Whitetail Deer
Manitoba is packed with Whitetail deer. With 15 million deer estimated to be living throughout Canada, you’re pretty much guaranteed to get your shot at a monster. While there are places where you may see a few more deer in a day, there are not many places that can boast about the size of the deer. Our deer live a long time, in fact most will die of old age.
In Manitoba, full grown bucks can exceed 1 m (3 feet) at shoulder height and 100 kg (220 lbs) in weight. Larger deer are more common in more remote hunting grounds, so consider taking your hunt with a Manitoban outfitter at a lodge. In the heat of summer they typically inhabit fields and meadows using clumps of broad-leaved and coniferous forests for shade. During the winter they generally keep to forests, preferring coniferous stands that provide shelter from the harsh elements.
Adult Whitetails have reddish-brown coats in summer which fade to a duller grayish-brown in winter. Male deer, called bucks, are easily recognizable in the summer and fall by their prominent set of antlers, which are grown annually and fall off in the winter. Only the bucks grow antlers, which bear a number of tines, or sharp points. During the mating season, also called the rut, bucks fight over territory by using their antlers in sparring matches.
Female deer, called does, give birth to one to three young at a time, usually in May or June and after a gestation period of seven months. Young deer, called fawns, wear a reddish-brown coat with white spots that helps them blend in with the forest.
White-tailed deer are herbivores, leisurely grazing on most available plant foods. Their stomachs allow them to digest a varied diet, including leaves, twigs, fruits and nuts, grass, corn, alfalfa, and even lichens and other fungi. Occasionally venturing out in the daylight hours, white-tailed deer are primarily nocturnal or crepuscular, browsing mainly at dawn and dusk.
In the wild, Whitetails, particularly the young, are preyed upon by bobcats, mountain lions, and coyotes. They use speed and agility to outrun predators, sprinting up to 48 kms (30 miles) per hour and leaping as high as 3 metres (10 feet) and as far as 9 metres (30 feet) in a single bound.
The hunting season for White tail deer ranges from late August to late November.
For information on resident & non-resident license prices and limits visit the Manitoba Conservation website.
