White-tailed deer

Odocoileus virginianus

An adaptable deer of southern Quebec's woods, fields and suburbs.

Field guide

An adaptable deer of southern Quebec's woods, fields and suburbs.

Identification

Shared features

The white underside of the raised tail is conspicuous; adult bucks usually carry branching antlers.

Male

An adult buck normally grows branching antlers in spring and sheds them in winter. A young buck may have only small spikes; a buck without antlers cannot be sexed reliably from the head alone.

Female

An adult doe normally lacks antlers and tends to have a finer neck and head. Rare antlered does occur; coat color and the white tail are shared by both sexes.

Habitat

Woodland edges, brushy openings, farms and mixed forest with nearby cover.

Where to look during the day

Morning

At dawn, scan field edges and trails between feeding areas and bedding cover.

Afternoon

In the afternoon, deer often bed in sheltered brush or conifers, especially during disturbance.

Evening

At dusk, watch brushy edges and fields as deer move out to feed.

Sounds

Does and fawns bleat; alarmed deer snort or blow, while bucks grunt during the rut.

Fawn bleats

White-tailed deer fawn bleats

Soft contact bleats from a white-tailed deer fawn.

annegp · Recording source

Natural history source: Read the source

Bag limits

Bag and possession summaries.

-The white-tailed deer bag limit is 2 deer per hunter per year, except in zone 20 (Anticosti Island), coming from two different zones, except in zones 4, 5 East, 5 West, 6 North, 6 South, 7 South, 8 East, 8 North and 8 South, where you may harvest your 2 deer, of which only one may be an antlered deer, within the same zone.
-The regular licence and additional licence each allow you to harvest one deer in any zone other than zone 20.
-Your first deer must come from a zone or part of a zone other than zone 20 (Anticosti Island).
-Once you have killed the first deer, you must then kill the second in a different zone from the zone in which you hunted (excluding zone 20). This requirement does not apply in zones 4, 5 East, 5 West, 6 North, 6 South, 7 South, 8 East, 8 North and 8 South, where you may harvest your 2 deer, of which no more than one may be an antlered deer, within the same zone.
-The bag limit in zone 20 (Anticosti Island) is 4 deer per stay with a maximum of 2 deer with antlers. Specific provisions apply in the wildlife reserves and outfitters with exclusive rights on the island regarding the sharing of antlerless deer hunting licences and group hunting of white-tailed deer.

Official bag-limit source