White-Tailed Deer/Water Requirements

Habitat Requirements: Water Requirements
Like all animals, white-tailed deer require water to survive. Water is necessary for important bodily functions such as metabolizing food for tissue and energy production, temperature regulation, and waste excretion. Deer readily drink free water from ponds, creeks, rivers, springs, and seeps when it is available. However, compared to most livestock, they can go for extended periods without it. Besides free water, deer also obtain water from the food they consume. In times of lush growth (e.g., spring), consumption of free water is far less than during the hot summer when available vegetation contains less moisture and the body requirements for water to fulfill physiological demands are high.

Water is rarely the limiting factor of deer habitat in the Cross Timbers region. Most portions of this region generally receive an average of 30-40 inches of rainfall a year. In addition to the many creeks, rivers, wetlands, and puddles that occur naturally, there are also numerous man-made ponds, lakes, and stock water troughs throughout the area that serve as water sources for deer. These man-made water sources commonly average 1 or more per quarter section (160 acres) in many areas. Water sources averaging 1 per half section (320 acres) should be adequate for deer habitat, so water sources as they exist throughout the Cross Timbers generally fulfill the necessary requirements. The primary exception to this is during extended periods of drought if most natural and man- made water sources dry up. Droughts of this magnitude are relatively uncommon in the Cross Timbers however.