Factors influencing spatial heterogeneity of female white-tailed deer harvest dynamics

Abstract

Successful management of exploited wildlife populations is contingent upon understanding what variables most affect mortality rates (e.g., legal harvest mortality) and adopting regulations that directly address those factors in a manner that accomplishes desired outcomes. We tested biological, ecological, and sociocultural variables related to female white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) harvest densities in Ohio, USA, during 2007–2012. At the county level, the proportion of farmland (standardized-β = −0.37, P < 0.001), the proportion of noncrop cover types within farmland (standardized-β = 0.46, P < 0.001), and per capita deer permit sales (hunting pressure; standardized-β = 0.32, P < 0.001) explained 76% of the variance in female white-tailed deer harvest density. Available habitat likely influences harvest density through the direct relationship of deer abundance and forage availability and indirectly through the effect of cover on deer vulnerability and hunter access. The proxy for hunting pressure also was positively related to female deer harvest density, thereby underscoring the important role of hunters in Ohio's white-tailed deer management. Understanding how county-level factors are related to female deer harvest densities is a first step toward basing deer management units and management actions on a solid understanding of landscape–harvest dynamics. © 2016 The Wildlife Society.