HUNTING ANALYSIS OF WHITETAILED DEER IN VERMONT

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HUNTING ANALYSIS OF WHITE-TAILED DEER IN VERMONT

• BY
• COREY RICHARDSON

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HUNTING GIS

• HUNTING GIVES RESOURCE MANAGERS A VALUABLE TOOL
  TO CONTROL POPULATIONS OF SOME SPECIES THAT MIGHT
  OTHERWISE EXCEED THE CARRYING CAPACITY OF THEIR
  HABITAT AND THREATEN THE WELL-BEING OF OTHER
  WILDLIFE SPECIES, AND IN SOME INSTANCES, THAT OF
  HUMAN HEALTH AND SAFETY (U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE
  SERVICE)
• THE APPLICATIONS OF GIS ARE CREATING DRAMATIC
  BENEFITS FOR WILDLIFE MANAGERS AT A VERY RAPID
  PACE
• GIS IS A POWERFUL TECHNOLOGY FOR ANALYZING
  SPATIAL PATTERNS, HELPING TO ORGANIZE VAST DATA
  BASES, AND PRESENTING RESULTS IN A MANNER NOT
  OTHERWISE POSSIBLE. BECAUSE SPATIAL ANALYSES ARE
  SUCH AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE USFWSs MISSION, GIS
  CAN GREATLY ASSIST MANAGERS IN THE
  DECISION-MAKING PROCESS REGARDING THE DISPOSITION
  OF NATURAL RESOURCES(U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE
  SERVICE)
• THE FINDINGS IN THIS SPATIAL ANALYSIS AND OTHERS
  SIMILAR COULD BE USED TO COORDINATE FUTURE
  PLANNING FOR THE VERMONT FISH AND WILDLFE
  DEPARTMENT TO MONITOR DEER HUNTING TRENDS AND TO
  ADJUST REGULATIONS OR FUTURE POLICIES ACCORDINGLY
• IN ADDITION, FINDINGS SUCH AS THESE COULD BE USED
  TO SET ASIDE PROPOSED LAND FOR CONSERVATION

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GIS HUNTING APPLICATIONS
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VERMONTS WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREAS (WMAS) AND
UNITS (WMUS)
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HUNTING IN VERMONT

• IN ORDER TO BETTER MONITOR A SPECIES THAT HAS
  BEEN DESIGNATED TO HUNT, EACH STATE HAS BEEN
  GIVEN PRIMARY REPONSIBILTY AND AUTHORITY OVER ALL
  WILDLIFE THAT RESIDES IN ITS BOUNDARIES (U.S.
  FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE)
• WHITE-TAILED DEER ARE THE MOST STUDIED AND MOST
  POPULAR ANIMAL TO HUNT IN THE STATE OF VERMONT
• THE STATE SEAL DISPLAYING A BUCK IS A PROUD
  REMINDER OF THE IMPORTANCE VERMONTERS PLACE ON
  THE ANIMAL
• A GROWING PERCENTAGE OF HUNTERS PROUDLY PARTAKE
  IN THE HUNTING OF DEER EVERY SEASON THROUGH THE
  MEANS OF BOW, RIFLE, OR MUZZLELOADER
• HOWEVER, AS MORE YOUNG HUNTERS BECOME INVOLVED
  WITH THE SPORT EVERY YEAR, IT IS VITAL THAT THE
  POPULATION BE MONITORED SO THAT THE TRADITION CAN
  CONTINUE

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OBJECTIVES

• EVALUATE DEER HUNTING TRENDS BY MAPPING AVERAGE
  DEER HARVESTS BY TOWN
• DETERMINE PUBLIC HUNTING GROUNDS BY TOWN BY
  MAPPING VERMONTS CONSERVED LANDS
• DETERMINE BEST UNRESTRICTED HUNTING GROUNDS FOR
  DEER BY TOWN

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THE BEST UNRESTRICTED HUNTING GROUNDS

• METEDATA FOR VERMONT CONSERVED LANDS DATA LAYER
  DEFINES CONSERVED LANDS AS LAND PARCELS THAT ARE
  EXPECTED TO REMAIN PROTECTED FROM LAND CONVERSION
  OR DEVELOPMENT AND FROM PRIVATE OWNERSHIP(VCGI)
• THE CONSERVED LANDS DATA LAYER IS COMPRISED OF
  STATE AND FEDERAL LANDS
• STATE-OWNED LAND CONSIST PRIMARILY OF WILDLIFE
  MANAGEMENT AREAS, STATE FORESTS, AND STATE PARKS,
  WHICH GUARANTEE PUBLIC ACCESS FOR HUNTING (WITH
  A FEW EXCEPTIONS) ON MORE THAN 244,000 ACRES.
• FEDERAL LANDS, OWNED BY THE U.S. GOVERNMENT, OWN
  MORE THAN 400,000 ACRES IN VERMONT, MOST OF WHICH
  IS OPEN TO HUNTING AS NATIONAL FOREST
• THIS ASSESSMENT DOES INCLUDE HUNTING GROUNDS ON
  PRIVATE LAND BECAUSE THIS LAND WOULD BE
  CONSISDERED RESTRICTED UNLESS PERMISSION BY THE
  OWNER WAS GIVEN

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SOURCES METHODS

• DATA COLLECTED FROM THE VERMONT FISH AND WILDLIFE
  DEPARTMENT
• DATA COLLECTED FROM VCGI

• IMPORT DATA TO EXCEL AND CALCULATE AVERAGE DEER
  HARVESTS BY TOWN
• DOWNLOAD TOWNS FROM VCGI TO DISPLAY AVERAGE DEER
  HARVESTS
• DOWNLOAD CONSERVED LANDS FROM VCGI TO DISPLAY
  COVERAGE OF PUBLIC HUNTING LANDS WITHIN TOWNS
• APPLY A SPATIAL JOIN TO DETERMINE AMOUNT OF
  CONSERVED LANDS WITHIN TOWNS
• MULTIPLY AMOUNT AVERAGE DEER HARVESTS PER TOWN BY
  AMOUNT OF CONSERVED LANDS WITHIN A TOWN TO
  DETERMINE THE BEST UNRESTRICTED HUNTING GROUNDS

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TOWN DEER HARVESTS

• EXPORTED DATA FROM VT FISH AND WILDLIFE
  DEPARTMENT TO EXCEL TO DETERMINE AVERAGE FOR
  YEARS 2003, 2004, AND 2005
• EXPORT TOWN NAME ATTRIBUTE TABLE AS DBF TO EXCEL
• EDIT INCONSISTENCIES IN SPELLING OF TOWN NAMES
  AND CITIES WITHIN TOWNS SO HARVESTED DEER
  STATISTICS COULD BE ACCURATELY PORTRAYED IN
  ARCMAP
• EXPORT NEW DATA TABLE AS TEXT FILE TO BE ADDED TO
  ARCMAP
• TRENDS ALONG BORDERS NORTHWEST, SOUTHWEST, AND
  CONNETICUT RIVER
• FINDINGS-TOP FIVE TOWNS WITH HIGHEST AVERAGE DEER
  HARVESTS HIGHGATE, FRANKLIN, FAIRFIELD, ALBURGH,
  AND POWNAL

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CONSERVED LANDS
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BEST HUNTING GROUNDS

• HAVING PERFORMED A SPATIAL JOIN TO DETERMINE THE
  AMOUNT OF CONSERVED LANDS PER TOWN, THIS AMOUNT
  WAS THEN MULTIPLIED BY THE AVERAGE DEER HARVEST
  PER TOWN FOR A RESULT OF THE BEST HUNTING GROUNDS
• TRENDS SPREAD OUT, BUT THE MAJORITY STILL
  LOCATED ALONG THE BORDERS, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF
  STOWE
• FINDINGS-TOP FIVE TOWNS TO HUNT ARE HIGHGATE,
  POWNAL, STOWE, HARTFORD, AND FERRISBURG

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CONCLUSIONS SOME FLAWS

• TRENDS HIGHEST DEER HARVESTS WERE GENERALLY
  ALONG STATES BORDERS IN THREE CORE AREAS
• HIGHGATE HAD THE HIGHEST DEER AVERAGE AND WAS
  CONSIDERED TO HAVE THE BEST HUNTING GROUNDS BASED
  ON COUNT OF CONSERVED LANDS

• DISCOVERED LATE THAT THE SPATIAL JOIN OPERATION
  ATUALLY COUNTED NUMBER OF CONSERVED LANDS AND NOT
  PIXEL CELLS WITHIN EACH TOWN
• DATASET ONLY DATING BACK THREE YEARS
• DATA OMITS DESCRIPTION OF DEERS WEIGHT AND SEX
• MAKES ASSUMPTION THAT DEER ARE SEDENTARY
• MAKES ASSUMPTION THAT DEER POPULATION IS STAGNANT
• MAKES ASSUMPTION THAT ALL CONSERVED LANDS ALLOW
  HUNTING

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FURTHER EVALUATION

• DETERMINE AREA OF CONSERVED LANDS WITHIN TOWN
  BOUNDARIES
• DETERMINE WHERE LARGER DEER ARE HARVESTED
• DETERMINE HOW TOWN POPULATION HAS IMPACT ON
  PERCENTAGE OF HUNTERS
• DEER HABITAT RANGES (INCLUDING LANDCOVER)
  THROUGHOUT THE STATE AND TIME OF YEAR
• SURVEY OF VERMONT HUNTERS WHO ACTUALLY DISCLOSE
  HUNTING GROUNDS

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THE ENDQUESTIONS?