Whitetails Unlimited Supports Deer Population Research
Missouri researchers use trail cameras to refine buck population estimates.
Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin – -(AmmoLand.com)- In 2006 Whitetails Unlimited helped fund a research project at the Missouri Department of Conservation, where they were evaluating the use of trail cameras to help estimate deer populations. The results of the first phase of the study have been published, and Jeff Beringer, a resource scientist with MDC and the lead author of the study, reports encouraging results and says the research will enter its second phase this fall.
The researchers placed trail cameras on three Conservation Areas under a coordinated and controlled plan, and the images were reviewed for the presence of deer. Individual bucks were further identified, and the data was analyzed using population estimation modeling.
“We have supported a great deal of scientific research over the years,” said WTU Executive Director Pete Gerl, “and we understand that many times it takes years for the research to deliver information that is useful. This research in Missouri is helping to develop a more accurate buck population estimate, which is the base that state game agencies use to make management decisions. The more accurate the information they have to start with, the more effectively they can manage the resource, and that’s better for both the wildlife and the hunters.”
During this research project more than 42,000 digital trail camera photos were evaluated. This provided a more accurate animal count than other methods used in Missouri, such as track counts, spotlight surveys, and pellet counts. Using the trail cameras individual bucks can be identified, sex ratios can be determined, and age structure can be more accurately estimated.
Beringer said that the research is ongoing. This last winter, researchers radio-collared 75 deer in a specific Conservation Area, and now plan on conducting a camera census this summer. In this way they can compare the camera census results to the known population of marked deer, and will be able to calculate the probabilities for collecting photos of bucks and does by age class.
As Beringer said, “Exciting research.”
About:
Founded in 1982, Whitetails Unlimited is a national nonprofit conservation organization. Our mission is to raise funds in support of education, habitat enhancement and acquisition, and the preservation of the hunting tradition for the benefit of the white-tailed deer and other wildlife. When it comes to the whitetail and its environment, WTU’s degree of professionalism and dedication has earned us the reputation of being the nation’s premier whitetail organization.