Wildlife: August 2004

A White-tailed Deer Seminar will be held at the Pontotoc Technology Center Auditorium at 601 West 33rd Street in Ada, Okla., from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Sept. 25, 2004. On-site registration starts at 8:15 a.m. Lunch will be provided. Afterwards, a brief session will occur at the Noble Foundation Wildlife Unit for those who want more information, want to see some things in person and are willing to travel 20 miles to the Wildlife Unit.

For the past ten years, we have been conducting white-tailed deer management workshops at the Noble Foundation’s Wildlife Unit and Coffey Ranch during September that communicated basic principles about white-tailed deer biology and management. This year, we will vary from the format used during the previous ten years — rather than providing a general overview of white-tailed deer biology and management, we will emphasize new information learned about white-tailed deer during 22 years of deer research at the Noble Foundation Wildlife Unit.

Ken Gee releasing a fawn at the Wildlife Unit after trapping and tagging

A few topics addressed in previous deer workshops, such as food habits, aging and individual antler development, will also be addressed in the Sept. 25 seminar, but will be presented in a different manner. Plus, new subjects will be addressed in this seminar that were not addressed in previous deer workshops, such as male deer breeding success, female deer group dynamics, infrared-triggered camera deer surveys and the Noble Foundation drop-net system for trapping deer. Four seminar topics will be further addressed and shown during the late afternoon Wildlife Unit session including deer drop net, infrared-triggered cameras, antler development and deer food plants. A preliminary agenda for the seminar is provided at the end of this article.

Prior deer workshops occurred on weekdays, but this seminar will be on a Saturday. Workshop attendance previously was limited to the first 40 registrants and advertising was focused toward Noble Foundation cooperators, but this seminar is open to cooperators and the public with room for up to 412 registrants.

Please call Melissa Castleman at (580) 223-5810 to register for the free Sept. 25 seminar to guarantee a seat and help us obtain a lunch count.