Starting this month, biologists from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) will begin conducting a study in Southwest Washington that will help the department develop a new method for monitoring black-tailed deer, according to a news release.
“Black-tailed deer are hard to survey because of the densely vegetated habitat they live in,” said Kyle Garrison, WDFW ungulate section manager. “You can’t count each individual deer over a large area, so we have to rely on other sources of information to monitor their populations. With this study, we will gather the data we need to develop and test new surveying and monitoring methods.”
A variety of technologies will be used to test the best ways to monitor Washington’s black-tailed deer. GPS collars will provide researchers with real-time locations of collared deer, while trail cameras can take photos and videos showing which deer were in the area. Proximity sensors can let researchers know when a collared deer approaches a certain distance of a trail camera, even if the camera itself doesn’t capture footage of the deer.
“Improving our understanding of these populations and their characteristics will help us better manage this species into the future, including during hunting season setting,” said Brendan Oates, an ungulate specialist at WDFW. “All of this information will help us create a model that uses multiple sources of information to estimate black-tailed deer populations in Washington more accurately.”
The study will take place in Southwest Washington on state and private industrial lands within the boundaries of Game Management Units 520, 550 and 556. This month, biologists will capture black-tailed deer, fit them with GPS collars and then release them. Later, efforts will shift to deploying trail cameras and proximity sensors throughout black-tailed deer habitats within the study area.
