Sex and age structured matrix model applied to harvesting a white tailed deer population

A simple two-sex density dependent matrix model was applied to simulate the effects of harvesting deer (Odocoileus virginianus borealis Miller) with h arvesting of only males, with harvesting of only females, and with harvesti ng of both males and females. When both males and females were harvested th e relation between harvest and rate of harvest was a parabola. At the maxim um sustainable harvest most of the deer harvested were fawns with several I -year-olds and a few 2- and 3-year-olds also harvested. If only males were harvested, yield increased asymptotically with increased harvest effort and there was no maximum sustainable yield. Deer abundance remained near the c arrying capacity but nearly all of the deer were female. If only females we re harvested, the harvest increased to a maximum and then decreased but the harvest was much smaller than when both males and females were harvested. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.