Deer Restocking

[Tiger Rag]

Another thread stimulated me to post some of the numbers about where the deer restocked in Georgia between 1928 and 1992 came from.

QDMA sells a book that has information on deer restocking in the US for those of you with more of an interest.

States where GA deer came from and the number of deer from each:

Georgia: 2,204 --From barrier islands, Piedmont NWR, Berry College, Clark Hill, Polk County and a few more places.

Texas: 1,058

Wisconsin: 439

North Carolina: 186 -- Mostly from Pisgah Game Preserve

Kentucky: 35

Maryland: 9

Virginia: 1

Unknown: 35

 

[trailhunter]

GON Article

If I remember right, GON had an article on this several years back. (I hope I didn't dream it, as I have not been able to find the issue).

th

 

[doe shooter]

My grandfather was a Georgia state game warden in the 1930s and 1940s and according to him he would meet a boat at Harris Neck with deer from Blackbeard Island. Then, he would take them to the Okefenokee swamp and release them into a pen on Billy's Island. There, they would monitor the deer for disease, injuries, etc. The healthy ones then would be taken all over the state. I asked him one time where he would take the deer and he said all over the state. He also hauled bear from the Okenfenokee to North Georgia to release in the mountains.

 

[quackwacker]

Why...............

would we bring one deer from Virginia?






OH, I bet we needed a democrat!

 

[Woody]

why would we bring one deer from Virginia?

Probably didn't want to give up but half their herd?

I'll bet deer were hard to come by back then.

 

[Lady Marion]

I was on a Buckmasters hunt near Selma, AL a couple years ago, and my guide told me that the deer which were used to re-stock Alabama's herd were genetically programmed to come into rut later than the surrounding herds. I had always thought the rut was determined by sunlight, and was astonished that some deer would not come in until January.

He also told me that there was a difference in the skin thickness of two separate subspecies in the Alabama herd, and he claimed that one was easier to cure and mount? Is that true?

 

[raghorn]

I was on a Buckmasters hunt near Selma, AL a couple years ago, and my guide told me that the deer which were used to re-stock Alabama's herd were genetically programmed to come into rut later than the surrounding herds. I had always thought the rut was determined by sunlight, and was astonished that some deer would not come in until January.

He also told me that there was a difference in the skin thickness of two separate subspecies in the Alabama herd, and he claimed that one was easier to cure and mount? Is that true?

Everytime I think I know everything, somebody proves me wrong........

 

[TJay]

I was on a Buckmasters hunt near Selma, AL a couple years ago, and my guide told me that the deer which were used to re-stock Alabama's herd were genetically programmed to come into rut later than the surrounding herds. I had always thought the rut was determined by sunlight, and was astonished that some deer would not come in until January.
He also told me that there was a difference in the skin thickness of two separate subspecies in the Alabama herd, and he claimed that one was easier to cure and mount? Is that true?

I don't think biologists were able to genetically engineer deer or anything else back then.

 

[Tiger Rag]

NOT arguing with your dad

My dad helped with the stocking of Wisconsin deer by a private sportsman's club in Colquitt and Worth Counties in the 50's, I believe. May have been the 40's. Anyway, at one time it was the purest strain of Wisconsin deer anywhere outside that state.

THunter

I am not trying to argue with the regulars, but just trying to show how interesting these records are.

The closest that Wisconsin deer came to Colquitt and Worth Counties (according to the records) was some were stocked in Dooly and Wilcox in 1962.

Or -- they could have been from what the records lists as the deer from unknown states.

What appears to be the biggest release of Wisconsin deer (which also had Piedmont and Texas deer) went into Appling, Brooks, Cherokee, Clarke, Crawford, Dodge, Dooly, Douglas, Elbert, Forsyth, Gordon, Gwinnett, Hall, Harriss, Heard, Houston, Jeff Davis, Johnson, Laurens, Lowndes, Macon, Oglethorpe, Rabun, Sumter, Taylor, Telfair, Towns, Troup, Upson, Ware, Wheeler, and Wicox Counties.

This release was 519 deer spread over all of these counties in 1962

25 Wisconsin deer did go into Bartow County in 1945.

Those are the only records of Wisconsin deer, so if 439 were confirmed to go into GA from Wisconsin, most of them were in that 1962 release spread all over the state.

 

[trailhunter]

I've got a copy of the QDMA book and I've seen at least one previous compilation of Whitetail release information for Georgia and they didn't match up. Again, I think it was in GON, but I may be wrong.

Thunter's Wisconsin release info sounds about right. If I remember right, I think it was Worth/Lee and Colquitt County around the mid-1950's.

Anybody out there have any input or a better memory?

th

 

[gordylew]

I always find it interesting how the deer that were restocked in around Putnam and Jasper counties correlate with the amount of big deer that were killed there a few years later. then the numbers of big deer killed in that area kind of dwindled. Like maybe those early big deer were probebly the original wisconsin deer that were restocked.
Which makes me think if I were a wealthy person with several thousand acres. It would be easier to illegaly bring in several big northern deer and turn them loose then it would be to plant 4-5 years worth of fancy foodplots and grow native deer. then shoot them and say it was my special seed blend that helped grow these deer. want to buy some special seed blend? hmm just my mind wandering

 

[Lady Marion]

I don't think biologists were able to genetically engineer deer or anything else back then.

TJ,

No, I didn't mean THAT! I should have worded it better. I meant by simple natural selection!! You know, the same thing that made northern deer bigger than southern ones. Mere population differences from adapting to different environments.

I did ask my cousin's taxidermist husband about the different skin thicknesses between the southern and northern strains. He said that while some taxidermists try to cut corners with the thin skinned critters, they really should be cured the same way, sending them off to a tanner. I had been told it was "cheaper" to tan a thin skinned deer, because they can simply do it in the shop, but apparently it is not a good result.

Since Woody is the taxidermy expert, I thought I could separate truth from fiction here? I guess it would take a biologist to answer the other question....

 

[Woody]

I've read before about the stocking THunter is referring to. -- I believe it was early 50's?

In 1962 they brought in a semi loaded with deer from Texas. -- Some of the guys at work went down and watched them unload at Lula Bridge on the upper end of Lake Lanier. --- All the bucks antlers had been sawed off and they had to actually kick the deer to make them get off the trailer.

Not long after that they brought in another load of Texas deer and released them just east of Lake Lanier at Catfish Corner.

The next load was released farther east in Jackson County.

Those genetics are still evident if you look at the deer on Lanier Islands. -- Short -- stocky -- and gray as a Fox.


Lady M -- we've also noticed some of the Bama bucks have thin skin. --- I'm just guessing but it may have something to do with them desending from the stock brought in from the Alabama coast.

Our Island Deer seem to be the same way. Or at least the ones we have mounted.

 

[Tiger Rag]

TR,
That's because the deer stocked in Worth and Colquitt County were not done by the State, but by a private hunting club. If you look hard enough you will find that information, trust me.

THunter

I thought that might be the case when I read your original post again and saw that you mentioned a private club.

Do you know of any records on private stockings?

 

[Killdee]

I read somewhere that the reason for the late rut in the Bama deer in some areas was due to stocking from Louisana I think ,from an area the deer had adapted a late rut due to spring floods.????????Texas has a late rut in places, is it the same reason?
Georgia sportsman magazine had an artical about 20 -25years ago re the stocking program and mentioned the Worth Colquitt stocking by private partys I think they made 2-3 trips to Wisconson.

 

[Timberman]

In Duncan Dobies book "Georgia's Greatest Whitetails", There is a chapter discussing the various restocking efforts in Georgia. It talks about a group of private individuals, mostly landowners, forming the Worth County Wildlife Club and pooling resources to purchase pure Wisconsin whitetails and releasing them on several large contiguous private tracts, totaling about 40,000 acres in Worth County along Warrior and Horse Creeks around 1958.

"In all, 96 Wisconsin whitetails were released in southern Worth county and Northern Colquitt county as the result of a concerted effort by private individuals, creating the purest strain of Wisconsin whitetails anywhere in Georgia."

As far as Alabama is concerned, my understanding is that they never completely lost their whitetail herd to the degree that Georgia did, and most of the river swamps kept deer. Any restocking done was with their own deer, deer from the big river swamps. Most biologists feel the late rut shown by bama and other deep central south deer is a result of the deer adapting to seasonal flooding to put fawns on the ground in the dry time...

 

[Rackbuster]

Northwest Cook co.

I know in either 71 or 72 they introduced some in northwest cook co.on little river.I live just inside N E Colquitt co.about 1 1/2 miles from where they did it.At that time we lived just about a half mile from here.The warden sat over there religiously.I was 14 at the time and my father would carry us by there when we went to town to see how many we could see.Almost every time we went by there the warden would be sitting up his little hideout road.My father talked to him and he said they brought them in from Wisconsin or Michigan,pretty sure is was Wisconsin.Straight through the woods to our house was about 1 mile.We started seeing deer in the fields the next year.My father saw a buck and he said it look like he had a rocking chair on his head.There have been some nice racks taken from around here.Don't know who put them there but I do know they were put there.

 

[How2fish]

If I remember correctly Duncan Dobie had this info in his book "Georgia's greatest Whitetails" which I can't belive I don't hae a copy of anymore!!!

 

[parksbobby]

i was raised in crisp/dooly county line area it was always known or told HOLT WALTON released wisc. deer on all of his land- supposedly he was a very wealthy landowner back in the day and had land holdings all across the southern parts of ga. Has anyone else heard of this person?

 

[Big 8]

There were several counties in Miss. that got deer from Ga. in the 50's. There were no deer to speak of in N.E. Miss. until they released them from Ga.- Wisc. and Tex.