David M. Carlock

We collected reproductive tracts from female white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) along with mast indices, deer condition data, and population parameters for a 20-year period in northeastern Georgia. The objectives were to determine what factors influenced reproduction and if ovulation incidence or mast abundance could be used to predict recruitment rate the following year. Percentage of does bred before 1 December and adult doe ovulation incidence were both associated with mast abundance. Higher ovulation incidence of adult does coincided with early breeding. Recruitment rate was...

We studied seasonal movements of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in northeast Georgia in relation to agricultural food plots during years of varying oak (Quercus spp.) mast production. In total, 2,381 radio telemetry locations were collected from 12 does from 1987 through 1989. Fall and winter home ranges were larger (P < 0.1) during a high oak mast productivity year compared to a low productivity year. There were no differences (P > 0.1) in spring home range sizes under 3 different oak mast conditions. All radio-collared does had ranges which included 1 or more food plots...