01What the research found
RECEIPT
The study
Oklahoma: hunter numbers set on purpose
WhereNoble Foundation Oswalt Ranch, Love County, south-central OklahomaSampleAdult bucks (2.5 and older), GPS: 19 collars in 2008 and 18 in 2009, 7 bucks tracked both yearsWhen2008 and 2009 rifle seasons
What they did
Set three hunter levels on a 1,861-ha ranch (no hunters, few, many) and tracked GPS-collared bucks, with a location every 8 minutes.
What they found
- In daylight (6 a.m. to 6 p.m.) on days 4 to 13 of the season, bucks facing the most hunters increased their use of forest cover 1.7 times more than bucks facing few or no hunters.
- Forest meant more than 70% closed canopy, compared with grassland.
- Bucks used forest more in daylight as the season went on, at every hunter level.
- The thesis: "Deer recognized human predation risk by increasing diel path complexity and use of security cover with greater hunter density."
Limits
- One ranch, and a master's thesis.
- The 1.7x is a daytime figure from days 4 to 13 of the season, not all hours or the whole season.
- "Cover" here was forest compared with grassland, not thickets.
- It tested hunter numbers in rifle season, not leaf drop.
Source. Little, A.R. 2011. "Human Predation Risk Effects on Adult, Male White-Tailed Deer Antipredator Behavior." M.S. thesis, Mississippi State University. scholarsjunction.msstate.edu →
RECEIPT
The study
Florida: hunted deer moved to cover, away from roads
WhereOsceola National Forest, FloridaSample14 radio-collared deerWhenJune 1990 to July 1991
What they did
Followed radio-collared deer and compared the hunting season with the rest of the year.
What they found
- During the hunting season, deer avoided clearcuts, young pine plantations (4 to 10 years old) and other open ground.
- They preferred swamp and mature pine forest, both of which gave cover.
- Deer were farther from roads in the hunting season, and more active at night.
Limits
- A small study, 14 deer.
- Checked against the abstract only. The full paper was blocked.
- In Florida pine flatwoods, young pine counts as open ground. What counts as cover changes from place to place.
- It didn't look at leaf drop.
Source. Kilgo, J.C., R.F. Labisky and D.E. Fritzen. 1998. "Influences of Hunting on the Behavior of White-Tailed Deer: Implications for Conservation of the Florida Panther." Conservation Biology 12(6): 1359-1364. research.fs.usda.gov →
02My read
MY READMy tactic, not a study result
When the leaves drop, I pull up leaf-off imagery and look for what still hides a deer on your ground, away from the road. What counts as cover changes from place to place.
That's how I hunt it. Neither study tested it.
03Field notes
- Once the leaves are down, check leaf-off imagery for the cover that's still thick.
- Look for that cover away from roads. Hunted deer in Florida moved away from them.
- Check your own state's season dates and legal hours with your state wildlife agency.