IDENTIFICATION

Deer are even-toed ungulates. Ungulates are 

mammals with 

split hooves. This group also 

includes elk, moose and 

pronghorn antelope. Adult 

deer weigh between 40 and 

400 pounds depending on 

species and location. At birth, 

fawns are rust-colored with 

white spots. The spotted coat 

is shed in 3 to 4 months and 

is replaced by a grayishbrown fall and winter coat. 

The summer coat of an adult 

deer is reddish-brown. Tail, 

belly, chin and throat are 

white during all seasons. 

Antlers grow on males 

(bucks) from April to August. 

Antlers are covered by soft 

“velvet” when growing. 

After the antlers stop 

growing, the velvet layer dries 

and is rubbed off the antlers 

before the fall rut (breeding 

season). Deer

 antlers are shed in midwinter and regrow the following spring. The size that antlers grow depends upon nutrition, age and genetics of the 

deer. 

HABITAT

Deer are highly adaptable 

and live in a wide variety of 

habitats. They thrive in

agricultural areas that have 

woods and riparian habitat. 

FOOD

Deer are herbivores. They 

browse. This means they eat 

the leaves, stems and buds 

of woody plants. Forbs

(flowers and weeds) are 

eaten in the spring and 

summer when plants are 

available. Fruits and nuts 

(called mast) are important in 

the deer diet. Grasses are not 

as important as forbs and 

woody plants. On average a

deer eats two to four percent 

of its body weight each day. 

Deer are ruminant animals. 

They have a four compartment stomach and chew their 

cud like a cow.

HABITS

Deer are most active in the 

early morning and evening. 

They have a home range of 

several hundred acres or 

about one square mile. 

Breeding occurs from 

October to January. Fawns 

are born in May or June. Many 

does (female deer) give birth 

to twins. At birth, fawns weigh 

seven to eight pounds. 

In the West, deer were the most widespread principal source of meat for early Native Americans 

followed by bison, beaver, bear, moose, raccoon, elk, wild turkey, waterfowl and fish. 

Odocoileus virginianus -

white-tailed deer

white-tailed deer 

range

North America Range

White-tailed deer are found in 

every state in the U. S. except 

Alaska and in only small parts of 

Utah, Nevada and California. The 

mule deer range is primarily in 

western states. There are several 

subspecies of both deer. 

mule deer 

range

The genus name Odocoileus is from 

the Greek words odous meaning tooth 

and koilos meaning hollow and refers 

to the hollow teeth of deer. 
Living in harmony . . .

Most of the time, deer and humans live 

in harmony.

• deer are valuable big game animals that 

provide recreation, food and clothing —

deer hunting contributes millions of dollars 

to the U. S . economy each year

• deer are fun to watch

• deer are an important food source for 

predatory animals such as mountain lions

• deer benefit their habitat, and our wild 

areas, by “mowing,” “pruning” and 

“fertilizing” vegetation and aerating the soil.

Living in conflict . . .

• auto-deer collisions cause millions of 

dollars worth of damage and loss of lives 

each year 

• deer like to eat many plants humans use 

for landscaping and can harm some endangered plant species by eating them

• deer can cause damage to crops such as 

soybeans, alfalfa and wheat

• deer can be a safety hazard at airports

• deer carry ticks that carry Lyme disease

In the 1900s, less than 1/2 million white-tailed deer remained in the nation. 

Today conservation programs have returned the population to more than 18 million.

When deer are abundant or crops 

are valuable, fencing deer out of 

an area may be the only way to 

prevent damage by deer.

There are many different types of 

fence that successfully prevent 

deer damage.

Browsing of tree seedlings can 

be prevented by enclosing seedlings in plastic tubing. Wovenwire around trees can keep deer 

from rubbing tree trunks with their 

antlers. 

Damage to landscaping can be 

minimized by 

selecting plants 

that deer do not 

like to eat. 

Crops can be 

harvested as 

soon as possible to prevent 

deer damage. 

Crops that deer 

like to eat can 

be planted away 

from wooded 

areas. 

Deer can be temporarily frightened away. Gas exploders set to 

make loud bangs can be effective. These devices need to be 

moved around so the deer do not 

get used to them. 

Repellents work best in small 

areas. There are several taste 

and odor repellents commercially 

available. Repellents have 

limited success in keeping deer 

away from plants.

Keeping deer populations under 

control is an important way of 

lessening deer damage while 

maintaining herd health. Hunting 

is a successful wildlife management tool for controlling deer 

populations. 
Carrying capacity . . .

Carrying capacity is the number of 

animals that can live in an area without harming it. Carrying capacity 

varies depending upon the type of 

vegetation, the amount of moisture, 

the time of year and other animals 

living in an area. Sometimes 15 

acres of land can support one deer; 

at other times 30 or more acres are 

needed to support a deer. 

According to the Jack H. Berryman Institute for Wildlife Damage Management white-tailed deer provided 

$19.7 billion in benefits to the U.S. public in 1993. 

This was broken down to $2.4 billion for hunter expenditures, $236 million in value for the meat, $4.3 

billion for value of hunter recreation and $12.8 billion 

for non-hunting recreation.

To obtain net value of deer to our society, we need 

to subtract the negative values of deer (perhaps $1 

billion in automobile repair damage, undetermined 

damage to agricultural crops, approximately $367 

million in damage to timber, 211 deaths and 29,000 

injuries from auto collisions and a proportion of the 

10,000 cases of Lyme disease) from the benefits.

ACROSS: 1. buck, 4. forbs, 5. rut, 6. antlers, 7. herbivores, 9. fawn, 10. doe 

DOWN: 2. ungulate, 3. browse, 8. velvet

Many Native Americans believed deer and other animals with forked horns and antlers represented forked 

or double nature. The white-tailed deer was thought 

to be an animal helper, but the dark-tailed deer meant 

danger. 

The Hopi deer dance was to bring the rain, the California Yurok White deer dance was for a bountiful wild 

crop and the Zuni deer dance was to bring a cure for 

illness. When the Cherokee traveled during harsh 

winter weather, they rubbed their feet in warm ashes 

and sang a song to acquire powers for the four animals whose feet never were frostbitten — opossum, 

wolf, fox and deer.

Deer were harvested for food and 

clothing by both the Native Americans 

and colonists. Deer hide clothing included leggings, shawls, dresses, 

breechcloths, moccasins, sashes, 

shirts, robes, skirts, headwear and 

mittens. 

Commercial trade in deer hides reached its height in 

the 1700s. The best buckskins were sent to England, 

the next best to Germany and the poorest hides were 

used within the colonies. 

Other products from deer were sinew used as thread 

and string and bones which were made into needles, 

awls, hoes, digging sticks, hide scrapers, fishhooks, 

arrowheads, clubs, arrow straighteners, corn scrappers, cutting tools and decorative beads. Hooves 

were made into glue and rattles. White-tail deer hair 

was used for insulation in moccasins and for embroidery. 

One square mile = 

640 acres. If 20 acres 

are needed to support 

a deer, how many 

deer could live in the 

square mile?

If an area is 10 square miles and it takes 30 

acres to support a deer, how many deer could 

live in an area?

An area is 6 square miles in size and it takes 

40 acres to support a deer, a recent count of 

the deer population shows 125 deer present. 

Will this region support this population?

hind foot is about 3 inches 

front foot is about 2 1/2 inches long
This activity sheet has been developed by USDA Wildlife Services. For more information about deer 

contact your state’s Wildlife Services office or USDA Wildlife Services at 301 734-7921. 

Wildlife Activity Book and

1998 Wildlife Issue of the

Colorado Reader

Colorado Foundation for 

Agriculture 

P.O. Box 10

Livermore, CO 80536

Prevention and Control of 

Wildlife Damage CD ROM

or Handbook

202 Natural Resource Hall

University of Nebraska

P.O. Box 83819

Lincoln, NE 68583

Jack H. Berryman Institute

for Wildlife Damage 

Management

Utah State University

Logan, Utah 83431-5210

ACROSS

 1. male deer 

 4. flowers and weeds

 5. deer breeding season

 6. horn-like growths 

on male deer; they 

are shed in midwinter 

 7. animals that eat 

plants

 9. young deer 

10. female deer

DOWN

 2. a mammal that is 

even-toed is call an

 3. to eat leaves, 

stems and buds of 

woody plants 

 8. the covering on 

growing antlers 

white tailed deer mule deer

Study the heads of the white tailed deer and 

the mule deer. How are the deer different?

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