The ABCs of deer management

Provided by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

New Yorkers greatly appreciate white-tailed deer. However, deer often cause problems for farmers, homeowners and foresters and can cause road hazards. If not properly managed, deer numbers can increase dramatically. This increases problems for people and impairs the condition of the deer. It also damages the habitat of deer and other wildlife.

The Department of Environmental Conservation tries to manage deer numbers. The goal is to balance deer with their habitat, human land uses and recreational interests. Ecological concerns and the needs of landowners, hunters, and other interest groups must be considered.

How does DEC manage deer? How are decisions made about how many deer there should be? This article gives some basics on New York's deer management program.

What is a Wildlife Management Unit?

New York's landscape is quite variable. Deer numbers reflect those differing conditions. To manage for local conditions, we have divided New York into about 85 "wildlife management units" (WMUs). WMUs are geographic areas which have distinct habitat types and land use characteristics.

Too many deer? Too few?

Many biological and social factors determine the appropriate deer population level for a WMU. The recommendation of a group of local citizens is a major consideration.

What is a Citizen

Task Force?

A Citizen Task Force (CTF) is composed of people representing the various public interest groups in a WMU. The groups typically include farmers, foresters, hunters, landowners, conservationists, the tourism industry, and motorists. Task forces are convened to help determine the future deer management direction for a WMU.

Task force members poll people within their interest group to identify concerns and gather opinions on how many deer there should be. A DEC deer biologist advises the group on deer and deer management. A neutral party (often a Cornell Cooperative Extension Agent) selects task force members and facilitates their meetings. Representatives present their stakeholder group's interests and concerns to the task force. Then the task force recommends, by consensus, a desired deer population level.

How are deer

numbers controlled?

Deer numbers in most of New York are controlled by regulated recreational hunting. Several other methods have been suggested and experimented with. Regulated hunting remains the most practical means of controlling wild, free ranging deer.

Must female deer be killed?

Can deer numbers be controlled by hunting if only males are killed? Each adult female normally has two fawns each year. Does can begin reproducing when they are only one year old. If only male deer is killed, deer numbers will continue to grow. Thus, female as well as male deer must be removed to control deer numbers.

In most of southern and western New York, about 40% of the adult does must be killed each year to keep deer numbers stable. More must be taken to reduce a deer population. DEC adjusts the number of Deer Management Permits (DMPs) to be issued to achieve the desired effect on a deer population.

What is a Deer Management Permit?

A hunter with a big game license can kill an antlered (one antler greater than 3 inches) deer. With a Deer Management Permit, he or she can kill an antlerless deer in a specified WMU. DEC issues DMP's in most of southern and western New York, and in two northern New York WMU's - 6A and 6G.

Deer biologists use deer take data to determine whether a deer population is at, above, or below the desired level. They then determine how many does must be killed in a WMU based on whether deer numbers need to be stabilized, decreased, or allowed to grow.

Deer biologists then review hunter success data to determine the appropriate number of DMPs to issue. In recent years, only about one-third of hunters with DMPs were successful in filling them. Hunters fill about half of those permits with adult does. Therefore, it is necessary to issue about six permits for each adult doe to be killed.

What is the Deer Management Assistance Program?

The Deer Management Assistance Program is one tool that wildlife biologists can use to manage white-tailed deer in New York.

In July of 1998, the New York State Legislature passed a l aw entitled Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP). DMAP allows the Department to issue additional antlerless tags to landowners who need improved harvests of deer to meet management goals on their property.

DMAP permits are valid for use only during the open hunting seasons and can only be used by licensed hunters. Only deer without antlers or antlers less than 3 inches in length may be taken under a DMAP permit. DMAP will supplement, not replace, Deer Management Permits or nuisance deer permits on specific sites.

Data Collection

Deer hunting provides recreation to hunters, economic benefits to many small businesses and local communities, and effective management of deer populations. It also provides biologists with important information. DEC staff inspect deer at check stations, meat cutters, and elsewhere and review mandatory "report cards." These yield information on age, sex, physical condition and location of deer harvested. The department combines this with information from fieldwork, surveys and public input to assess deer populations and habitat conditions, then refines the deer management program as necessary to provide the best program possible.