White-tailed deer management options model (DeerMOM): design, quantification, and application

The deer management options model (DeerMOM) is a computer simulation model designed to assess the effects of management options on population size, se x and age structure of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). In this model, we grouped deer into three age classes. fawn? yearling, and adult. R eproductive rates and fetal sex ratios were age-specific, while natural and harvest mortality rates were both age- and sex-specific. DeerMOM was param eterized to represent the deer population in the Upper Peninsula of Michiga n, USA. Effects of winter severity were incorporated into the model. Popula tion estimates derived from annual pellet group surveys were used to valida te the model. Different management options were evaluated using two criteri a: a quantity goal (number of deer) and a quality goal (percentage of antle red bucks in the deer population). Simulation results indicated that curren t management practices (with a high rate of buck harvest) resulted in high deer numbers with a low percentage of antlered bucks. Under the condition o f high buck harvest rate, increasing doe harvest did not achieve both the q uantity and the quality goals simultaneously. Moderate harvest of both sexe s would control population growth and increase the percentage of antlered b ucks. The simulations also showed that winter weather conditions and doe ha rvest shaped deer population trends but buck harvest determined the percent age of antlered bucks. Our findings indicated that quality deer management objectives can be reached only by lowering buck harvest rates while simulta neously increasing the doe harvest. The best option for achieving both the quantity and the quality goals was moderate harvest of bucks and does witho ut sex bias. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.