Introduction
White-tailed deer and their management are important to many people in the Cross Timbers region. White-tailed deer have great aesthetic, recreational, and economic importance in this region, as is the case in most areas where they exist. It is the number one big game animal in Oklahoma and Texas, and in many cases, it is the only big game animal readily available to most people for hunting and viewing. Hunters, tourists, wildlife watchers, etc. spend a lot of time, energy, and money in white-tailed deer related activities.

The Cross Timbers region is a dominant habitat type or vegetational area throughout much of central Oklahoma and north central Texas (Figure 1). Although Cross Timbers and Prairies is probably a more appropriate name for this region, it is called Cross Timbers in this publication for the sake of simplicity. The Cross Timbers region referred to herein includes most of the Post Oak-Blackjack Forest and Tallgrass Prairie Types delineated by Duck and Fletcher (1943), all of the Cross Timbers and Prairies delineated by Gould (1975), and most of the Cross Timbers and Grand Prairie and much of the Central Rolling Red Prairies delineated by Austin (1965). In addition to the habitats that are classified as Cross Timbers, many of the wooded-open ecotones of some adjacent vegetational areas such as the Tallgrass Prairie in Kansas and the Blackland Prairie and Post Oak Savannah in Texas are vegetatively similar to the Cross Timbers.

Historically, the Cross Timbers was a mixture of wooded areas and naturally occurring openings. Wooded uplands were dominated by various oaks, elms and hickories. Bottomlands were dominated by various oaks, ashes, elms, hackberries, bois d’arc, etc. Openings in both uplands and bottomlands contained herbaceous vegetation that was typical for the Tallgrass Prairie region including grasses such as bluestems, switchgrass, and indian grass, as well as various forbs.

While deer were present in the Cross Timbers historically, man’s manipulation of much of the Cross Timbers habitat has probably in many ways improved its quality and suitability as white-tailed deer habitat. Since the late 1800’s, land use practices and consequently the landscape in the Cross Timbers have changed dramatically. In many situations, the net result has been an increase in edge and habitat diversity. The suppression of naturally occurring wildfires, the erection of fences, and the prevailing livestock grazing practices have enabled woody vegetation to encroach into many open areas. On the other hand, many wooded areas have been cleared for planting crops and/or pasture. These types of land use practices have created many openings and woody patches of various sizes and in various stages of succession or regrowth. Additionally, numerous plant species have been introduced and have readily naturalized in the region, adding to the vegetational diversity. All in all, many of the landscape changes have been favorable to deer.

White-tailed deer management can usually be classified into two, overlapping, categories. The first category is habitat management. White-tailed deer, like all species of wildlife, have specific habitat requirements. How well these habitat requirements are met determines the number and quality of deer an area can support. To successfully manage deer, an understanding of their basic habitat requirements is needed. The second category is population management, which involves direct manipulation of the deer herd. This has a direct impact on habitat quality because excessive deer numbers can adversely affect the ability of the habitat to fulfill the needs of the deer. This publication will address both management categories with respect to the Cross Timbers region, with special emphasis on the food component of habitat.

Much of the data presented in this publication was collected at the Noble Foundation Wildlife Unit (NFWU). The NFWU is located in south central Oklahoma in the Cross Timbers region, about 20 miles east and 8 miles south of Ada and Allen, Oklahoma, respectively. The 2,947 acre area is about 60% wooded and 40% open, with a high degree of interspersion (the intermingling of habitat types). The vegetation is typical for present day Cross Timbers including many naturalized species and an abundance of introduced perennial grasses in many of the openings.