William C. Dinkines

We captured and affixed radio collars to 80 male white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) during 1995-1997 to ascertain the wounding rate and proportion of deer that die from hunter-inflicted wounds. Our study population was hunted only with traditional archery equipment (recurve and longbows). Of the 22 deer shot by archers, 11 were recovered by the hunter, resulting in a 50% wounding rate (deer shot but not recovered). Only 3 (14%) of the 22 deer shot by hunters died and were not recovered. Based upon demographic and harvest statistics, these estimates indicate that approximately 4% of...

Quality management for white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) is becoming increasingly popular in the southeastern United States, yet surprisingly little information has been published that describes quality or trophy management strategies in detail. The quality deer program at the McAlester Army Ammunition Plant (McAAP) is unique because it maintains high hunter opportunity while producing high-quality white-tailed deer. Several strategies have been incorporated into the management program to help maintain its unique characteristics. The first is a regulation that limits hunters to...

We examined the usefulness of condition profiles, incorporating postmortem morphologic, physiologic, and dietary indices from fall-harvested deer and seasonal fecal indices of diet quality, for evaluating differences in habitat quality between adjacent populations of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). This study was conducted on East Range (4.5% of 12,000 ha cultivated) and West Range (0.8% of 18,000 ha cultivated), Fort Sill Military Reservation, southwestern Oklahoma, from November 1987 to August 1989. Analysis of postmortem blood and digesta samples revealed that deer collected...