Eliminating Harvest of White-Tailed Deer Bucks Impacts Age Classes and Gross Score

Management actions revolving around white-tailed deer (Odocoieus virginianus) typically aim to increase the age of the males (i.e., “bucks”) in the population and antler size to meet social expectations. However, the efficacy of management actions in meeting objectives is sometimes uncertain due to a lack of empirical data. As part of a broad study estimating mammal community composition, 773 trail cameras were placed randomly across the ~6,000-acre Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Ranch in western Montana from 2017-2024. From 2017-2019, this ranch allowed liberal harvest of white-tailed deer as part of the Block Management Program. Due to concerns with white-tailed deer buck size, restrictions in harvest were implemented in 2020 that reduced white-tailed deer buck harvest on the ranch to nearly 0. This setup allowed us to empirically evaluate whether these changes in white-tailed deer management resulted in the desired increase in age classes and antler size of bucks. WE classified every white-tail buck captured on trail cameras in October or November each year from 2017-2023 as either a juvenile (