HUNTING ANALYSIS OF WHITE-TAILED DEER IN VERMONT

1. HUNTING ANALYSIS OF WHITE-TAILED DEER IN VERMONT BY COREY RICHARDSON

2. HUNTING & GIS • “HUNTING GIVES RESOURCE MANAGERS A VALUABLE TOOL TO CONTROL POPULATIONS OF SOME SPECIES THAT MIGHT OTHERWISE EXCEED THE CARRYING CAPACITY OF THEIR HABITAT AND THREATEN THE WELL-BEING OF OTHER WILDLIFE SPECIES, AND IN SOME INSTANCES, THAT OF HUMAN HEALTH AND SAFETY” (U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE) • THE APPLICATIONS OF GIS ARE CREATING DRAMATIC BENEFITS FOR WILDLIFE MANAGERS AT A VERY RAPID PACE • “GIS IS A POWERFUL TECHNOLOGY FOR ANALYZING SPATIAL PATTERNS, HELPING TO ORGANIZE VAST DATA BASES, AND PRESENTING RESULTS IN A MANNER NOT OTHERWISE POSSIBLE. BECAUSE SPATIAL ANALYSES ARE SUCH AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE USFWS’s MISSION, GIS CAN GREATLY ASSIST MANAGERS IN THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS REGARDING THE DISPOSITION OF NATURAL RESOURCES”(U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE) • THE FINDINGS IN THIS SPATIAL ANALYSIS AND OTHERS SIMILAR COULD BE USED TO COORDINATE FUTURE PLANNING FOR THE VERMONT FISH AND WILDLFE DEPARTMENT TO MONITOR DEER HUNTING TRENDS AND TO ADJUST REGULATIONS OR FUTURE POLICIES ACCORDINGLY • IN ADDITION, FINDINGS SUCH AS THESE COULD BE USED TO SET ASIDE PROPOSED LAND FOR CONSERVATION

3. GIS HUNTING APPLICATIONS

4. VERMONT’S WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREAS (WMA’S) AND UNITS (WMU’S)

5. HUNTING IN VERMONT • “IN ORDER TO BETTER MONITOR A SPECIES THAT HAS BEEN DESIGNATED TO HUNT, EACH STATE HAS BEEN GIVEN PRIMARY REPONSIBILTY AND AUTHORITY OVER ALL WILDLIFE THAT RESIDES IN ITS BOUNDARIES” (U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE) • WHITE-TAILED DEER ARE THE MOST STUDIED AND MOST POPULAR ANIMAL TO HUNT IN THE STATE OF VERMONT • THE STATE SEAL DISPLAYING A BUCK IS A PROUD REMINDER OF THE IMPORTANCE VERMONTER’S PLACE ON THE ANIMAL • A GROWING PERCENTAGE OF HUNTERS PROUDLY PARTAKE IN THE HUNTING OF DEER EVERY SEASON THROUGH THE MEANS OF BOW, RIFLE, OR MUZZLELOADER • HOWEVER, AS MORE YOUNG HUNTERS BECOME INVOLVED WITH THE SPORT EVERY YEAR, IT IS VITAL THAT THE POPULATION BE MONITORED SO THAT THE TRADITION CAN CONTINUE

6. OBJECTIVES • EVALUATE DEER HUNTING TRENDS BY MAPPING AVERAGE DEER HARVESTS BY TOWN • DETERMINE PUBLIC HUNTING GROUNDS BY TOWN BY MAPPING VERMONT’S CONSERVED LANDS • DETERMINE BEST “UNRESTRICTED” HUNTING GROUNDS FOR DEER BY TOWN

7. THE BEST “UNRESTRICTED” HUNTING GROUNDS • METEDATA FOR VERMONT CONSERVED LANDS DATA LAYER DEFINES CONSERVED LANDS AS “LAND PARCELS THAT ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN PROTECTED FROM LAND CONVERSION OR DEVELOPMENT” AND FROM PRIVATE OWNERSHIP(VCGI) • THE CONSERVED LANDS DATA LAYER IS COMPRISED OF STATE AND FEDERAL LANDS • STATE-OWNED LAND CONSIST PRIMARILY OF WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREAS, STATE FORESTS, AND STATE PARKS, WHICH “GUARANTEE PUBLIC ACCESS FOR HUNTING” (WITH A FEW EXCEPTIONS) ON MORE THAN 244,000 ACRES. • FEDERAL LANDS, OWNED BY THE U.S. GOVERNMENT, OWN MORE THAN 400,000 ACRES IN VERMONT, MOST OF WHICH IS OPEN TO HUNTING AS NATIONAL FOREST • THIS ASSESSMENT DOES INCLUDE HUNTING GROUNDS ON PRIVATE LAND BECAUSE THIS LAND WOULD BE CONSISDERED “RESTRICTED” UNLESS PERMISSION BY THE OWNER WAS GIVEN

8. DATA COLLECTED FROM THE VERMONT FISH AND WILDLIFE DEPARTMENT DATA COLLECTED FROM VCGI IMPORT DATA TO EXCEL AND CALCULATE AVERAGE DEER HARVESTS BY TOWN DOWNLOAD TOWNS FROM VCGI TO DISPLAY AVERAGE DEER HARVESTS DOWNLOAD CONSERVED LANDS FROM VCGI TO DISPLAY COVERAGE OF PUBLIC HUNTING LANDS WITHIN TOWNS APPLY A SPATIAL JOIN TO DETERMINE AMOUNT OF CONSERVED LANDS WITHIN TOWNS MULTIPLY AMOUNT AVERAGE DEER HARVESTS PER TOWN BY AMOUNT OF CONSERVED LANDS WITHIN A TOWN TO DETERMINE THE BEST “UNRESTRICTED” HUNTING GROUNDS SOURCES & METHODS

9. TOWN DEER HARVESTS • EXPORTED DATA FROM VT FISH AND WILDLIFE DEPARTMENT TO EXCEL TO DETERMINE AVERAGE FOR YEARS 2003, 2004, AND 2005 • EXPORT TOWN NAME ATTRIBUTE TABLE AS DBF TO EXCEL • EDIT INCONSISTENCIES IN SPELLING OF TOWN NAMES AND CITIES WITHIN TOWNS SO HARVESTED DEER STATISTICS COULD BE ACCURATELY PORTRAYED IN ARCMAP • EXPORT NEW DATA TABLE AS TEXT FILE TO BE ADDED TO ARCMAP • TRENDS ALONG BORDERS: NORTHWEST, SOUTHWEST, AND CONNETICUT RIVER • FINDINGS-TOP FIVE TOWNS WITH HIGHEST AVERAGE DEER HARVESTS: HIGHGATE, FRANKLIN, FAIRFIELD, ALBURGH, AND POWNAL

10. CONSERVED LANDS

11. BEST HUNTING GROUNDS • HAVING PERFORMED A SPATIAL JOIN TO DETERMINE THE AMOUNT OF CONSERVED LANDS PER TOWN, THIS AMOUNT WAS THEN MULTIPLIED BY THE AVERAGE DEER HARVEST PER TOWN FOR A RESULT OF THE BEST HUNTING GROUNDS • TRENDS: SPREAD OUT, BUT THE MAJORITY STILL LOCATED ALONG THE BORDERS, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF STOWE • FINDINGS-TOP FIVE TOWNS TO HUNT ARE: HIGHGATE, POWNAL, STOWE, HARTFORD, AND FERRISBURG

12. TRENDS: HIGHEST DEER HARVESTS WERE GENERALLY ALONG STATES BORDERS IN THREE CORE AREAS HIGHGATE HAD THE HIGHEST DEER AVERAGE AND WAS CONSIDERED TO HAVE THE BEST HUNTING GROUNDS BASED ON COUNT OF CONSERVED LANDS DISCOVERED LATE THAT THE SPATIAL JOIN OPERATION ATUALLY COUNTED NUMBER OF CONSERVED LANDS AND NOT PIXEL CELLS WITHIN EACH TOWN DATASET ONLY DATING BACK THREE YEARS DATA OMITS DESCRIPTION OF DEER’S WEIGHT AND SEX MAKES ASSUMPTION THAT DEER ARE SEDENTARY MAKES ASSUMPTION THAT DEER POPULATION IS STAGNANT MAKES ASSUMPTION THAT ALL CONSERVED LANDS ALLOW HUNTING CONCLUSIONS & SOME FLAWS

13. FURTHER EVALUATION • DETERMINE AREA OF CONSERVED LANDS WITHIN TOWN BOUNDARIES • DETERMINE WHERE LARGER DEER ARE HARVESTED • DETERMINE HOW TOWN POPULATION HAS IMPACT ON PERCENTAGE OF HUNTERS • DEER HABITAT RANGES (INCLUDING LANDCOVER) THROUGHOUT THE STATE AND TIME OF YEAR • SURVEY OF VERMONT HUNTERS WHO ACTUALLY DISCLOSE HUNTING GROUNDS

14. THE END…QUESTIONS?