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KQDC - Monitoring & Science
Progress of the KQDC program towards reaching its goals for Quality Deer, Quality Habitat, and Hunter Success is assessed by the monitoring program. Monitoring protocols have been established for collecting, analyzing and interpreting information used to evaluate success.
Measurements for Quality Deer include deer density, sex and age ratios, and harvest characteristics (weights, antler characteristics, sex and age distribution of deer harvest).
Science and Management of Deer
Sound deer management is based on many years of scientific study: the white-tailed deer is probably the most-studied game animal in the world. Studies of white-tailed deer in Pennsylvania and other mid-Atlantic states (including New York, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia) have uniformly indicated that, in heavily forested areas with little farming or agriculture, when deer density exceeds 15-20 deer per square mile, many forest resources suffer. Wildlife habitat is diminished, abundance and variety of wildlife species (notably birds that nest in the understory) decline, deer condition drops, and regeneration of a diverse variety of shrubs and trees is negatively impacted.
From the 1920's until 2004, deer density in northwestern Pennsylvania exceeded 25 deer per square mile, resulting in a sparse, forage-poor understory, under-nourished deer, impoverished habitat, and the necessity by foresters to fence off regeneration sites to protect tree seedlings from deer browsing. Hunters became accustomed to seeing dozens of deer opening day but refrained from harvesting does, hunting instead for antlered deer. Most deer harvested were small, immature bucks (yearlings) with small racks.
By the late 1980's the Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) determined that desired deer density in northwestern Pennsylvania was about 18-20 deer per square mile. Initial PGC management steps to reduce deer density included increasing numbers of antlerless licenses and providing "bonus" licenses whereby hunters could get additional licenses to harvest antlerless deer. Later, in the 2000's, additional PGC steps to reduce deer density included restricting buck harvest to deer with 3 or more points on at least one antler (which also served to increase number of bucks with larger racks), combining buck and doe seasons into one concurrent 2-week season, and initiation of a Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP) whereby forest landowners could receive antlerless licenses to distribute to hunters to to increase harvest of antlerless deer.
For more information, click on Deer Science.
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