The Effects Of Overpopulation And Hunting On The Fort Knox Deer Herd
The Fort Knox Military Reservation began to show signs of overbrowsing eight years after stocking with white-tailed deer (Odicoileua virginianus). Data collected annually on the reservation's deer herd during the deer hunting season indicated a rapid decline of the deer's physical condition as the wintering population increased from 5,500 to 9,000 over the period 1962-1965 and the deer range became overpopulated. Average dressed weights of yearling bucks and fawns decreased 16-18% while those of yearling does decreased 11% from 1958-1965. Average antler beam diameters of...
