Where opportunity meets desire: Predicting antlerless deer harvest selectivity during Wisconsin's nine‐day firearm season

Abstract

Regulated recreational hunting is the primary tool to manage white‐tailed deer ( Odocoileus virginianus ) populations in the United States. However, it evolved during a time of low deer abundance when management goals focused on restoration. As deer abundance increases and hunter participation declines, the efficacy of recreational hunting as a deer management tool is a growing concern and raises questions about hunters’ harvest desire and their subsequent harvest success while afield—particularly for antlerless deer. We surveyed 3,000 resident, white‐tailed deer hunters during 2022 in Wisconsin, USA, and we used repeated measures logistic regression (i.e., same individual hunter repeated for any days they had a harvest opportunity during the 9‐day firearm season) to model decisions of whether to take a shot at an antlerless deer on a given day. Our results suggested that antlerless deer harvest was limited primarily by constraints on hunters’ desire for venison rather than by harvest opportunity. From a deer management perspective, these results highlighted a potential disconnect in deer population objectives and harvest goals between wildlife managers and recreational deer hunters.