Wildlife Research - Large Mammals
White-tailed Deer Research Projects

Beginning in 2010, the department will make its greatest investment ever in Wisconsin deer research. Federal Wildlife Restoration Act funds will be used to conduct a number of research projects to improve our deer population knowledge. The University of Wisconsin will be a key partner in these research efforts. We will be looking for help from additional partners to increase our capacity for gathering valuable information through these research studies. Most of these studies are multiple-year projects. They include:

Estimating the Survival Rate of Bucks

This study will provide information on the magnitude and relative importance of various causes of buck mortality (hunting, predation, vehicle collisions, weather, etc.) for the areas studied. This study will be conducted in northwestern and eastern Wisconsin. It will begin in winter 2010-2011.

This study is also known as the Buck Mortality Study.

Predator Impacts on Deer

This study will provide information on the causes of mortality and rates of loss of fawns, including the roles of predation, habitat, and weather for the area studied. It will complement a similar study under way in Michigan. This study will be conducted in northwestern and east-central Wisconsin. It will begin in winter 2010-2011.

This study is also known as the Predation and Fawn Recruitment Study.

Deer Survey Techniques Study

This study will provide information on the value of an alternative deer population estimation technique using aircraft. The project will be conducted in western and eastern Wisconsin. It was initiated in February, 2010 and will be a three year study.

This study is also known as the Distance Sampling Project.

Deer Hunter Study

Participation rates of male gun hunters are currently declining at all but the oldest ages. This study will be a collaborative effort between the Department of Natural Resources, the Applied Population Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin- Madison, and the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point.

There are two primary components to phase one: The first generates projections of future deer hunters (male gun hunters) by age over the time period 2010-2030, updating a previous APL study to include more recent years of data. The second component analyzes geographic location of where hunters reside and evaluates changes in gun hunter participation for males age 25-44 at the county level.

The results of this project will identify variables that affect hunting participation and recruitment of 25-44 year-old hunters. This research will allow us to focus programs and strategies on those variables that we can affect in order to stem the decline in hunter numbers. Gains in hunter retention will have great potential to improve new hunter recruitment.

 

Predation Impacts

Research scientists Christopher Jacques, Department of Natural Resources, and Timothy Van Deelen, University of Wisconsin-Madison, have co-authored this summary report of 90 published scientific studies on the impacts of wolf, bear and other predators on white-tailed deer. As part of this effort they also did a preliminary analysis of a portion of Wisconsin-specific deer harvest and predator population data. The summary presented below is not intended to answer questions specific to the Wisconsin deer-predator relationship. The results of their report and analysis and the field reports of hunters was used to develop the predation studies described above.

Read the report "Predator impacts on deer are goal of research efforts to begin in 2010" [PDF 185KB].

Information on this website will be updated frequently and is not a comprehensive list of research projects that will be taking place.