Habitat Requirements:
Space Requirements
Space is a habitat requirement that most people rarely think of, but it is nonetheless a requirement. All animals require a certain amount of space, and white-tailed deer are no exception. Space used by individual deer varies greatly, ranging from 60-1,600 acres annually. The size area a deer uses varies according to the deer's age and sex and habitat characteristics. Each deer's range overlaps the ranges of several other deer.

From the population perspective, space is limiting when the combination of habitat size and habitat quality is insufficient to maintain a viable deer population. Adequate space may be provided by several land holdings.

With intensive management inputs such as supplemental feeding, deer populations can be maintained on relatively small areas. Generally however, at least 2,000-3,000 acres of good Cross Timbers deer habitat is required to sustain a healthy deer herd without intensive management inputs. Five thousand acres is more desirable.

An isolated deer population entirely dependent upon fewer than 2,000 acres of typical Cross Timbers deer habitat may not contain enough healthy deer (possibly at least 100) to buffer the population against problems. Such a small isolated population would be especially sensitive to habitat alterations, hunting (or lack of it), predation, and diseases.

Fortunately, most Cross Timbers deer populations are not isolated. Areas suitable as deer habitat are generally quite large. Blocks of variously sized habitat often are connected by natural travel corridors, such as riparian zones, thus enabling deer to move about freely.

Overall, the amount of space available for deer decreases each year due to urbanization, water impoundments, extensive brush and timber clearing, and establishment of relatively large plant monocultures (e.g., crops, pasture, or timber). Wildlife biologists and land managers must become increasingly better deer managers to maintain acceptable numbers and quality of deer on ever decreasing amounts of space.