2006-07 deer Report - Arkansas Game and Fish Commission

Section Five: Focus on Deer – Rick Evans Grandview Prairie WMAon one side to prevent harvest of young bucks. Doeharvest goals were set at an aggressive rate of oneper 50 acres with no more than 80. An archeryonly hunt was chosen because it would providemaximum safety, optimum hunting opportunitywithout overcrowding, and maintain the deerherd’s current age class structure. Forty permitsare available (one per 100 acres) so hunters haveample space for a high-quality experience. Initiallypermits were divided equally between two seasons.The buck quota was set at four. The doe quota wasset at two per hunter. Harvest regulations werechanged after a few years of hunter comments,staff review, the four buck quota being reachedearly, and hunters not harvesting enough does. Thesplit seasons and permits were combined, and anadditional regulation requiring a hunter to harvest adoe before entering the buck quota hunt was added.Does taken on Grandview would not count towarda hunter’s bag limit. The buck quota was increasedto six.Population TrendMonitoring MethodsFive methods are used to indicate populationtrends – spotlight counts, camera surveys, hunterobservation data, herd health data and biologicaldata from harvested deer.1. Spotlight Counts – Spotlight counts wereused as an index for deer density, fawn-to-doeratios, and buck-to-doe ratios for 1997 and1998. Routes were set up over 15 miles throughthe entire WMA and ran on five consecutivenights for the two years. Deer were counted,identified according to sex, and total routeacreage was recorded. A total of 589 acres weresampled and an average of one deer per 12acres was indicated. The counts also found thebuck-to-doe and fawn-to-doe ratios to be 1:2.5and 1:6, respectively.2. Camera Survey – A trail camera survey wasused as a pilot study to indicate deer density,buck-to-doe ratios, and fawn-to-doe ratiosfor 2002. Trail cameras were set up fromGrandview Prairie Hunter Observation Data 1998-2003YearNumberof HuntersHours ofObservationBucks Does Fawns Unknown Total Deer1998 12 301 47 94 N/A 11 1521999 16 702 142 297 67 61 5672000 18 1407 199 276 79 64 6182001 20 1100 88 129 40 38 2952002 19 1502 184 329 102 72 6872003 26 1843 179 131 37 50 39731