From: robinson@ac.dal.ca
Newsgroups: talk.politics.animals
Subject: Re: New Subscriber and a look on hunting
Date: 8 Apr 92 12:16:40 GMT
Organization: Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

In article <72734@netnews.upenn.edu>, barkdoll@cattell.psych.upenn.edu (Edwin Barkdoll) writes:
> In article <1992Apr2.090640.29682@wpg.com> russ@wpg.com (Russell Lawrence) writes:
>>John Robinson writes:
>>jr> Are does legal in your area Mike?  They are in mine and they are 
>>jr> *every bit* as wary as bucks.  Perhaps even more so as I've seen 
>>jr> several bucks around here but can only remember sighting one doe.  
>>
>>From article <rd3f2INNaqk@agate.berkeley.edu>, by linan@argon.berkeley.edu (Mike Linan):
>>ml> No they aren't legal to hunt in California John.  In fact, this 
>>ml> sounds like a very good example for Mr.  Lawernce.  Notice 
>>ml> Russell how the observed behaviour of the deer that is hunted is 
>>ml> vastly different from that of the deer that has not been hunted 
>>ml> with respect to their encounters with man.  
>>ml> 
>>ml> Now why do you suppose they behave differently?  Do you suppose it 
>>ml> could be from some sort of "learned" fear?  Or maybe the two have 
>>ml> different instincts.
>>
>>Or maybe the "harvest" in John's area has simply removed all the 
>>individuals with high-profile behavioral patterns, without modifying
>>the conduct of the survivors.
> 
> 	There can be a number of confounds in studies which look at
> development of certain behaviors as a hunting season progresses.
> Russell mentions one - behavior of individual animals is not changing
> rather the average behavior of the population may change simply by
> virtue of a strong selection pressure, i.e. hunting.
> 	Another is that fawns normally undergo (perhaps) developmental
> changes in "flightiness" from more to less flighty
> 	Yearling males, and to some degree 2.5 yo's also undergo
> changes in behavior apparently independent of hunting stress.  These
> younger males seem to have less stable and perhaps less familiar home
> ranges than do older bucks, and may as a result be more visible to
> hunters.  For example increased yearling vulnerability is seen in a
> previously unhunted deer herd on 18K acres of a national wildlife
> refuge.
> 	Despite the repeated reference to bucks becoming almost
> totally nocturnal, I have never seen any reference to a study
> supporting this -- perhaps whoever posted that claim could supply a
> reference.  There are however some which do NOT find bucks or does for
> that matter becoming almost totally nocturnal during hunting seasons.
> Beir and McCullough Wildl. Monogr. 109 (1990) find that yearround peak
> activity either just precedes sunset or just follows sunrise.  Similar
> data although less extensive can be found in Kammermyer and
> Marchington J. Wildl. Manage. 41(2) 1977.  Nevertheless there is at
> least one situation during which the _doe_ becomes almost exclusively
> nocturnal and that is during estrus.  This nocturnal activity last at
> most about 2 days for an individual doe during november.  One might
> imagine that an increase in buck nocturnal activity might also be
> observed during that time.

Year round?  Irregardless of hunting seasons?  Was the area they studied 
subject to heavy hunting pressure?  Moderate?  Light?

> 
> 	This is not to imply that I think deer are incapable of
> learning about humans.  I fully agree that they are quite capable of
> learning all sorts of things about hunters.  However, I do NOT agree
> that this ability translates into a tangible effect on differential
> survival of age groups during hunting season.  An early study by
> Macguire and Severinghaus (1954) NY Fish and Game J. observed
> increased yearling kill only for the first day of season, Eberhardt
> (I've cited this b4, 1961) found that the proportion of an age class
> in the population at large was the same as the proportion in the
> harvest.  Similar data were obtained in NH (or VT) by Laramie and
> White (1965) [cited in _Dynamics of Large Mammal Populations_ Fowler
> and Smith ed. (1981)].

Ahhh, but there was an increase on the first day....interesting.  If this 
happens consistently it would seem to suggest that older deer recognize the 
signs of opening day fever prior to the commencement of the hunting season 
and take cover.

In essence what this study is saying is that overall, hunters randomly sample
the population and thereby end up with a similar distribution?  This would also 
seem to negate the claim that hunters are selecting for *any* particular 
trait and that overall, what determines any particular deer's chance of 
survival is the number of other deer in its age group.

Was this study conducted on a number of different herds or only one?  Have 
its results been reproduced and corroborated in other areas?

> 	So,  if the hunting season is short and not very intense, you
> might see some effect but probably only minimal.

Depends.  Here the season is about 1 month long, maybe more.  It is intense 
on the weekends, but not usually too intense (where I hunt at least) during 
the week.  I've never been out on opening day, I may go this year.  I 
suspect intensity in many areas looks like an exponentially decreasing 
curve (starts out high and stays that way for a short period and then drops 
dramatically for a short period, levels out a bit and tapers off towards 
the end of the season.

> 
> Edwin Barkdoll
> barkdoll@cattell.psych.upenn.edu
> eb3@world.std.com
-- 
John Robinson                  Only criminals, tyrants, and cowards have
robinson@ac.dal.ca                 reason to fear the armed, honest citizen.
DOD #0069