Deer Management Assistance Program Celebrates 40th Year

By DAVID RAINER, Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources

The Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP), started in 1984 to help landowners and leaseholders better manage their deer herds, is celebrating its 40th year in 2024. The program is offered by the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources’ (ADCNR) Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries (WFF) Division.

WFF’s Brian Grice, one of the biologists with Technical Assistance Program, said DMAP began to help Alabamians improve their deer herd dynamics.

“We went from a time when we didn’t have a lot of deer to a time when there were a lot of clubs who had a lot of does, and the limited number of doe days wasn’t allowing them to take enough animals,” Grice said. “This is what the program started with, issuing doe tags. They were physical tags back then. This was to improve the deer health and remove a barrier on the limited deer harvest.”

In the early 1900s, deer were scarce in almost all of Alabama. A herd in southwest Alabama provided animals for restocking, and other states contributed deer to the restocking efforts in the 1940s and 1950s. Through that work, the deer herd rebounded in spectacular fashion to the point that some areas were significantly overcrowded, which caused both the herd and the habitat to suffer.

“The restocking effort is a testament to how prolific deer can be when they have adequate amounts of resources and regulated hunting,” Grice said. “By restraining seasons and bag limits, the deer recovered pretty quickly so that by the mid ’80s a lot of people were starting to experience a degradation of habitat.”

Grice said it’s fairly easy for biologists to judge the health of the deer herd by checking the habitat first. A high browse line indicates too many animals are competing for the available forage.

“Deer are opportunistic feeders, so they go after high quality stuff first and then work their way to what’s preferred and then down to what’s less than optimal but can still sustain them,” he said. “We look at the forage quality and what kind of plants are there. When you see some of the high quality species absent when they otherwise should be there, you see some of the less desirable stuff that’s hard to even browse on. When you see cedar trees with a browse line that is head high to a deer, something is going on there, and it’s not good.

“Once you degrade the habitat, then the herd health is reduced, body weights decrease, and they are susceptible to parasites and disease. More mouths on the ground enhances the spread of disease. I’d say habitat quality is the biggest component of this.”

The easiest way for landowners or leaseholders to inquire about joining DMAP is to contact the local WFF District Office. Visit www.outdooralabama.com/wildlife-section for contact information. The biologist in that district will provide an application to those interested.

“That application will give them a chance to lay out what their objectives are and give us a starting point,” Grice said. “The biggest thing is the habitat evaluation. We look at the place and see how it’s being managed, what size it is and what kind of resources are available. An important part to that puzzle is whether they own or lease the land. They will likely be limited in what they can do if they lease it.

“We like to do those visits before the season starts, preferably in late spring. After spring green-up, we see what the forage looks like. That’s the first thing. Then we determine the resources available. Do they have equipment to manage the property? For instance, are they limited to just a four-wheeler and a sign-in board or do they have a pole barn with tractors and implements?”

For a club or landowner new to the program, Grice said the first year will be a trial year as the biologist tries to gather baseline data on the property. If the club has been established for a while and has been collecting its own data, the DMAP team can start to hone in on the goals for the property, from how many deer need to be harvested to recommendations for habitat improvement.

“Many folks who enroll in the program have an overpopulation problem,” Grice said. “They usually have a lot of deer and need some way to shoot more deer.

“But this program can help people over the whole spectrum, whether they have hardly any deer and want to increase their numbers or they have too many and are wanting to increase the quality of their bucks.”

Grice said the recommendations from WFF will be determined on the site evaluation, acreage available and the objectives, whether the club or landowner wants to maintain deer density at a healthy level or if they want trophy deer management. The trophy deer management is significantly more intensive.

“We build the baseline of harvest data and observation data for a couple of years,” he said. “We don’t want to make any knee-jerk reactions. We give it a little bit of time and see what trends are showing. We’re looking at average weights, ages, lactation rates and antler measurements. Average weight is probably the biggest indicator. If we see weights are lower than normal for the area, then we may need to take more deer. If the weights are on par or above average, maybe we’ve found the sweet spot.

“This program is not just about managing deer; it’s also managing the people. You want to meet the objective for the deer herd, but you also want to keep the hunter in mind. Even if they have the objective of wanting trophy deer, they still want to be able to see deer when they hunt. If they go at it hard and heavy, that may reduce their hunting satisfaction. When you increase the pressure, deer respond to the pressure, which can reduce the sightings. We have to be cognizant of those things. That plays into the question about how many deer need to be harvested as well.”

DMAP currently has about 150 active participants in private clubs, landowners and hunting clubs. Grice said the satisfaction rate with the program is very high.

“I can speak to the clubs I assist,” Grice said. “There is one in Bullock County. When he signed on, he knew what he wanted and what his objectives were. He knew they needed to shoot more does. He knew what that property could produce and had seen it in the past. He knew the potential of the property. We got on board and started with some intensive management, and now we’ve reached a point where last season alone they were able to kill nine mature bucks. Five or six of those were 5½-year-old or older bucks, really mature bucks, something they would consider a trophy buck. His objective was strictly for trophy deer management. Others are just managing to maintain the present density.

“We have clubs that have been on DMAP since its inception and continue to participate. Most of the clubs that I manage have been on it eight to 10 years and express nothing but good things about it. It has absolutely been a success.”

Visit www.outdooralabama.com/wildlife-management-programs/deer-management-assistance-program for more information on enrollment and requirements to join DMAP.

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