348Winchester
Well-Known Member
How are deer population densities figured?
Can a rough estimate be tabulated using harvest figures?
Can a rough estimate be tabulated using harvest figures?
Calculating Population Density
- Thread starter 348Winchester
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DeerCamp
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I am in no way qualified to respond to this. That said - I've had luck in July over corn (where allowed).
The does are very grouped up and I can usually tell "there's 7 in this group with 3 fawns and 5 in that group with 2 fawns" Also - antlers have developed enough to tell them apart. Also - wildcard - but I also have some luck when the does start moulting. Their coats are pretty unique at that time of the year as they lose hair at different rates and body parts. especially on IR flash.
The does are very grouped up and I can usually tell "there's 7 in this group with 3 fawns and 5 in that group with 2 fawns" Also - antlers have developed enough to tell them apart. Also - wildcard - but I also have some luck when the does start moulting. Their coats are pretty unique at that time of the year as they lose hair at different rates and body parts. especially on IR flash.
BSK
Well-Known Member
Over the course of the science of wildlife biology, a great number of statistical techniques have been developed and used to estimate wildlife population. For white-tailed deer, track counts, scat counts, aerial surveys, aerial thermal surveys, population modeling from harvest data, and any number of other processes have been used. In my opinion, the very best is the distance sampling via thermal imaging counts pioneered by the TWRA. I have no idea if they still do this.
But a critical aspect of deer density numbers is that they can only be for very large areas. I would consider the accuracy of deer density calculations to be highly dubious for any area smaller than say half a county. Deer move around way too much seasonally and annually to get an accurate density number for smaller areas than that.
My advice to the small-land manager is to ignore deer density numbers. They have no real-world use on the small scale. You cannot use them for any type of meaningful calculation. My advice to the small-land (and by small-land in this instance, I mean just about any private property, even one encompassing thousands of acres) is to get real-world numbers on how many deer use your property during the late summer, fall and early to mid-winter months. This can be done with long-term photo censusing. Only these real-world numbers can tell you what you need to know as a manager.
But a critical aspect of deer density numbers is that they can only be for very large areas. I would consider the accuracy of deer density calculations to be highly dubious for any area smaller than say half a county. Deer move around way too much seasonally and annually to get an accurate density number for smaller areas than that.
My advice to the small-land manager is to ignore deer density numbers. They have no real-world use on the small scale. You cannot use them for any type of meaningful calculation. My advice to the small-land (and by small-land in this instance, I mean just about any private property, even one encompassing thousands of acres) is to get real-world numbers on how many deer use your property during the late summer, fall and early to mid-winter months. This can be done with long-term photo censusing. Only these real-world numbers can tell you what you need to know as a manager.
