Deer Population Survey Methods

Summary: Our wildlife biologists are starting to conduct annual deer surveys. We commonly use attractants like C'mere Deer in conjunction with our trail cameras for our annual population analysis. Hunters can also use the attractant to see what the composition of their deer heard is as well. C'mere Deer works very well when used on native forbs that are still green and agriculture plants but you should avoid cultivated legumes. If you are getting a lot of camera shots without deer you...

Our wildlife biologists are starting to conduct annual deer surveys. We commonly use attractants like C'mere Deer in conjunction with our trail cameras for our annual population analysis. Hunters can also use the attractant to see what the composition of their deer heard is as well. C'mere Deer works very well when used on native forbs that are still green and agriculture plants but you should avoid cultivated legumes. If you are getting a lot of camera shots without deer you can solve this problem by using the C'mere Deer powder or liquid concentrate and make a mineral pit in front of the camera. Very seldom will a deer not investigate the pit or dig giving the camera plenty of time to trigger. It is best not use C'mere Deer on dried vegetation that has reached its full growth. Look for plants that are green and succulent whenever possible. C'mere Deer attractant can also be used in conjunction with various baits to increase the number of deer at your photo stations. Remember that you want to see every deer that is on your property. You will need to count the age class and sex of each animal. Good trail cameras with high pixel counts will certainly help in this endeavor. Do not forget to look closely at each fawn as you should be able to see the pedicels on male fawns. This is an important component of the sex ratio in your deer heard. With practice you will be able to identify each animal on your property on sight. Properly placing your C'mere Deer attractant and or bait so the camera will be able to catch each animal will definitely increase the accuracy of your survey. It is important to also use the same photo stations as you have in past years. Using baid and inconjunction with C'mere Deer as an attractant will normally attract every whitetail deer on your property. Using the same photo stations from year to year will give you a general population trend. Trends will show how you are doing in managing the wildlife habitat on your property. If set up correctly there should be no dead spots between photo stations. The scent of C'mere Deer attractant will help assure good coverage of the herd. However it is also a good idea to place photo stations with trail cameras in additional areas. Start by placing cameras along property boundaries to catch deer whose territory just touches your property. Also place additional cameras in islands of isolated cover such as swales in the middle of a large agricultural block. In addition you can place some random cameras photo stations through out the property to eliminate any missed individuals. The information from these additional photo stations should not be mixed with the survey data from the standard annual photo stations. The use of additional trail cameras may provide you with more complete information on each individual dear that is using your property. Again the use of C'mere Deer attractant should bring any deer to your cameras. Remember that the early deer seasons will be starting soon so now is the time to do your early season scouting work. You can use deer attractants like C'mere Deer and photo stations on public lands to determine what animals are present there as well. Information is power when it comes to deer hunting. The harder you work at this time of year the luckier you will be on opening day. Depending on where you live it may be too early to define travel patterns that will last through the fall. However, using good quality trail cameras and an attractant like C'mere Deer will help you discover what animals are using a broad area of habitat.