MORTALITY PATTERNS OF WHITE-TAILED DEER IN MICHIGANS UPPER PENINSULA

We radiotracked 95 white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus, all age classes) in Michigan's Upper Peninsula between January 1992 and Januar y 1995 for a total of 38,888 deer-days. Fifty-eight deer died: 12 due to predation, 6 due to malnutrition, 14 due to other or unknown source s, and 26 killed by hunters (including 1 that was poached). Analysis o f mortality indicated rates of annual nonhunting mortality were 0.19 ( SE = 0.09) for adult females, 0.00 (SE = 0.05) for adult males and yea rling females, and 0.16 (SE = 0.07) for yearling males. Hunting mortal ity was 0.04 (SE = 0.10) for adult females, 0.72 (SE = 0.12) for adult males, 0.12 (SE = 0.09) for yearling females, and 0.47 (SE = 0.10) fo r yearling males. Hunting mortality was higher among males in both age classes (P < 0.01) though nonhunting mortality was equivalent (P grea ter than or equal to 0.05). Seasonal mortality rates of males and fema les differed during the fall (P < 0.001), coincident with Michigan's h unting seasons. Hunting mortality was significantly higher for yearlin g and adult males due to hunting regulations that limited harvest of a ntlerless deer; consequently, adult sex ratios were skewed towards fem ales.