Semester

Summer

Date of Graduation

2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

PhD

College

Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design

Department

Division of Forestry and Natural Resources

Committee Chair

Christopher T. Rota

Committee Member

Christopher W. Ryan

Committee Member

John W. Edwards

Committee Member

Laura C. Gigliotti

Abstract

White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) are one of the most culturally and economically important big game species in the United States. At the turn of the 20th century white-tailed deer were almost extirpated due to market hunting and unsustainable forestry practices that destroyed habitat. The creation of game laws that eliminated market hunting and created seasons and bag limits for deer hunting along with restocking efforts by sportsmen’s groups and state wildlife agencies aided in deer population recovery. These efforts have led to the abundant deer populations that are currently enjoyed by hunters and wildlife viewers. Deer populations require careful management to maintain population levels within biological and sociological carry capacity while providing recreational opportunities through regulated hunting. This level of management requires biologists to have information to make their management decisions, especially in the face of uncertainty and diseases such as chronic wasting disease (CWD). To gain this information the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (WVDNR) GPS collared 342 male and female deer in three study areas in West Virginia and monitored the collared individuals from 2021–2024. Data collected as part of this project were used to evaluate survival and cause-specific mortality, hunter detection of harvested collared deer, male resource selection and movement rates during the breeding season, female resource selection and movement rates during the fawning season, and the development of an integrated population model that will be used to inform harvest related management decisions. For survival and cause-specific mortality, I found that survival probabilities were lowest during the hunting season for both males and females compared to the non-hunting season when there was no difference in survival between males and females. Deer in the eastern study area (CWD-endemic) have a lower survival probability compared to the central and western study areas where CWD has not been detected. During the study 202 mortalities were investigated, across all study areas. The leading causes of mortality were legal harvest (n = 83), natural (n = 57) which includes predation, disease, etc., and vehicular collisions (n = 28). In the CWD-endemic area, end-stage clinical disease associated with CWD (n = 24) was the leading cause of mortality. For hunter detection of harvested collared deer, I found that time of day when the deer was harvested and collar manufacture were important predictor variables. Collared deer harvested during the crepuscular period were more likely to be detected by hunters compared to collared deer harvested during other times of the day. I also found that deer collared with Vectronic collars were less likely to be detected by hunters prior to harvest compared to deer collared with Lotek collars. For male resource selection and movement rates during the breeding season, I found the male survival status and time of day were important predictors. My results were consistent with predictions suggesting that males were altering resource selection and movement rates to avoid human predation risk and might lead to potential fitness benefits through increased survival. For female resource selection and movement rates during parturition, I found mixed support for female resource selection related to mitigating predation risk. My results were consistent with predictions that would be expected if females during the fawning season are balancing resource acquisition with lifetime fitness by utilizing anthropogenic development that may provide refugia from predators. Finally, I developed and fit a pre-breeding female-only integrated population model (IPM) using a variety of data sources. The IPM utilized many of the data sources currently collected by the WVDNR as well as harvest and non-harvest mortality rates collected as part of this project. The fit IPMs returned reasonable density estimates and population growth rates for the female segment of the population that are an improvement over the techniques currently used by the WVDNR to monitor changes in the deer herd. The results from this research will be instrumental in making current and future deer management decisions that will ensure the conservation of the deer resource in WV.

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