Wildlife Demonstration

Whitetail Deer Spotlight Census

Population Determination

John Henry: Cooperator

Reggie Lepley and Robbie Peters, County Extension Agents

Huntsville Walker County Precinct 2

I. SUMMARY: Management of wildlife resources often is a difficult project due to unseen factors. The basis of any deer management plan should be a population census. It is not possible to determine the status of a deer herd without evaluation of the herd population numbers. The population count of a herd greatly affects the management recommendations and influences the needs of the animals. Most questions that are asked about land management for Whitetail deer in the eastern portion of the state are related to food plots. Population assessment can benefit planning for food plots, both cool-season and warm-season, by allowing the land manager to determine the actual needs of their resident Whitetail herd based upon total numbers, sex and other population dynamics.

II. PROBLEM: Landowners often do not understand the method or technique of spotlight census. Other situations that contribute to the problem of a general failure to evaluate deer populations is the time required to do the actual census. It does not require a great deal of time to do the process; however, the actual census must be initiated during the late summer. This is a time of year when many landowners are still involved in hay production or other activities.

III. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this demonstration is to show the benefits which arise from participation and implementation of spotlight deer census. The demonstration will be continued in future years to develop a resource base for educated wildlife management decisions.

IV. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A night time driving spotlight census was utilized in this demonstration. Prior to the census, appropriate law enforcement personnel were notified to prevent any misunderstandings. Two 1,000,000 candlepower spotlights were used. The census began two hours after dark and covered a total distance of 4.8 miles through the cooperator's pasture in 1995. The 1996 and subsequent census required a slight change in route due to changes in land use. It is best if the same route can be utilized each year to insure consistency the method. At each 1/10 mile, a brief observation was made using the spotlights. A notation was made indicating the approximate visual distance in yards seen from each side of the truck. Any deer observed was documented as Buck, Doe, Unknown or Yearling.

V. RESULTS: Results of the 1995 Census are as follows: