White-tailed
deer
Paul E. Johns
Johns @srel.edu
Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, P O Drawer E, Aiken, SC 29802
and
John C. Kilgo
2Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, P O Drawer E, Aiken, SC
29802
From a public relations standpoint, the white-tailed deer (Odocoileus
virginianus) is probably the most important wildlife species occurring
on the Savannah River Site (SRS). The SRS deer herd has been the subject
of more scientific investigations than any comparable deer population
in the world, resulting in more than 125 published papers. Each year more
than 5,500 people apply to be drawn for one of the public hunts, and with
articles in hunting magazines such as Buckmasters (Handley 2000), hunters
have applied from as far away as Alaska and Italy. In thirty-six years
on the SRS, over 150,000 hunters have harvested over 40,000 deer. Each
deer harvested in South Carolina brings an estimated $1,500 into state
and local economies (U.S. Department of Interior et al. 1997). The current
SRS deer population grew from a few individuals that were present in 1950.
Early workers realized that the study of a young, rapidly expanding population
would provide invaluable insights into the basic biology of the species
(Urbston 1967). Accordingly, researchers have collected a broad base of
data on nutrition, reproduction, antler growth, parasites, genetics, and
movement for this population since the early 1960s. Such a large database
exists for no other deer population in the world.
SREL Reprint #2922
Johns, P.E. and J.C. Kilgo. 2005. White-tailed deer. p. 380-389. In Harvestable Natural Resources. In Ecology and Management of a Forested Landscape: Fifty Years on the Savannah River Site, edited by J.C. Kilgo and J.I. Blake. Island Press.
