By Brad Black
As printed in The Daily Ardmoreite, October 1, 2006.

Our wildlife populations in Oklahoma are one of our greatest natural assets. Without proper management and regulations, this great asset can vanish in a heartbeat.

All one has to do is look back in Oklahoma history where wildlife are involved. Commercial hunting in the early 1900's practically eliminated the whitetail deer populations in our great state.

Through the works of such great outdoorsmen such as Cy Curtis, we have an amazing huntable population of whitetail deer in our state. For the past few years harvest records have been broken, a testament of the great work of the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.

But what many people may not realize is that we have one of the best deer management assets right in our own back yard. A group of dedicated wildlife biologists that have based their careers on insuring that we have not only a huntable population of deer, but also dedicated to the cause of improving our quality of deer being taken.

This group is the Noble Foundation in Ardmore. Last week I was fortunate to attend their 12th Annual White-Tailed Deer Management Workshop held on the campus. Not only was the workshop educational, it was also most enlightening finding out what their research has uncovered.

Noble Foundation Wildlife Biologists Mike Porter, Russell Stevens, Ken Gee and Steven Smith teamed up with officials from the ODWC to present the workshop. Topics covered included such items as deer biology, deer habitat, deer population management, game law enforcement and antler development.

A portion of the workshop focused on the Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP). This state program allows the ODWC to work with large landowners in helping manage their deer populations through doe harvest to improve the quality of the deer herd.

While a landowner or landowner association must have a minimum of 1,000 acres for the project to be approved, the larger the area the more effective the program is. The active range of a deer herd is so large that if surrounding landowners don't also follow the guidelines of the group to insure population improvement, then it isn't as effective.

One of the things I most was impressed with was the portion on antler development. The Noble Foundation used to manage a wildlife area near Ada. Over a period of years they trapped and tagged deer so they could monitor their growth each year.

By setting up cameras on feed areas the biologists were able to identify each buck when they showed up at the area. There findings were amazing.

Bucks that sported less than impressive racks in their 1½ and 2½ year age classes more often than not ballooned into trophy deer in the next two to three years. What many people would have thought were genetically inferior deer were simply deer that hadn't fully developed into their full potential.

Another informative portion of the workshop was regarding deer forage. Those attending were told of a study where the contents of deer were examined to determine what they were feeding on.

The results shocked me in some instances. For one, I never thought that deer used poison ivy as a food source. According to the study they do.

Also included in their diets were horse apples, those bumpy green fruit that I used to play with as a kid. I knew squirrels loved the seeds in them but never knew that deer ate them.

During the day we were able to take a tour of a wildlife setting and have many of the forage plants of deer identified for us. I guess what caught my attention is that is wasn't just the oak trees and their acorns that attract deer, it was many of the small weeds you find on the forest floor that make up a substantial amount of their diet.

There was also an opportunity to hear from Carter County Game Warden Jeremy Brothers. Officer Brothers discussed his activities in apprehending game law violators and what property owners can do to reduce the impact of illegal hunting on their properties.

Toward the end of the day were two of my most interesting portions of the workshop. Mike Porter shared with the group the methods and procedures to age deer through their jawbones. He explained how it isn't an exact science but one can easily determine the ages of deer in their early years by the exposure of certain jaw teeth.

Last was the portion of the workshop presented by ODWC Representative Jerry Shaw on the methods used to score deer antlers. He discussed the different scoring organizations and explained the Oklahoma Cy Curtis Award program.

The day ended with a fantastic meal provided by the foundation. It was great to see some familiar faces and be able to spend some time visiting with others interested in improving their deer populations.

I highly recommend you visit the Noble Foundation website and view some of their information on deer management and deer research. There is a vast amount of information right at your fingertips that can greatly improve your hunting knowledge.

I would like to give a big thank you to the Noble Foundation for inviting me to attend this event. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in deer management or deer hunting.

I have said many times that one of the keys to becoming a better hunter or angler is education. Reading all you can find and studying everything you can regarding the game you seek is vital to becoming a successful outdoors person.

Just east of Ardmore is a wealth of wildlife information there for the asking. I can't say enough that if you care about wildlife, make it a point to look into the resources the Noble Foundation are offering the wildlife enthusiast.

Good hunting.

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Photos:	Photo by Brad Black	Photo by Brad Black
Photo Cutlines:	Noble Foundation Wildlife Specialist Russell Stevens points out prime deer forage to those attending the 12th Annual White-tailed Deer Management Workshop.	Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation Biologist Jerry Shaw demonstrates the procedures to properly score a set of deer antlers

This article appeared in The Daily Ardmoreite, www.ardmoreite.com, on October 1, 2006.