Herd Monitoring

Herd Monitoring is another important building block of QDM. There are two types of data commonly collected ‹ harvest data and observation data. Harvest data should be collected from deer harvested during the season or found dead at other times. Observation data may be collected at any time, but generally collected while hunting. Together, these data help hunters and managers make educated decisions about their deer herds. Good records generally result in good management decisions, whereas poor or incomplete records often result in faulty decisions.

It takes a substantial amount of data to develop a good "picture" of a herd. On many properties, the number of deer taken is too small and measurements are too variable for conclusions to be drawn from a single year's data.
Therefore, data must be collected over several years or combined with surrounding properties' data to determine trends in herd condition.

Harvest Data

Harvest records are generally the most important information from which to base management decisions. However, management decisions are only as good as the quality of data gathered. Therefore, harvest data must be complete and consistently collected from every deer harvested. This should be made mandatory. If this is not possible, a convenient, well-equipped check station or shed to process deer will help encourage data collection.

When possible, one person should record all of the data while others process the deer. Data collected on both bucks and does include: date of harvest, sex, weight, age (jawbone), harvest location, hunter's name, and any comments or unique observations. Additional data collected on bucks should include number of points, antler spread, antler length, circumference at the base, and possibly other details such as Boone & Crockett score. Additional data collected on does include evidence of lactation ("in milk") and fetal information.

All jawbones should be retained until after the hunting season and provided to an experienced wildlife biologist for aging. With practice, hunters can become efficient at estimating deer age. Several resource materials on deer aging are available from the Quality Deer Management Association (QDMA).

Harvest data provide useful insight into the current condition of a deer herd. When compared to previous years, harvest data provide the opportunity to see where a deer management program has been and where it is going. This information is particularly useful in QDM programs that implement antler restrictions to protect young bucks.

Observation Data

When properly collected, observation data can reveal important details about a herd's size, sex ratio, fawn survival, age structure, and overall management success. Because some age classes of bucks are protected from harvest under QDM, observation data, especially on bucks, can provide useful information not provided by harvest data. The most important aspect of observation data is consistency. Whether collected throughout the year or only during the hunting season, observation data should be collected the same way each time and compared only to information collected during the same period in future years.

Observation data can be collected by hunters or with remote-sensing cameras. When collected by hunters, every deer should be counted during each outing, even if the same animal was observed during a previous observation period. This means the same animal may be counted several times during a season. This is fine. The purpose is not to count every individual deer on a property, but rather to determine the relative abundance of deer and the proportion of bucks, does, and fawns. Also, unless a deer can be positively identified as a buck, doe, or fawn, it should be recorded as "unknown." A small amount of reliable data is better than a large amount containing numerous misidentified animals.

The use of remote-sensing cameras positioned along trails or feeding areas is a relatively new method for collecting observation data. These cameras have the advantage that they can monitor deer at night and when no one is hunting the area, as well as provide useful reference photographs. This is especially important for mature bucks, which are infrequently seen by hunters except during the rut. The photographs taken can provide useful information on herd size, sex ratio, and buck abundance and age structure. They also can raise the excitement level around the deer camp and verify that management efforts to produce older bucks are working.