Well-known Alabama hunter Jerry Gardner, a recognized expert on turkey hunting, is also an expert on whitetail deer. Here he shares some of his knowledge on the behavior patterns and vocal communications of deer.


Jerry Gardner, a native of Harpersville, is best known for his expertise in turkey hunting and his extensive knowledge of the wild turkey vocabulary. What may surprise many is the amount of time he has spent researching the behavior patterns and vocal communications of the whitetail deer.

As a youngster on his family's Shelby County farm, Jerry had numerous opportunities to closely observe all forms of wildlife. He would listen to the Bob White quail, wild turkey and just about anything that walked, hopped or crawled and soon learned to imitate them all to near perfection. Perhaps credit for this ability goes to his family tree, he is a second-generation descendant of Creek and Cherokee Indians.

When world-renowned archer Howard Hill moved back to Alabama from California in the mid-1960's, he heard of Jerry's talent and looked him up, hoping Jerry could call in a wild turkey for him. In 1967, a small group of archery enthusiasts, including Howard and Jerry, formed an archery club in Vincent. Hill named the club after the Creek Indians that were a vital part of Alabama history. The Creek Archery Club, today known as Creek Bowhunters, had its beginning and in 1968 Jerry was elected the first full-term president.

Since that time, bowhunting's popularity has grown at an astounding pace. Hunting with primitive weapons remains Jerry's favorite style of hunting. He is at home with the longbow and the compound bow. He also spends a lot of time shooting and hunting with black powder guns. He has represented Thompson Center Arms for the past 10 years and has taken both large and small game across the country with the contender single-shot pistol.

His most intimate experience with whitetail began more than l8 years ago when he began to raise injured and orphaned fawns. Much like raising your own children, you learn something from them every day. Most of the young deer were brought to him by conservation officers, but soon the word was out that he was qualified for the task of caring for them and calls came in from all over the state. Most of the deer are raised and released in areas where bloodlines are diminishing. Only a few of the more severely injured ones are not released.

Jerry would like to share, with you the following facts about whitetail deer as well as offer some tips that will help to make your upcoming season safer and more successful.

Whitetail are known to eat more than 600 species of plants in North America. They consume five to eight pounds of food for each 100 pounds of body weight. In spring and summer they will feed heavily on leaves, twigs and low-growing plants and grasses. In fall they switch to fallen mast, primarily acorns. They prefer the sweet-tasting acorn of the White Oak. If the acorn crop is low other plants like honeysuckle and green brier become more important. It is my recommendation that these naturally growing plants be fertilized. The deer will find these fertilized plants more desirable, not only for their taste but for the extra nutrients.

Deer have a natural instinct to search for nutrients required for growth, reproduction, antler-development, and to maintain body heat and strength.
A young buck requires about twice the amount of protein and nutrients that an adult 3-year-old buck needs. This is because his body is growing and his bones are maturing. An adult buck does not have the added strain of body growth and thus he will have the larger antlers. A buck does not grow antlers during his first year. He will have knobs or buttons where future antlers will grow. In his second year he will probably develop spikes anywhere from one to nine inches long. A buck feeding under ideal conditions will skip the spike stage and go on to have much larger antlers.

A buck in his third year will usually have antlers that will branch, known as a rack buck