Big Game Animals

An Illustrated Guide to $1.00 BIG GAME ANIMALS Big Game Animals by Bill Stevens Federal Cartridge Company 900 Ehlen Drive Anoka, MN 55303 3 © 1971, 1992, 2003 Federal Cartridge Company Contents SPECIES PAGE Introduction 5 White Tailed Deer 6 Mule Deer 7 Caribou 8 Elk 9 Moose 10 Pronghorn Antelope 11 Bison 12 Musk Oxen 13 Bighorn Sheep 14 Desert Bighorn 15 Dall’s Sheep 16 Stone’s Sheep 17 Mountain Goat 18 Collard Peccary 19 Black Bear 20 Brown or Grizzly Bear 21 Polar Bear 22 Cougar 23 Cover Photo: Desert Bighorn • Tom J. Ulrich 4 Introduction When North America was first settled, as cats or bears may also be included. big game animals were found in all The hoofed game animals have three of the different types of habitat. As different types of horns or antlers. The the settlements grew and moved west- deer, moose, elk and caribou (fami- ward, large numbers of these animals ly Cervidae or “Deer”) have antlers. were killed and much of their habitat Except for some of the caribou, antlers was changed by agricultural and for- occur only on males. Antlers are a solid estry practices. As a result of this, the bone structure that are shed each fall populations of most species declined and regrown the following spring and and in some cases almost became summer. While the antlers are growing extinct. Only the deer, after a period they are covered with “velvet” which of extremely low numbers, increased is rubbed off in the fall. Contrary to the and established a larger population. belief of some, the number of points on Following the decline in the big game the antler does not give the age of the populations, various wildlife manage- animal. The antler size and number of ment practices were started. Some were points depend on the physical condition successful while others proved to be of the animal and the quality of food it tragic. An example of poor manage- has eaten. A healthy, young buck will ment was seen on the Kaibab Plateau. frequently have more points than an In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt older buck that is in poor condition. set aside the Kaibab Plateau on the The true horns of the sheep, goats and North rim of the Grand Canyon as the cattle (family Bovidae) are perma- Grand Canyon National Game Preserve. nent structures that continue to grow Hunting was not allowed and predators throughout the life of the animal. Both were eliminated. With the removal of males and females have horns with the these limiting factors, the deer herd males’ horns being larger. The bighorn increased from about 4,000 mule deer sheep and mountain goats’ horns have when the preserve was established to an annual ring for each year of growth. about 100,000 animals by 1924. This By counting the number of rings, the was far more deer than the food supply age of the animal can be determined. of the area could support. Thousands The pronghorn antelope (family of deer starved, leaving fewer animals Antilocapridae) has the third type of than when the preserve was established. horns, which is a permanent, flat bony Some of the more successful manage- core with an outer sheath of modified ment practices were the establishment hair that is shed each fall. A new sheath of hunting seasons with limits and var- forms under the old sheath prior to ious restrictions, managing the habitat shedding. for better food, water and shelter con- Additional information on big game ditions and introduction of native and animals can be obtained from your exotic species to uninhabited areas. All State Fish and Wildlife Agency, the of these techniques should be carefully U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the considered before they are used in any U.S. Soil Conservation Service or your area. County Extension office. Libraries also Big game animals are commonly con- have books and pamphlets containing a sidered as hoofed-grazing or browsing wealth of information on these animals. animals. The clawed mammals such 5 White-Tailed Deer Odocoileus virginianus Tom J. Ulrich HITE-TAILED deer are the most buds of woody plants. Their diet varies common big game animal in North widely from area to area and also at WAmerica. They are found in a wide different times of the year. In the spring variety of brushy or forested habitats. and summer a variety of green foliage As their name implies, the white-tailed is eaten. During fall, woody twigs fruits deer have white hair on the under side and nuts are sought wherever they occur. of their tail. When the animal runs and The winter diet is mostly woody twigs bounds, the tail is carried up and the and needles. Mating habits of the white- white hair appears as a flag which can tailed deer can be described as polyg- be seen at long distances. Whitetails amous, one buck mating with several have good senses of smell, hearing and does. During the fall mating season or sight that they rely on for detecting dan- “rut”, bucks may fight for a doe. About ger in the brushy habitats in which they seven months after the mating, the live. The weight of the adult bucks var- fawns are born. The doe’s first born is ies from 125 pounds to more than 350 usually a single fawn. Older does have pounds and does weigh from about 100 two, three or even four fawns each year to 150 pounds. The Key deer of Florida with twins being the most common. The and the deer in Central fawns are spotted when America may weigh no they are born and remain more than 50 to 80 pounds hidden until they are old as adults. enough to follow the doe. White-tailed deer are browsers, feeding main- ly on leaves, twigs and 6 Mule Deer Odocoileus hemionus Tom J. Ulrich ESTERN North America is the their tail is shorter and less conspicuous. range of the mule and black-tailed Another difference is the way they run. Wdeer. They live in a wide variety of Whitetailed deer run and leap, carrying prairie, brushland, desert or mountain their tails up and mule deer bound with habitats. The larger mule deer are found a stiff legged gait, carrying their tails inland and have a black tip on the end of down. Mule deer and whitetails are sim- their tail. Its relative, the black- ilar in size. The larger bucks weigh over tailed deer, with a tail that is almost 350 pounds, but most weigh from 150 all black, lives in the coastal area from to 250 pounds. Adult does weigh from California to Alaska. Mule deer in the about 100 to 150 pounds. mountains are usually migratory. They Like the white-tailed deer, the mule spend the summer at high elevations deer are browsers. During the summer, and return to lower elevations at the leaves and various forbs (flowering approach of winter. In prairie and desert herbs or weeds) are eaten. With the habitats, some mule deer may remain in approach of winter the diet changes to one area all year. Mule deer differ from buds, twigs and stems of woody plants. whitetailed deer in several ways. The In early spring grasses may be eaten, whitetail’s antlers consist when they are the only of tines raising from a plants available. Mating beam that curves forward. occurs from September to Mule deer have a main December with the fawns beam that fork upward being born from April to into two tines that may June. The mule deer does fork again on the larger give birth to one, two or bucks. Also, the ears of the three fawns. mule deer are larger and 7 Caribou Rangifer tarandus Tom J. Ulrich HE history of caribou is similar to feed on the buried vegetation. There are that of the bison. They were import- two groups of caribou in North America, Tant to the Indians and Eskimos for food, the woodland and the barren-ground shelter and clothing and at one time the caribou. Barren-ground caribou, which population numbered in the millions. weigh from 275 to 375 pounds, spend With the coming of the white man, the the winter in the forested areas and population decreased. The effectiveness migrate up to 600 miles north to the of the rifle and forest fires were the tundra in the spring. They remain there main reasons for this decrease. The fires during the summer and return to the burned mature forests that contain the forests in the fall. Some barren-ground slow growing plants that are important caribou remain on the tundra all year. food for caribou. Some of these food The larger woodland caribou, which plants are lichens, mosses, sedges and weigh from 400 to 600 pounds, are various shrubs. Caribou are found in the found in the northern coniferous forests tundra and coniferous forests of northern the entire year. Caribou are polygamous. North America, Europe and Asia. They During the fall rut, fighting is a common are the same species as the reindeer. The occurrence. Eight months after mating, word caribou is the Indian a single calf is born. name for “pawer”. This is Twins are uncommon. due to the caribou’s winter The calves are extremely feeding habit of pawing hardy and are able to a hole in the snow with keep up with the cows their broad front feet to within a few hours. 8 Elk Cervus canadensis Tom J. Ulrich EFORE the colonization of North the mountains as the snow melts.

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