Recreational Hunting Research Articles

Using Systematic Conservation Planning to Identify Climate Resilient Habitat for Endangered Species Recovery While Retaining Areas of Cultural Importance

The effective management of at-risk species often requires fine-scale actions by natural resource managers. However, balancing these actions with concurrent land uses is challenging, particularly when compounded by the interplay of climate shifts, and escalating wildland–urban interface conflicts. We used spatial prioritization tools designed for biodiversity conservation to help resource managers on the Island of Lānaʻi prioritize mutually exclusive land use objectives: endangered species recovery and subsistence and recreational hunting. We weighed the current and anticipated future distributions of threatened and endangered plant species against the distribution of non-native game mammals to plan for species recovery more effectively. Prioritization results identified multiple footprints that could support recovery of all endangered species targets in climate resilient areas while retaining the majority of existing hunting areas. However, very little native vegetation was retained in conservation footprints without deliberate inclusion, which increased footprint area by 268%. Scenarios which prioritized contiguous conservation areas also dramatically increased conservation footprint area, although these scenarios may reduce associated fencing costs. This work demonstrates how spatial prioritization may guide localized species recovery efforts by supporting long-term conservation planning that addresses anticipated climate-driven increases in conflict between conservation and other land uses, with clear applicability beyond Lānaʻi.

Bridging sustainable game management into land use policy: From principles to practice

Sustainability of land use is a guiding paradigm for natural resource policy in the 21st century and should also be pursued in wildlife management. We have bridged the theoretical sustainability framework with practical policy implementation by defining a certification scheme whereby landowners implement game management systems that are aligned with sustainability standards and audited by accredited bodies. Oversight is provided by a governance committee, comprising scientists, public officers, and certification body representatives, ensuring adaptability to evolving societal attitudes and regulatory changes. Using the Delphi method with a panel of 78 experts we defined key sustainability criteria for sustainable game management following a criterion of consensus. The agreed criteria were structured around three dimensions: game population, habitat, and socio-economic aspects, forming a coherent framework. The seven most important criteria for defining a certification system focused on maintaining or improving: 1) game population abundance, distribution, structure, and behavior compatible with conservation; 2) natural genetic characteristics of game populations; 3) diversity and conservation status of native game species; 4) diversity of native non-game species; 5) conservation status and diversity of habitats; 6) socio-economic functions and conditions of the activity; and 7) customer satisfaction. We discuss how the label derived from this certification could serve as an identity brand with positive effects on the recreational hunting market, but also that the promotion of this system requires the commitment of policy makers as well as the valuing of hunters against other options less respectful of the natural environment.

A genome assembly of the American black bear, Ursus americanus, from California.

The American black bear, Ursus americanus, is a widespread and ecologically important species in North America. In California, the black bear plays an important role in a variety of ecosystems and serves as an important species for recreational hunting. While research suggests that the populations in California are currently healthy, continued monitoring is critical, with genomic analyses providing an important surveillance tool. Here we report a high-quality, near chromosome-level genome assembly from a U. americanus sample from California. The primary assembly has a total length of 2.5 Gb contained in 316 scaffolds, a contig N50 of 58.9 Mb, a scaffold N50 of 67.6 Mb, and a BUSCO completeness score of 96%. This U. americanus genome assembly will provide an important resource for the targeted management of black bear populations in California, with the goal of achieving an appropriate balance between the recreational value of black bears and the maintenance of viable populations. The high quality of this genome assembly will also make it a valuable resource for comparative genomic analyses among black bear populations and among bear species.

Chronic wasting disease effects on a breeding season behavior in White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus).

Wildlife disease outbreaks can lead to population declines, which are usually attributed to increased direct or indirect mortality. Alternatively, behavior associated with sickness can lead to social isolation, potentially decreasing fitness of affected individuals. A useful case study to examine this dynamic is chronic wasting disease (CWD), a neurological disease of cervids, known to affect behavior and movement. In this study, we monitored scraping, a White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus; WTD) breeding season behavior, in an area of high CWD prevalence to determine if this reproductive behavior is affected by CWD. At 107 scrape sites, we detected 3,063 scrape interactions and 218 unique bucks. Bucks engaged with scrapes most often, performing 73% of interactions-compared to 23% by does, and 4% by fawns. Twenty-one bucks captured on camera traps at scrape sites were harvested through recreational hunting, 13 testing CWD-positive and 8 CWD not-detected. We found no significant effect of CWD status on specific scraping behaviors. There may, however, have been population-level effects, with shifts toward greater proportions of scraping by yearling bucks and during daylight hours compared to findings from past studies.

Targeted recreational hunting can reduce animal-vehicle collisions and generate substantial revenue for wildlife management agencies

Reduction of conflicts arising from human-wildlife interactions is necessary for coexistence. Collisions between animals and automobiles cost the world's economy billions of dollars, and wildlife management agencies often are responsible for reducing wildlife-vehicle collisions. But wildlife agencies have few proven options for reducing wildlife-vehicle collisions that are effective and financially feasible at large spatiotemporal scales germane to management. Recreational hunting by humans is a primary population management tool available for use with abundant wild ungulates that often collide with automobiles. Therefore, we tested how well policies designed to increase human hunting of deer (longer hunting seasons and increased harvest limits) reduced collisions between white-tailed deer and automobiles along 618 km of high-risk roadways in Indiana, USA. We used a 20-y dataset that compiled >300,000 deer-vehicle collisions. Targeted recreational hunting decreased deer-vehicle collisions by 21.12 % and saved society up to $653,756 (95 % CIs = $286,063–$1,154,118) in economic damages from 2018 to 2022. Potential savings was up to $1,265,694 (95 % CIs = $579,108–$2,402,813) during the same 5-y span if relaxed hunting regulations occurred along all high-risk roadways. Moreover, license sales from targeted hunting generated $206,268 in revenue for wildlife management. Targeted hunting is likely effective in other systems where ungulate-vehicle collisions are prevalent, as behavioral changes in response to human hunting has been documented in many ungulate species across several continents. Our methods are attractive for management agencies with limited funds, as relaxed hunting regulations are relatively inexpensive to implement and may generate substantial additional revenue.

Moving towards an ecological management of overabundant ungulates: insights from wildlife-vehicle collisions and hunting bag data

Increasing abundance of large ungulates is raising human-wildlife impacts and the effectiveness of recreational hunting to reduce their population growth is increasingly questioned. We report on long-term trends (> 15 years) in wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVC) and hunting bags, and on associations between the annual growth rate of WVC and that of hunting bags for three ungulates – the wild boar, the red deer, and the roe deer – and the grey wolf in northwest Spain to evaluate the regulating capacity of recreational hunting at large spatial scale. Wildlife-vehicle collisions increased by 332% in 16 years and 91% of all traffic accidents were caused by collisions with these three ungulates. All ungulate species showed significant positive trends in WVC and hunting bags, but we did not observe a negative association between annual growth rate of hunting bags and that of WVC except for the wild boar. Results suggest that recreational hunting was unable to reduce ungulate population growth at the regional scale. There was no upward trend of vehicle collisions with wolves over the study period, possibly reflecting stable wolf populations. Natural mortality due to predation could be promoted through the protection of apex predators, but the lethal management of apex predators, often based on sociopolitical pressures rather than damage levels, can conflict with the strategy for mitigating ungulate impacts. Ungulate management needs to be reconsidered from an ecological perspective that integrates human management measures, including recreational hunting, based on the population dynamics and the recovery of predator–prey interactions by favoring the expansion of apex predators.

Climate change through the eyes of recreational hunters: impacts on wildlife and adaptive responses

ABSTRACT Climate change is increasingly recognized as a serious threat to wildlife globally. Environmentally unsustainable human activities do not only damage wildlife resources but also contribute to exacerbating the impacts of climate change. The objective of this research is to assess how local hunters in the Dana Biosphere Reserve perceive climate change and its impacts on wildlife resources, and to understand their adaptive responses to these impacts. Through semi-structured interviews with local hunters, it was revealed that the area faces multiple climate threats, including reduced rainfall, shifting rainy seasons, and more frequent and intense droughts. Climate change has resulted in several problems, including a decline in the rate of reproduction of many wild species, changes in geographical distribution, and substantial declines in wildlife abundance. Consequently, most hunters have changed their hunting practices, avoided overhunting, and engaged in alternative outdoor activities.

Frequent flight responses, but low escape distance of wild boar to nonlethal human disturbance

Abstract Human activities can affect the behaviour and fitness of wildlife. However, the response of animals to nonlethal human activities has not been well‐studied in wild boar, Sus scrofa, even though it is a widespread species in Europe and has become of increasing concern because of crop damages and its vector capacity for diseases. We study the behavioural responses of GPS‐collared wild boar to nonlethal experimental human approaches in the Bohemian Forest Ecosystem along the border between Germany and the Czech Republic. We describe and quantify the flight responses of the animals and assess whether they vary with the distance to recreational paths and the occurrence of hunting in the area. We show that wild boar were disturbed and displaced by human approaches on foot in 69% of the trials, but the average flight initiation and escape distances were relatively small (93 and 256 m, respectively). The probability of a flight response decreased with distance from the paths and increased with the ruggedness of the terrain. In the non‐hunting zone, the flight initiation distances and flight durations were shorter than in the hunting zone. Our results suggest a weak effect of nonlethal human disturbances on the movement of wild boar, although the animals were sensitive to the perceived risk in relation to recreation infrastructure and hunting. For the management of diseases such as African swine fever, it can be concluded that nonlethal disturbances are unlikely to accelerate the spread of the disease due to far‐distance movements. Guidelines for restrictions in case of an outbreak might be adjusted accordingly.

The prohibition of recreational hunting of wild ungulates in Spanish National Parks: Challenges and opportunities

A new regulation has led to the prohibition of recreational hunting on estates located within Spanish National Parks (NPs). Before the ban, eleven NPs in Spain had already reported negative ecological consequences associated with high densities of wild ungulates. The new situation that has occurred after the ban signifies that policies with which to control populations of wild ungulates in NPs, most of which do not have a sufficient natural capacity to regulate populations, depend exclusively on the parks' authorities. The banning of recreational hunting implies a series of social, ecological, economic and logistic challenges. The control of wild ungulate populations in NPs requires: i) the legal basis for culling; ii) social acceptance as regards removing animals and the extractive procedures employed in NPs; iii) the long-term monitoring of wild ungulates and the damages that they cause, and iv) sufficient financial and human resources. A more integrated management and policy plan is, therefore, required, which should be supported by two pillars: i) the sustainability of natural resources and the conservation of functional environments, and ii) providing society with explanations regarding the need to manage wild ungulates. In order to bridge the potential gap between these key pillars, it is important to involve stakeholders in the decision-making processes concerning wild ungulate management. The forthcoming changes in Spanish NPs provide a promising opportunity to make a substantial improvement to wild ungulate management in these protected areas. This management approach could, moreover, serve as an example and be transferred to other protected spaces.

Exposure to Persistent Organic Pollutants in Australian Waterbirds.

There is growing worldwide recognition of the threat posed by persistent organic pollutants (POPs) to wildlife populations. We aimed to measure exposure levels to POPs in a Southern Hemisphere aquatic waterbird species, the nomadic gray teal (Anas gracilis), which is found across Australia. We collected wings from 39 ducks harvested by recreational hunters at two sites (one coastal, one inland) in Victoria, southeastern Australia, in 2021. We examined three groups of POPs: nine congeners of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), 13 organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), and 12 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The PCBs, OCPs, and PAHs were detected at quantifiable levels in 13%, 72%, and 100% of birds, respectively. Of the congeners we tested for in PCBs, OCPs, and PAHs, 33%, 38%, and 100% were detected at quantifiable levels, respectively. The highest levels of exposure to POPs that we found were to the PAH benzo[b]fluoranthene, occurring at a concentration range of 1.78 to 161.05 ng/g wet weight. There were some trends detected relating to differences between geographical sites, with higher levels of several PAHs at the coastal versus inland site. There were several strong, positive associations among PAHs found. We discuss potential sources for the POPs detected, including industrial and agricultural sources, and the likely role of large-scale forest fires in PAH levels. Our results confirm that while Australian waterbirds are exposed to a variety of POPs, exposure levels are currently relatively low. Additional future investigations are required to further characterize POPs within Australian waterbird species. Environ Toxicol Chem 2024;43:736-747. © 2023 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of SETAC.

COVID-19 could accelerate the decline in recreational hunting: A natural experiment from Northern Italy.

Although many studies highlighted the potential of COVID-19 to reshape existing models of wildlife management, empirical research on this topic has been scarce, particularly in Europe. We investigated the potential of COVID-19 pandemic to accelerate the ongoing decline in an aging population of recreational hunters in Italy. Namely, we modelled spatiotemporal trends between 2011 and 2021 in the number of recreational hunters in 50 Italian provinces with a varying incidence of COVID-19, and temporally delayed waves of infection. Compared to projections from 2011-2019 data, we detected a lower number of hunters who enrolled for the hunting season, both in 2020 (14 provinces) and in 2021 (15 provinces). The provinces with the highest incidence of COVID-19 in the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions were also those experiencing the most marked decrease in hunting participation. Our findings revealed that a wildlife management system based on recreational hunting can be rapidly destabilized by epidemics and their associated public health measures, particularly when the average age of hunters is high, like in Italy. Considered the high incidence attained by COVID-19 in many European countries, where hunters are pivotal for the management of large ungulates and where they were already declining before the pandemic, our findings call for further large-scale research about the impact of COVID-19 on hunting participation.

Development of virtual hunting tourism as the basis for the conservation of pristine wildlife

Many people in today's society still enjoy hunting as a hobby to relax and disconnect from their busy daily lives. The Crimean Peninsula, located on the Black Sea coast, is not only famous for its history, natural landscapes and resorts, but is also one of the most popular places for hunting tourism. Magnificent natural conditions, a variety of wildlife and seasonal migrations make the peninsula an ideal place for hunting and adventure, surrounded by spectacular scenery. Crimean hunting tourism offers a unique opportunity not only to plunge into the world of hunting passions, but also to enjoy all the delights of the peninsula. The relevance of studying the development of a tourist and recreational hunting tourism project is due to the actively developing market for the provision of services in the field of hunting in our country. But the hunting resources of the Crimean forests are not limitless. The possibility of replacing real hunting tourism with virtual tourism with the help of modern IT technologies (VR, AR) is the goal of our research. Thanks to this approach, a potential hunter can feel like he is in a real wild environment, but at the same time know that his life is not in serious danger. In addition, the important task of preserving endangered animal species in the wild is being solved.

Dreadful fun or environmental management? Agreements and disagreements around wild boar hunting in Uruguay

ABSTRACT This work constitutes an approach to hunting management in Uruguay. We have focused on wild boar hunting, the most widespread form of recreational hunting in this country. We explored the connections and discrepancies between the different actors based on a qualitative study conducted with conservationists, animal rights groups, nature managers, and hunters. The informality of hunting and the lack of population studies on wildlife were the main concerns raised while hunting with dogs was the most controversial issue. These results allowed us to propose some potential management actions to improve hunting management: issuing a hunting license, regulating hunting with dogs, developing collaborative wildlife monitoring, promoting new technologies within the framework of ethical hunting, and developing a realistic and effective poaching control.

Habitat visibility affects the behavioral response of a large herbivore to human disturbance in forest landscapes

Wildlife can perceive humans as predators and human disturbance, whether lethal (e.g., hunting) or non-lethal (e.g., hiking, biking, and skiing), triggers antipredator behavior among prey. Visibility is the property that relates habitat structure to accessibility of visual information that allows animals to detect predators and evaluate predation risk. Thus, the visibility of a habitat (hereafter referred to as habitat visibility) for prey species alters the perceived risk of predation and therefore has a strong influence on their antipredator behavior. Yet, knowledge of how habitat visibility affects the response of animals to different types of human disturbance is limited, partly, because it is challenging to measure habitat visibility for animals at a fine spatial scale over a landscape, particularly in highly heterogeneous landscapes (e.g., forests). In this study, we employed a newly described approach that combines terrestrial and airborne LiDAR to contiguously measure fine-scale habitat visibility in a forested landscape. We applied the LiDAR-derived habitat visibility to examine how habitat visibility in forests affects the summer space use of 20 GPS-collared female red deer (Cervus elaphus) modeled with integrated step-selection functions in the Bavarian Forest National Park, Germany when exposed to various types of human disturbance including recreational activities, forest roads, hiking trails, and hunting. We found that red deer in our study area avoided areas with higher all types of human disturbance, especially during daylight hours. Furthermore, habitat visibility significantly modified the use of space by red deer in response to human recreational activities, forest roads, and hiking trails, but not to the hunting area. Red deer tended to tolerate a higher intensity of human recreational activities and to use areas closer to forest roads or hiking trails when they have lower habitat visibility (i.e., more cover). Our findings highlight the importance of considering visual perception when studying the response of wild animals to human disturbance. We emphasize the potential to mitigate negative consequences of human disturbance on wildlife, through measures such as maintaining vegetative buffers around recreational infrastructure (e.g., roads and skiing tracks) in order to reduce habitat visibility around areas frequented by humans.

Estimating and managing broad risk of chronic wasting disease spillover among cervid species

AbstractThe management of infectious wildlife diseases often involves tackling pathogens that infect multiple host species. Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a prion disease that can infect most cervid species. CWD was detected in reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) in Norway in 2016. Sympatric populations of red deer (Cervus elaphus) and moose (Alces alces) are at immediate risk. However, the estimation of spillover risk across species and implementation of multispecies management policies are rarely addressed for wildlife. Here, we estimated the broad risk of CWD spillover from reindeer to red deer and moose by quantifying the probability of co‐occurrence based on both (1) population density and (2) habitat niche overlap from GPS data of all three species in Nordfjella, Norway. We describe the practical challenges faced when aiming to reduce the risk of spillover through a marked reduction in the population densities of moose and red deer using recreational hunters. This involves setting the population and harvest aims with uncertain information and how to achieve them. The niche overlap between reindeer and both moose and red deer was low overall but occurred seasonally. Migratory red deer had a moderate niche overlap with the CWD‐infected reindeer population during the calving period, whereas moose had a moderate niche overlap during both calving and winter. Incorporating both habitat overlap and the population densities of the respective species into the quantification of co‐occurrence allowed for more spatially targeted risk maps. An initial aim of a 50% reduction in abundance for the Nordfjella region was set, but only a moderate population decrease of less than 20% from 2016 to 2021 was achieved. Proactive management in the form of marked population reduction is invasive and unpopular when involving species of high societal value, and targeting efforts to zones with a high risk of spillover to limit adverse impacts and achieve wider societal acceptance is important.

Potential economic consequences along migratory flyways from reductions in breeding habitat of migratory waterbirds

The migration of species, often across continents, makes it difficult to quantify the cumulative effects of local- and regional-scale conservation actions. Further, variation in stakeholder interests, differing jurisdictional governance processes, priorities, and monitoring abilities across the migratory range shapes place-specific differences in management actions. These differences may lead management of migratory species to benefit both species and stakeholders in some places more than others. In the case of North American waterfowl, possible reduction of wetland protection in breeding areas may lead to substantive shifts in benefits among stakeholders across their range by adversely affecting recreational viewing and hunting opportunities for these species. To understand possible consequences of wetland loss in the U.S. Prairie Pothole Region, the breeding region for 12 focal species of waterfowl, on the recreation economics for these species, we modeled a causal pathway linking wetland loss in the breeding grounds to changes in duck abundance and then assessed the consequences of that change in abundance on recreational hunting and viewing within migratory flyways. Under a scenario where wetland protections cease, we find annual economic activity associated with recreation may decrease as much as $489 million at the highest levels of predicted wetland loss, the majority of it coming from impacts to viewing behavior in the Mississippi Flyway. The number of hunters may decline by as much as 18,000, leading to $32 million less in annual economic activity. At highest levels of wetland loss, viewing value is expected to decline by more than one-quarter. Lost economic value associated with reductions in recreation in the Mississippi and Central Flyway states is not likely to be overcome by increases in agricultural economic output in drained wetlands of the Prairie Pothole Region. Our analyses indicate local effects of national water policies likely have far-reaching consequences because of the multi-dimensional connections arising from place-specific differences in management action, global and national agricultural economic drivers of crop expansion, and the biotic phenomena of transcontinental avian migration. Reductions in habitat in one location could ramify to economic consequences throughout the continent through connections fostered by migrating waterfowl.

Natural resource enterprises – income diversification and land conservation on privately owned lands in the United States (U.S.)

ABSTRACT Wildlife-related recreation is popular throughout the world with Americans spending over $150 billion dollars (U.S.) annually. I have conducted educational workshops (>200 events) to train U.S. landowners in natural resource enterprise management and operations offering recreational hunting, angling, and nature tourism excursions along with conservation management practices to enhance wildlife habitats on their lands. To measure impacts from these workshops, I conducted a comprehensive mail survey study with participants since 2010. Study findings revealed that private landowners who initiated wildlife-related recreational enterprises earned annual incomes and implemented conservation practices on their lands. More targeted training for landowners is recommended to enhance income diversification on privately owned lands and to increase conservation of wildlife habitats, land stewardship, and ecosystem services (i.e., clean water, biodiversity, and conservation zones) beneficial to society.

Browsing by non-native invasive sambar deer dramatically impacts forest structure

Large herbivores introduced to novel habitats can cause major ecosystem impacts. While impacts of overabundant deer have been documented around the world, there are few examples from Australia, where deer are non-native and natural predators are absent.Here, we outline the impacts of sambar deer in wet eucalypt forest understoreys of the Yarra Ranges National Park, south-eastern Australia. Using data obtained from a full and partial (permitting native herbivores) exclusion experiment over four years, we (i) demonstrate differences between native herbivore and introduced deer browsing, (ii) identify plant species commonly browsed by deer, and (iii) provide evidence that vegetation condition can recover in the absence of deer.While species richness and composition were unaffected, the exclusion of deer led to substantial recovery of several attributes of forest understorey vegetation. Treatments excluding deer (partial and full exclosures) saw increases in the cover of understorey trees, shrubs, ferns and climbers. Within the 1–2 m height class (the primary deer browse zone), vegetation cover-abundance increased 3–4 fold over time in full and partial exclusion plots compared to non-exclusion controls.Tree ferns (Dicksonia antarctica and Cyathea australis) were particularly impacted by deer, and browsing impacts to tree ferns were dramatically reduced from ∼50% of fronds browsed to negligible levels with deer exclusion. Deer exclusion also saw substantial reductions in browsing to individual trees, shrubs and ground ferns. The growth of commonly browsed trees, e.g. Pomaderris aspera, were demonstrably higher in partial and full exclosures than unfenced control plots. The low levels of browsing on trees and shrubs that persisted in partial exclosures probably indicates the background levels of browsing pressure attributable to native herbivores in these forests.In the absence of effective deer control, commonly browsed understorey trees, shrubs and tree ferns are likely to decrease substantially in cover over coming decades, potentially leading to increased light availability, drying of the understorey, and increased susceptibility to wildfire. The potential cascading ecological effects of unabated and increasing deer impacts may be substantial and pose major challenges to forest management.Despite management culls and recreational hunting in recent years, deer populations are increasing across Australia. As sambar populations increase, ecological impacts are likely to exacerbate. It is therefore critically important to reduce sambar numbers, before negative and potentially irreversible changes occur to forest structure, composition and function.

Women in the Hunt: A More Useful and Sustainable Hunt for Biodiversity?

Recreational hunting can have positive consequences on biodiversity conservation, but in many countries the number of hunters is declining. This downward trend threatens the sustainability of an important human activity that can be used as a tool for wildlife management and biodiversity conservation. On the other hand, in developed countries there is an upward trend in the number of female hunters. In this study, we analyzed women and men’s hunting preferences in Spain, focusing our attention on the game species they were interested in. We found that female hunters were more interested than male hunters in hunting big game species. We discussed potential consequences of our results on the sustainability of hunting and biodiversity conservation.

Habitat quality influences trade-offs in animal movement along the exploration–exploitation continuum

To successfully establish itself in a novel environment, an animal must make an inherent trade-off between knowledge accumulation and exploitation of knowledge gained (i.e., the exploration–exploitation dilemma). To evaluate how habitat quality affects the spatio-temporal scale of switching between exploration and exploitation during home range establishment, we conducted experimental trials comparing resource selection and space-use of translocated animals to those of reference individuals using reciprocal translocations between habitat types of differing quality. We selected wild pigs (Sus scrofa) as a model species to investigate hypotheses related to the movement behavior of translocated individuals because they are globally distributed large mammals that are often translocated within their introduced range to facilitate recreational hunting. Individuals translocated to higher quality habitat (i.e. higher proportions of bottomland hardwood habitats) exhibited smaller exploratory movements and began exploiting resources more quickly than those introduced to lower quality areas, although those in lower-quality areas demonstrated an increased rate of selection for preferred habitat as they gained knowledge of the landscape. Our data demonstrate that habitat quality mediates the spatial and temporal scale at which animals respond behaviorally to novel environments, and how these processes may determine the success of population establishment.