Capture of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) is vital for telemetric studies of the species. A variety of methods such as drop nets, clover traps and rocket nets have been employed to capture deer. However, most methods require direct observation of trap sites, which has the obvious limitation of controlling human scent around trap sites. We describe a new technique for capturing deer using rocket nets coupled with wireless remote video. Capture rates for two periods in 2005 using remote video were higher (0.10 and 0.17 deer/h) than the traditional on-site observation method used in 2004 (0.05 and 0.09 deer/h). We suggest that this technique is more efficient than other reported capture techniques for free-ranging white-tailed deer.
