• Help Support TNDeer:

Inbreeding Question

eastTN270

eastTN270

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 18, 2005
Messages
935
Reaction score
171
Location
Greene
Someone mentioned this to me and I had never thought about it, but they said "the deer in the area are so small because of inbreeding". What are the chances and impacts of inbreeding in a wild herd?
 
I wouldn't think it would be too high as the doe normally chases her buttons out of the area after they are weened.
 
eastTN270 said:
Someone mentioned this to me and I had never thought about it, but they said "the deer in the area are so small because of inbreeding". What are the chances and impacts of inbreeding in a wild herd?
Click to expand...
None. Deer are too genetically diverse for inbreeding to be a problem. Plus they have unique behaviors that greatly reduce the chances of a doe being bred by her offspring. That is almost certainly why the process of yearling buck dispersal developed (to push male offspring far from their mother).
 
Now that doesn't mean deer in different geographic regions aren't smaller or larger do to localized genetics. In a region of low-quality forage, deer are often smaller in body and antler because that is advantageous for survival. A smaller deer requires less food resources to survive and prosper, hence deer become smaller. Just look at the Key Deer of the Florida Keys. They are not a genetically unique species. They are just whitetails that have evolved to be very tiny because of the limited resources available on the islands. Evolving to be much smaller is VERY common with all species of mammal trapped on islands.
 
BSK said:
None. Deer are too genetically diverse for inbreeding to be a problem. Plus they have unique behaviors that greatly reduce the chances of a doe being bred by her offspring. That is almost certainly why the process of yearling buck dispersal developed (to push male offspring far from their mother).
Click to expand...
I didn't think so and I didn't put too much stock into what the person said. The only thing that got my mind thinking was that this place I hunt is the last "large chunk" of land before it reaches town. So deer numbers are pretty low and not a huge area to roam since it is surrounded by development so I thought it could be a possibility in this very localized area.
 
Not likely. Small deer are generally a product of poor nutrition. East Tn is a prime example where we lack proper soil. Very little farming where the deer can eat corn, soybeans, you name it.
 
JeepKuntry said:
Not likely. Small deer are generally a product of poor nutrition. East Tn is a prime example where we lack proper soil. Very little farming where the deer can eat corn, soybeans, you name it.
Click to expand...
Yes but I somewhat disagree as how do you explain 200+ pound average on deer in say wooded areas of Maine, New Hampshire, Minnesota or Michigan. These deer are huge and there is NO AGRICULTURE for hundreds of miles.

Look at that beast SMOKE killed. He is from Sullivan Co. There isn't much AG in that area.
 
BSK said:
Now that doesn't mean deer in different geographic regions aren't smaller or larger do to localized genetics. In a region of low-quality forage, deer are often smaller in body and antler because that is advantageous for survival. A smaller deer requires less food resources to survive and prosper, hence deer become smaller. Just look at the Key Deer of the Florida Keys. They are not a genetically unique species. They are just whitetails that have evolved to be very tiny because of the limited resources available on the islands. Evolving to be much smaller is VERY common with all species of mammal trapped on islands.
Click to expand...
I get a kick out of the Key Deer. One time as a youngster I left my dinner out on the dock while I went inside to get something and when I returned, a doe was standing on the dock eating my nachos. A few years back there was a screw worm outbreak that had a lot of wildlife guys worried about the population. I never did hear what the outcome was.
 
Bucket said:
Bergmann's rule:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bergmann's_rule
Click to expand...
^^^^^
This.

The farther north you go the larger the species gets. It's about heat retention for the brutally cold winters. As an animal gets larger in body mass, their surface area (square inches of skin) does not increase as fast. This produces an animal with great body mass for heat retention but not that much more square inches of surface area to lose heat. It is just the opposite in hot environments, like South TX. The deer are very "spindly" so that high amount of surface area can cool the low body-weight animal more efficiently.
 
JeepKuntry said:
Not likely. Small deer are generally a product of poor nutrition. East Tn is a prime example where we lack proper soil. Very little farming where the deer can eat corn, soybeans, you name it.
Click to expand...
Soil quality can greatly affect the health and size of all mammals in a large geographical area but it's often not ag crops, certainly not corn that transfers those nutrients to the deer. Most native browse when palatable is more nutritious and more desired. That's why I tell folks to spread wide when fertilizing plots, you can greatly increase the value in a plot by allowing the border to be a natural screen / buffer full of native browse and fertilizing it as well. A plot with multi species crops surrounded by natural native browse will hold deer much longer than a monoculture with clean edges.
 
BSK said:
^^^^^
This.

The farther north you go the larger the species gets. It's about heat retention for the brutally cold winters. As an animal gets larger in body mass, their surface area (square inches of skin) does not increase as fast. This produces an animal with great body mass for heat retention but not that much more square inches of surface area to lose heat. It is just the opposite in hot environments, like South TX. The deer are very "spindly" so that high amount of surface area can cool the low body-weight animal more efficiently.
Click to expand...
Thank you!


How do you 'splain FAT girls in ALABAMA then ?

Sorry, I had to do that!
 
BSK said:
Now that doesn't mean deer in different geographic regions aren't smaller or larger do to localized genetics. In a region of low-quality forage, deer are often smaller in body and antler because that is advantageous for survival. A smaller deer requires less food resources to survive and prosper, hence deer become smaller. Just look at the Key Deer of the Florida Keys. They are not a genetically unique species. They are just whitetails that have evolved to be very tiny because of the limited resources available on the islands. Evolving to be much smaller is VERY common with all species of mammal trapped on islands.
Click to expand...

So a mammal being on an island would be similar to a fish placed in a aquarium.
When I think of the Florida Key deer and the Deer in the region of Saskatchewan and compare the build of their body's the term Habitat Adaptation comes to mind. Interesting animals for sure.
 
A lot of the turkey stocked in TN were from same flocks. If I remember correctly the plan in the beginning called for random relocation after they were established to improve genetic diversity. Maybe I don't remember correctly. Any old timers remember that?
 

Latest posts

Back
Top