Temporal effects of relative hunter activity on adult male white-tailed deer habitat use

Abstract

Context Predation risk, whether from large carnivores or humans, is a primary driver of movement and habitat selection for ungulates. Throughout much of the geographical range of white-tailed deer, predation risk during autumn and winter is driven by hunters; however, information about how deer respond to hunting pressure during a long hunting season is lacking. Aims We aimed to determine how differences in daily temporal exposure to hunting risk affected habitat selection of adult male white-tailed deer. Methods We deployed GPS collars on 42 adult male white-tailed deer during the 2017–2018 and 2018–2019 firearm hunting seasons in Mississippi, USA. GPS collars provided fine-scale spatial and temporal information regarding habitat use of our study area. Key results We showed a mismatch between what hunters and deer selected; landscape characteristics selected most by hunters were least selected by deer during the day, which we believe has never been documented. Fine-scale temporal analysis showed that deer selected for some areas (food plots) as much as five times more often during the night, when no hunting risk was present, than during the day, when risk was present. Conclusions Habitat selection by deer varies depending on the amount of risk that is present. Even in a high-risk heavily hunted area, adult male white-tailed deer can recognise external cues on the landscape, and shift habitat selection both spatially and temporally to favour areas that present less risk. Implications This study, to our knowledge, provides the first evidence that white-tailed deer actively selected for habitat characteristics that hunters were not utilising. To minimise the effectiveness of risk-avoidance behaviours used by deer, we suggest hunters moderate temporal hunting effort across time to decrease the risk to which deer are exposed, thereby minimising the response by deer.