Productivity and Yield of the George Reserve Deer Herd

Abstract

Four [female] and 2 [male] white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus borealis) were stocked in a 1200-acre enclosure in 1928. The resulting herd has not been artificially fed or sheltered; it is in no sense domesticated. Beginning in 1933-34, deer of both sexes (in the ratio of 53 [male][male] to 50 [female][female] ) and of all ages have been removed each winter. In 13 yrs., 546 deer have been harvested and 18 have been found dead. The average harvest has been 33% of the winter population, and the average fawn crop has been 44% of the spring carry-over. Rate of increase was fastest (about 60%) during the 6 yrs. when the herd was building up from its small beginning, slowest (about 38%) during 6 yrs. of great overabundance, and intermediate (about 54%) during 7 yrs. of intermediate abundance. On similar range, a deer herd should yield a harvest of 1/3 of the winter population, year after year, if both sexes are removed in about equal numbers.