Hunter cooperation with requests to avoid a visibly marked ungulate

Abstract

ABSTRACTStudies utilizing radio tags to examine animal space use are widespread and often require the survival of marked animals over the entirety of a specified study period to answer movement‐related questions. When studying the space use of game species, tactics such as applying visible markings to research animals and communicating with hunters may be needed to mitigate unwanted losses due to hunter harvest. Information regarding the effectiveness of visible markings and communication efforts in reducing harvest, as well as examples of hunter cooperation with requests to avoid harvesting marked animals, are lacking but could be quite useful when designing movement studies and planning capture efforts. Across 3 studies conducted during 2009–2015 on public and private land in the southeastern United States, adult white‐tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) were captured and marked in 1 of 3 ways: via conspicuous (Global Positioning System [GPS]) radiocollar; conspicuous radiocollar combined with visible ear tags; or cryptic (very‐high‐frequency [VHF]) radiocollar. Hunters were asked not to harvest visibly marked deer (GPS radiocollars, with or without ear tags) and survival was compared with that of cryptically marked (VHF) animals. Visibly marked deer were less likely to be harvested than were cryptically marked individuals on private land, but collar types were treated similarly on public land. Additionally, visibly marked males were more likely to be harvested than visibly marked females and the likelihood of harvest increased with male deer age. Our findings suggest that hunter cooperation decreases with the opportunity to harvest a “trophy” and that cooperation is lower on public land compared with private land. Insight into hunter treatment of visibly marked deer can inform researchers and managers about expected losses when conducting long‐term spatial monitoring of ungulates and other game species. © 2017 The Wildlife Society.