Theses and Dissertations

Ashley Chance

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

Demarais, Stephen

Committee Member

Strickland, Bronson K.

Committee Member

Street, Garrett M.

Date of Degree

12-13-2019

Document Type

Graduate Thesis - Open Access

Major

Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture

Degree Name

Master of Science

College

College of Forest Resources

Department

Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture

Abstract

Movement responses of male white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) to hunting pressure vary across study systems and risk levels and may be confounded by breeding season. At the average levels of risk present on my study area (0.04 hunters/hectare/day) deer almost never altered behavior in response to hunter proximity. Home range characteristics did not predict risk exposure or risk management. Behavioral responses to levels of risk present in my study appear to be minimal, however bucks altered home range size and movements as the breeding season progressed. Most unconstrained movements occurred in early rut, with a 50% reduction during late and post rut. Encamped behaviors increased from pre to post rut, inversely with unconstrained behavior. Bucks 2 to 3 and 5 years old exhibited very little change in home range size, while 4 and 6+ year olds showed slight increases from pre to peak rut and decreases in late rut.

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11668/16461

Comments

white-tailed deer

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