For our January meeting, we are very fortunate to have Dr. John Lewis as our featured presenter. John is an active member of the Middle Tennessee branch and Assistant Professor of Biology at Lipscomb University. He holds a Ph.D in Wildlife Science from Texas A&M University – Kingsville, a M.S. in Wildlife Science from Auburn University, and a B.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences from Tennessee Tech. His doctoral research was done at the world-famous King Ranch in Texas and his resulting dissertation is titled Factors Influencing Antler Size in Free-ranging White-tailed Deer and Mark/Recapture Estimates of Demographic Traits.

Here is John’s summary of his presentation:

One of the most hotly debated questions at the skinning shed of any deer camp is "How old is that deer?" During my graduate work in Texas, I had the opportunity to get my hands on a set of jawbones from 134 known-age bucks that were tagged as fawns or yearlings and harvested later in life. What we found about the tooth wear and replacement method (aging jawbones) was both surprising and informative from a management perspective.

By tagging a large number of bucks we were also able to track how antler development changes from year to year in individual deer. The ranchers that funded my project wanted to know things like: "At what age does antler size peak?", "Do small antlers when a deer is young mean smaller antlers later in life?", and "What are the consequences of culling bucks and when is it appropriate to do so?" The perceived answers to the questions drive many deer hunters to make poor choices in the field. I hope my project can show that science does not always back popular opinion and that things that make sense on one property/region do not always make sense on a different property.

I’m really looking forward to hearing John’s presentation. It will, without a doubt, be a very informative talk.

We will meet at 7 pm next Tuesday, January 15, at the TWRA Region II Headquarters in The Ellington Ag Center. If you need a map, address, or directions, click here for a Google Map.


Edited by Pursuit Hunter (01/09/13 05:40 PM)
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One does not hunt in order to kill; on the contrary, one kills in order to have hunted - Jose Ortega y Gasset

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