Fred S. Guthery

Cover Selection by Northern Bobwhites and Hunters on a Public-hunting Area

Strength of the correlation between cover selection indices for hunters and quarry may provide information for improving hunter satisfaction and managing hunting pressure. Using radiotelemetry, we studied northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) cover selection on the Packsaddle Wildlife Management Area in western Oklahoma, during Oct-Feb periods beginning in 1991-92 and extending through 2001-02. Hunter locations were recorded by Global Position System (GPS) units for the 2004-05 and 2005-06 hunting seasons to determine hunter cover selection. Avoidance, neutral use, or selection of cover...

Line Transect vs. Capture-removal Estimates of Bobwhite Density

We compared estimates of northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) density derived from line transect (LT) and capture-removal (CR) sampling with each other and with 2 independent indices of abundance (coveys flushed/party-hour of hunting and captures/l00 trap-sets). CR estimates were not correlated with either index (P ≥ 0.371), whereas LT estimates were correlated with captures/100 trap-sets (P = 0.009) and not with coveys/party-hour (P = 0.156). Although CR and LT estimates were not correlated (P = 0.288), the estimators gave similar (P > 0.05) estimates of density in each of 4 years...

Bobwhite Wing and Gizzard Fat as Predictors of Body Fat

Forty bobwhites (Colinus virginianus) were collected in late winter of 2 years from a variety of habitats in northwestern Texas to evaluate the use of wing fat and gizzard fat as predictors of body fat. No differences were found in body fat between sexes or between years. Regression analyses revealed that the best predictor of body fat was wing fat, which was related to body fat in an exponential, rather than linear, fashion. A logarithmic model (Y = e-0.0 6 + 0.17X, R2 = 0.68, P < 0.0001) best described the observed curvilinear relationship between body fat (g) and wing fat (%). The...

Rodent Movements In South Texas And Their Relation To Density Estimates

The average distance moved between captures (d) in a 10 x 10 live trap grid with 15.2-m spacing was determined for eight species of rodents in South Texas during January-July 1975 and 1976. Large samples yielded fairly precise estimates of d for cotton rats (Sigmodon hisPidus) (25.8 ± 0.58 m), deer mice (Peromyscus leucopus and P. maniculatus) (33.2 ± 2.50 m), fulvous harvest mice (Reithrodontomys tulvescens) (36.3 ± 1.92 m), and gray wood rats (Neotoma micropus) (20.7 ± 1.61 m). Generally, movements of adults were larger than those of juveniles and movements of males were larger than...