as three or four hundred of these animals.”

Francis Moore Jr. wrote in 1840 on the same subject, “The deer are so numerous, that they are often found in herds of several thousands.” In some portions of the (future), state whitetail herds were larger than buffalo, an animal that few people have trouble in accepting as gathering in herds that large.

To these early Anglo settlers, and the indigenous people that came and lived before them, the deer was easily accessible food. So accessible in fact that by as early as 1840, settlers began to notice a severe drop in whitetail numbers. Only a minute portion of this tremendous decline can be attributed to subsistence hunting. The larger impact came from land encroachment, competition from newly introduced livestock, and, just as with the buffalo, senseless and unjustified slaughter.

The extent of this slaughter is well described by John C. Reid who in 1857 wrote: “Various modes are adopted, by the citizens here, for killing the wild animal. Game is ever in season. Thousands of deer are slain by the light of the fire pan; by snares and pitfalls, by the laying concealed near holes of water or ‘licks’; stooping in the tall grass and attracting those in sight by occasionally tossing in the air an unfurled red handkerchief; or shooting those gentle enough to allow you to approach. They are often beguiled by the docility of others already domesticated; by driving them toward standers in waiting; by chasing upon fleet horses and lassoing them.”

While these methods are almost unconceivable to sportsmen today, the numbers by which deer were slaughtered is almost incomprehensible. Although there was no official census taken in the years during Anglo settlement, it is estimated that there could have been between 30 to 125 million deer roaming the land that would become Texas.

By 1900, it was estimated that there were only 500,000 deer in the entire United States. Like the buffalo, deer were slaughtered almost to the point of no return.

With government intervention and the establishment of strict game laws, deer rebounded quite quickly. By 1990, the number of deer in Texas had reached between three and four million. Just how well deer rebounded is made apparent when considering that the average number of deer legally taken in the state is close to what the population of the entire country was in 1900. In fact, in some areas of the state, deer are actually dangerously overpopulated.

What whitetails eat is partially determined by where they live. In the Hill Country, deer graze twice as much as they browse. Over 67% of their feeding time is spent eating grasses and forbs. In South Texas, the numbers are almost reversed. Deer browse twice as much as they graze. Percentages and diet are altered considerably when supplemental feeding and land management are entered into the equation.

Just as with their diet, whitetail weight is heavily determined by where deer live. Deer in the Eastern portion of the state and in the Hill Country tend to be smaller in body than those in South Texas or on the upper plains. In general, though, whitetail average from between 70 to 150 pounds.

In terms of color, whitetails are grayish brown or grayish blue in winter with the coat taking on a reddish- brown tinge in winter. Under parts are lighter in color if not white. True to their name, whitetails have a white tail that stands erect when fleeing danger.

Antlers grow outward from the back of the head before curving slightly forward. Each tine grows off of a main beam.

Young is a Fredericksburg resident and avid outdoorsman whose work appears in the paper, Rock & Vine magazine, and other outdoor publications. Contact him at gayne@gaynecyoung.