Population Health and Evaluation:
Body Size and Antler Characteristics
Body size is one of the best examples of a genetically-governed variable that is directly related to nutritional quality of the habitat. All deer have a preprogrammed size that they can attain if they receive adequate nutrition during critical growth stages. By comparing the body size of a specific age class of deer in a population to the body size potential for that particular region you can gauge the relative health of the population. Comparison between years will provide an important index to the success of a management program. As long as body size continues to increase, additional improvement can be expected from the population. It is not unusual for body size to improve over a 10-year period before it levels off; annual variations up and down in response to significant environmental variation should also be expected. Comparisons must always be made within the same season to account for normal seasonal changes in body weight.

Body size is most often gauged by measuring a specific body weight parameter, such as "live" weight (the weight of the animal after it is shot but before it is gutted) or "dressed" weight (the weight of the animal after it has been gutted). Most hunters prefer to field dress their animals to insure the highest quality of meat and to make it easier to carry. However, several valuable health index variables, such as fat deposits and reproductive potential, are left on the ground if the hunter does the gutting. It is best if the harvested animals are brought to a central processing facility for gutting and collection of other samples by a trained technician. When logistics preclude processing by a technician, dressed weight can be measured fairly reliably by the hunter if an accurate scale and instructions are provided. Dressed weight will indicate relative nutritional quality during the period of protein tissue growth, which is spring and summer, and fat tissue growth, which is summer and fall for bucks and fall and winter for does.

Antler characteristics often are important to the hunting public and they can also be of great value as a health index. Several variables can easily be measured to approximate antler mass: number of points at least 1 inch long; basal beam circumference (smallest circumference measured between the burr and the first point but no greater than 3 inches above the burr); and, main beam length (Figure 5). Antler measurements are strongly influenced by age so these measurements must be grouped within specific ages. Antler measurements indicate the relative nutritional conditions present during antler growth, which begins in April and continues through August.