White-tailed deer are an important economic and recreational resource in Louisiana. A basic understanding of population dynamics is essential to ensure sound management, but baseline information in Louisiana is lacking. Likewise, the notion of Quality Deer Management (QDM) continues to gain momentum in Louisiana. Our objectives were to evaluate space use, survival, and mortality for a deer herd managed under a QDM regime in south Louisiana.
We captured 65 deer in West Baton Rouge and Iberville Parishes during 2007 and 2008, radio-marked 37 males and 11 females, and ear-marked an additional 10 males and 7 females. Home ranges (95%) for adult males during spring, summer, and fall were 153.9, 70.4, and 118.0 ha, respectively and were 119% and 68% larger during spring and fall than summer. Female home ranges were 67.3, 53.9, and 25.2 ha during spring, summer, and fall, respectively. Juvenile (1.5 yr-old) males increased space use 169% in spring (231.6 ha) relative to summer (86.1 ha), and maintained 50% larger home ranges than adults in spring.
Survival estimates for adult males during spring, summer, and fall were 100, 95, and 55%, respectively. Mean annual survival for adult males was 53%. No mortalities were observed in spring or summer for 1.5 yr-old males, but ear-tag returns and harvest records indicated 1.5 yr-old males were being harvested at a rate approaching 20%. Mean annual mortality rates from harvest (40%) were greater than for non-harvest sources of mortality (16%). Non-hunting mortality included both natural causes (9%) and deer-vehicle-collisions (9%).
We observed smaller home ranges than anticipated or seen previously, suggesting that landowners managing small (<300 ha) tracts of property may be able to practice QDM at scales thought to be ineffective at improving herd dynamics. Due to low non-hunting mortality, young males (≤2.5-yr) are likely to survive to the next age class if protected from harvest, but ultimately have a small chance of reaching maturity (5.5+) because males are generally harvested as they approach the antler restriction in place. Managers should seek to increase fall survival for males if management objectives include increasing the frequency of harvesting males ≥3.5 yrs-old.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LSU/oai:etd.lsu.edu:etd-04142009-092649 |
| Date | 14 April 2009 |
| Creators | Thayer, Justin W. |
| Contributors | Scott Durham, William E. Kelso, Frank C. Rohwer, Michael J. Chamberlain |
| Publisher | LSU |
| Source Sets | Louisiana State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-04142009-092649/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached herein a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to LSU or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below and in appropriate University policies, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
Page generated in 0.0019 seconds