President
56099 Dohm Road Loranger, LA 70446 985-264-3437 bbollinger@gulfcraneservices.com
DANIEL
242 Daniel Thomas Road Springhill, LA 71075 318-469-9404 dbthomas40@gmail.com
CHAD JEANE
404 Atkins Place Benton, LA 71006 318-470-6666 chad.jeane@strikeusa.com
LLOYD GOUGH
1655 Beechcreek Road Olla, LA 71480 318-277-6245 lloydg277@icloud.com
BJ CLARK
38334 Shelby Drive Denham Springs, LA 70706 225-445-4459 bjclark.ds20@gmail.com
Administrator: Whitetails Of Louisiana P.O. Box 436, Folsom, LA 70437 985-892-0056 whitetailsoflouisiana@gmail.com
Secretary / Treasurer
146 Coteau Dugypre Lane Gheens, LA 70355 985-227-3664 josh@goldenranch.com
BRAY BOLLINGER
56099 Dohm Road Loranger, LA 70446 985-400-1667 bray@gulfcraneservices.com
KRISTINA ROTHSCHILD
3220 Tisdale Road Eros, LA 71238 318-355-4197 krisrothschild@yahoo.com
Jo Jo’s Whitetails 31
Lafourche Drone Services 41
MicroChip ID Systems, Inc 26
NexGen Animal Health
Pine Creek Deer Farm
Pneu-Dart
Prime Acres Whitetails
Purina
Thompson Trophy Whitetails
Trophy Whitetails
Whetstone Brothers
Whitetail Sales Auction
Woodard Whitetails 44
Abig “framey” typical buck pauses from grazing and glances up at the horizon, focused on a noise in the distance. In that moment, Trey Havard just can’t help himself. He stops what he’s doing to admire the result of the careful genetics, hard work and dedication he and his wife Kayla have poured into their deer farm, Buddy’s Whitetails in Slaughter, Louisiana. While careful herd management is at the core of any successful deer farm, Havard, now in his eighth year of deer farming, also knows meticulous record keeping is just as important.
“Accurate records and identification of animals are very important in all livestock operations. Not only does it provide a means to track herd management and identify lost or stolen animals, but it also allows for disease traceability so veterinarians can rapidly identify which animals were potentially exposed to a disease,” said Louisiana Department of Agriculture
and Forestry (LDAF) Commissioner Mike Strain, D.V.M. “Better records allow for an accurate, expediated analysis and response to any situation.”
Thorough record keeping can cover a wide variety of topics from substantiating pedigrees, the loss, sale or purchase of animals, number of fawn births, fence inspection, quantities of feed bought and fed and drug use, to name several. While accurate record keeping also allows a deer farmer to better ascertain the health and vitality of a herd, it can also allow them to retain their license and operate compliantly with their state’s governing bodies. In Louisiana (and other states) annual summer audits are conducted to essentially ensure deer herds are healthy, well-cared for and that they stay that way, Havard, 37, explained.
Preparation for the auditing process begins in May in Louisiana when the LDAF sends paperwork to existing deer farmers asking for updates or changes from the previous year, followed by a visit in June from state officials. Each inspection consists of verifying farm inventory and transfers, ensuring there is no over-population of animals as well as a fence inspection to confirm the safe containment of herds. “They want to make sure there are no washouts or places where a deer could escape,” Havard said. With the goal of all licensees maintaining compliance, should the LDAF find a deer farmer to be non-compliant in any audited areas,
the LDAF Commissioner has authority to revoke or suspend any license and/ or impose a fine of any licensee that is found guilty of violating Title 3 Revised Statutes.
While there are deer management software programs available for record keeping, deer farmers may opt to use an Excel spreadsheet for tracking (for example) the type and amount of medication used to safely knock a deer down or the number of times a fawn takes the bottle, urinates or defecates. Other programs such as Quickbooks can be used for tracking feed and medication expenses.
While parasite control is not usually a consideration when being audited, it may be another important issue to keep track of. In addition, breeding decisions and practices (such as match or line breeding) and genetics utilized also require meticulous oversight. “An extremely crucial thing is expense tracking with things such as medications and feed,” Havard said. “It’s important to track profits and losses. Another essential area is keeping track of which doe had fawns that survived or which does are more successful at producing healthy fawns. Without accurate records, it could get very hard to stay on top of this and every other aspect of running a successful deer farm. You can’t afford to overlook a single detail.”
• Illinois Deer Farmers
• Indiana Deer And Elk Farmers Association
• Iowa Whitetail Deer Association
• Kansas Elk and Deer Association
• Kentucky Alternative Livestock Association
• Minnesota Deer Association
• Missouri Deer Association
• New York Deer and Elk Farmers Association
• North Dakota Deer Ranchers
• Pennsylvania Deer Farmers Association
• South Dakota Deer & Elk Breeders
• Southeast Trophy Deer Association
• United Deer Farmers of Michigan
• Whitetails of Louisiana
• Whitetails of Oklahoma
By: Gail Veley • Sponsored by SETDA
When asked whether wildlife predators or cervid diseases are a bigger threat to cervid longevity, SETDA Board of Directors Member Bill Leffler didn’t hesitate to offer an answer. “Can you stop a panther or coyote with a vaccine?” he asked. “We have predators all year long. Not diseases.” At his deer paradise he’s operated for seven years, 2 Base Down Farms in Morriston, Florida comprised of a 107-acre typical breeding farm and 325-acre hunting preserve, Leffler, like all conscientious deer farmers, defines a predator as “anything that can hurt or kill a deer.”
In the warmer, tropical and inviting climate of Florida, a wider variety of predators are more abundantly found than in colder or more northern
climates. According to internet research, the Number One common predator in Florida is the American alligator, where it is estimated more than 1.3 million thrive. Of the 410 recorded alligator attacks on humans in Florida since 1948, 25 resulted in death. “I’ve lost black buck fawns to alligators,” Leffler, 64, said. The second most-deadliest common predator after the alligator is the black bear followed by the bull shark, jellyfish, fire ants, rattlesnakes, ticks, feral pigs or boars, mosquitoes and coyotes. While panthers are also considered a deadly predator, they are also highly endangered with an estimated 120-230 left in the wild, making them more elusive and difficult to reduce.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission creates, enforces and regulates rules regarding all classes of wildlife within its borders. Yet, no matter what type of wildlife predators may threaten your deer farm, the first step in managing them is complying with the rules and regulations in your particular state regarding their reduction, Leffler emphasized. According to Florida Fish and Wildlife, predation management plans, aimed at reduction rather than elimination, often can be put into play when evidence of predators causes a reduction in game populations, and a regulated harvest of that animal is not adequate control. In addition to following state regulations and protocol for trapping and reduction, deer farmers often design their farms to simply deny predator access. “One of our biggest problems besides coyotes are wild dogs that have been turned loose who form packs,” Leffler said. “The only way to keep them out is to take predator wire and put it on the outside of your perimeter fence with
galvanized wire and hog-ring crimped to the bottom. When a canine attempts to dig under it, it will stop it. Or you can run electrified wire approximately eight to 12 inches off the ground.” Perhaps just as important as sufficient fencing is the comfort that in Florida, coyotes can be shot year-round as they are not protected or endangered. While some deer farmers use crops and blackout or shade cloth to “hide” their animals, it is not nearly as effective as taking the necessary steps to keep them outside your fencing.
In addition to canines, bobcats can cause considerable headaches to deer farmers during fawning season as they can easily climb fences and jump high into the air in pursuit of prey. Florida law permits legal unlimited “bagging” or hunting of bobcats during fur-bearing animal season which runs from December 1st through March 1st each year. However, other fur-bearing animals such as disease carrying raccoons, possums, skunks and squirrels can be hunted year-round and can create even greater risks to deer than migratory birds like ravens, if they urinate or defecate on feed. “In the end, utilizing a licensed trapper to help you can be an invaluable asset. Your best defense is to also know what predators you may be up against, and work compliantly with your state to devise a plan to protect both you and your deer as you reduce the insult to farming,” Leffler emphasized. “Your knowledge and efforts will pay off.”
With the scent of fall in the air, the crisp beauty of a September morning begins at Daniel Thomas Whitetails in Springhill, Louisiana. Bucks have manifested their statuesque rack to it’s fullest extent, sporting 225 inches or so of spreading, rolling and cascading glory. During this morning, a few bucks leave one pen enroute to another. Softly, a gate closes manually behind them, leaving them inside a segway between their normal dwellings. Now surrounded by a 7-foot solid black plastic wall, a small 8 x 10 hole in this wall reveals something they can’t see. A rifle. And a human. In an instant, a selected buck is darted and down. And the best part? He and the others never saw it coming.
Thomas’ idea of the Buck Trap, which is 32 feet wide on one end, 16 feet wide on the other end and 80 feet long, was specifically designed to help avoid what every deer farmer eventually faces, capture myopathy. “What seems to work best on my farm is to let the bucks pass through from one pen into another, so they are very comfortable in both pens and in going into the buck trap,” Thomas said. “Then, when you are ready to capture the bucks in the trap, you close one gate and run the bucks in. They simply think they are going into the other pen and instead just into an area they already are acclimated to.”
“I realized eight years ago that there had to be a better way to ensure no deer were lost to capture myopathy when I needed to handle my bucks,”
Thomas, who’s been raising deer since 2010, shared. “I wanted to get my shots under ten yards or less. By doing it this way, the bucks are unbelievably calm if worked right after they have rubbed out, in prerut and therefore much less prone to capture myopathy.”
Capture Myopathy, a condition which occurs when animals such as whitetail deer overexert themselves in a stressful situation, can cause loss of motor function, quivering, panting and overheating. Deer can die within minutes from peracute capture myopathy, the most extreme of four types of capture myopathy. Deer who suffer from acute capture myopathy, the second type, may die with 24 to 48 hours. With sub-acute capture myopathy, the third type, deer may die in a few days. With the fourth type, chronic capture myopathy, deer may die within a few weeks to two months. Creative ideas such as Thomas’ Buck Trap become a “must have” for any serious deer farmer hoping to avoid these four potential scenarios.
Once bucks are safely inside Thomas’ trap, an employee sticks only their hand through a very small hole in the black plastic on the 16-foot end, sending the bucks to the larger 32foot end where they are selectively darted, treated and released should they need medication, or their antlers removed. Bucks that have been sold are also darted inside the buck trap, manually placed on the transport trailer and then reversed. While a method such as this can
preserve the life of prized bucks, it can also cut down on wasted darts and the expense of medication.
“With this pen, you know the distance of your shot with the dart gun,” Thomas said. “If you’ve ever missed an animal, you’ve lost the anesthesia and the dart which we all know are very expensive. This past year out of 37 bucks we only missed one. That’s unheard of.”
The location of the trap itself, situated in the middle of six pens, allows easy access by opening a gate and letting other bucks or does not being handled to leave the trap and return to a space they are already comfortable in. Not only does Thomas use his buck pen for handling bucks, he has also darted and treated sick does in it as well. “Before I built this pen, I would get so stressed out over the thought of needing to dart my bucks,” Thomas said. “Now, I never stress out. I’ve made it unbelievably easy for myself and anybody helping me. I strongly felt the need to share this with everyone so maybe it could help them, too.
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In terms of saving whitetail deer from succumbing to upper respiratory diseases such as pneumonia “the most valuable animal on your property is the one that just died,” explains Josh Newton, COO of Cervid Solutions and Operations Manager of Red Ridge Whitetails in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. “Because this deceased deer can provide insight as to what caused their death and give you greater abilities to treat others with an appropriate antibiotic regiment.”
Being that pneumonia can manifest itself virally, bacterially, chemically or as a result of an injury, some antibiotics may work better than others for effective treatment. And pneumonia, aside from the type caused by an injury, is almost always contagious. In addition, fluctuating weather patterns, such as severe drops in temperature or significant precipitation, can play a vast role in the overall health and longevity of a cervid herd or how susceptible they may be in contracting pneumonia. “Each farm is judged on it’s merits individually,” Newton said. “A northern deer farm is far different than a farm in an area such as southern Missouri where winter is a lot less hard on animals from a pneumonia standpoint.”
Symptoms of pneumonia, which can affect deer of all ages including fawns to older adult deer, can include a chronic dry cough, erratic shallow rapid breathing (most noticeable as a bouncing motion in the flank area), foaming at the mouth (unlike the look of chewing cud), diarrhea and nasal discharge. These symptoms are usually accompanied by dehydration as fawns tend to lose their desire to nurse and adult deer tend to lose their desire to eat and drink.
“Pneumonia is probably one of the most significant diseases that affect farmed deer,” said Dr. Rachael Weiss of Applied Reproductive Concepts in Greencastle, Pennsylvania. “If a farmer is losing a significant number of deer, I always recommend a necropsy and culture because many don’t know what is affecting their deer. The necropsy and culture will be a baseline to appreciate what is going on and choose the most appropriate treatment options.” To this end, choosing the right antibiotic (such as Draxxin, Zactran or sulfa drugs such as SMZ’s) can be the difference between life and death as some forms of pneumonia may be resistant to certain antibiotics. “We refer to this as the MIC or Minimal Inhibitory Concentration factor,” Newton explained. MIC defines levels of susceptibility or resistance of certain bacterial strains to administered antibiotics. “Having a reliable MIC assessment impacts your choice of a therapeutic strategy because of the potential effectiveness on an infection therapy,” he emphasized.
Newton feels any decisions regarding treatment regiments should always start first with your veterinarian. Therefore, having a good VCPR (Vet Client Patient Relationship) is just as important as developing a keen eye for illness, as antibiotics can only be acquired through veterinarian prescriptions. Acting quickly to isolate sick animals could also help save others if done promptly.
This, along with maintaining an ideal number of deer in your pens, is another important proactive and preventative measure.
“Ask yourself, what is your “Morbidity and Mortality Goal” for your farm and how many deer you are willing or able to lose,” Newton asked. “Also think about this. What is the maximum number of deer you could safely raise in the worst conditions? Consider your fawn program, too, and then bump back the number of deer in your pens. Because realistically, how much time and money do you want to spend intensely managing deer or treating sick animals?”
Joe Bisogno checks the upcoming schedule at his deer hunting haven, Timber Hills Lake Ranch in Mapleton, Kansas, and a huge smile spreads across his face. Because during that particular week, he’s hosting women hunters. Not only that, women hunters who belong to Wander Women Kansas, a group specifically organized to encourage camaraderie and skill building among women while embracing the outdoors. While it may not be the only group of women hunters he clears his schedule for, it is one of his favorites.
“A woman should not feel afraid to try something like hunting,” Bisogno explained. “They should not feel limited. It’s something that more and more women are doing.” While Bisogno, 41, enjoys spending time with hunters from all walks of life, men and women included, he personally feels women take instruction well and often times
better than men, and often times are a better shot than a man. “And I really enjoy the first-time women hunters, too,” he added.
Facilitating events such as these is Wander Woman Kansas Founder and Kansas native Jessica White, who, since 2018, has been organizing events designed specifically to bring women together for outdoor adventures. Among those adventures is not only hunting but fishing, kayaking, rappelling, hiking and paddleboarding, to name a few. Yet hunting is one experience that perhaps nurtures the most substantial personal growth among group participants. “Being outdoors at a place like Timber Hills Lake Ranch can be so peaceful,” White, 36 said. “When you are working really hard together, you bond in a different way and on the same level, too.” The adventure is frequently so profound that afterwards, some women volunteer to come back as guides. Yet building camaraderie and confidence isn’t the only benefit of participating, as conservation and land management plays a big part in the advantage of hosting women hunters who aren’t after a big trophy buck, but who want the experience instead, Bisogno said. Through the years in his part of the country, he’s seen a marked increase in the number of women
hunters. “It used to be about 90% men and 10% women,” he said. “Now it’s about 70% to 30% but in states like Arkansas it’s definitely 50-50.”
White believes that groups such as Wander Woman Kansas play a role in the annual increase of women hunters. “I started this group to empower women and figured out along the way that there were so many opportunities,” she said. Before starting Wander Woman Kansas “I struggled and unless I had a man taking me around, I felt hesitant to take the initiative,” White added. “Being involved in Wander Woman enables you to have that comfort and space where you don’t have to be an expert to have access to the kinds of activities that we do. I know when we go to Joe’s place for our annual Deer Camp, we are never going to be disappointed. He hosts us because he believes in us and wants us to be successful. It’s very family oriented. Even my Dad participates as a guide.”
“It’s amazing to see how excited the women are after a hunt,” White said. As the evening bonfire is being built and marshmallow sticks are being gathered “they praise each other and help each other and become really good friends. You’d never know they didn’t know each other beforehand. It’s the most wonderful thing to watch.” Bisogno agrees and feels there is another wonderful thing about hunting that may often get overlooked. “There’s nothing political about the outdoors.”
To promote the business of raising and marketing Whitetail Deer in the state of Louisiana.
To promote high ethical standards in the care, handlin g, and harvesting Whitetail deer
To provide educational opportunities for members of the corporation and other interested people through the sharing of inform ation concerning whitetail deer.
To serve as a collective voice in governmental issues that affec t whitetail deer producers, so as to enhance the whitetail deer industry. To require members of the corporation to operate in a legal, honest and forthright manner with fellow members, other whitetai l deer producers and the general public .
