Kent E. Kammermeyer

In the southeastern United States, food plots are often used to compensate for annual fluctuations in forage quantity and quality. We evaluated forage production, seasonal use by white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), and seasonal crude protein levels of MaxQ fescue (Festuca arundinacea), Regal ladino white clover (Trifolium repens), and Durana white clover (T. repens) planted alone or in combination. We planted two 1-ha food plots in the Coastal Plain, Piedmont, and Blue Ridge physiographic regions of Georgia in November 2002. We measured forage production (kg/ha) and use every 30 (±...

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 compared production, utilization, and protein levels of 3 ladino clovers (Trifolium repens) in northeastern Georgia. Three 0.2-ha clover plots were planted side by side in 2 separate fields on Chestatee Wildlife Management Area. Samples were clipped, weighed, and analyzed monthly for a 26-month period beginning in April 1990. All clovers were utilized very heavily by deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and other wildlife averaging 392 kg/ha per month dry weight totalling 10,210 kg/ha for the study. With data for both fields combined, there was no significant difference (P > 0.05) in...

White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) harvests from wildlife management areas in northeastern Georgia were compared with habitat variables, population variables from the previous fall harvest and hunters/km2 • Three years of harvest data from 8 Blue Ridge Mountain areas and 12 years of data from an Upper Piedmont area were analyzed. A significant stepwise multiple regression model (R2 = 0.57) related deer harvest numbers to the following habitat variables for the mountain areas: number and hectares of agricultural food plots, kilometers of roads, hectares of oak timber (all positive...

The impact of refuges on white-tailed deer (Odocoileus drginianus) movements and population dynamics, although often discussed, has never been clearly documented in the Southeast. This study used radio telemetry, modified Lincoln Index censusing, sex ratio counts, kill data and observations of40 marked deer from March 1973 through November 1974 to analyze movements between Berry College Refuge and contiguous hunted areas in northwestern Georgia. Three major patterns of movement seemed apparent; (1) relatively sedentary movement patterns of resident refuge deer, (2) dispersal of 1.5 and 2.5...