Is it important to count deer on a hunting property?

Why drones aren’t necessarily the answer

Technology has made wildlife observation easier, and a drone equipped with a good infrared camera can certainly locate deer.

But that approach has several limitations.

A capable thermal imaging drone can cost thousands of dollars. Drone operation is also regulated by the FAA, and there are restrictions on where and how you can fly. You also cannot simply fly across neighboring private property without permission.

And after all that, you still face the same basic problem.

How do you know you found every deer?

For most landowners and hunters, there are easier and more useful ways to collect information.

Snow track surveys can help, but they have limitations

Another method I have used is a snow track and bed survey.

Ideally, you wait for several inches of fresh snow that begins in the evening and stops sometime during the night. The following day, you walk the property looking for deer tracks and beds.

This can give you an indication of how many deer have recently been using the property.

The problem is that tracks usually cannot tell you whether you are looking at an adult buck, adult doe, button buck, or fawn.

That information becomes important when you are trying to understand the structure and long-term direction of your deer population.

Track deer population trends instead

Rather than worrying about the exact number of deer on your property, ask three questions:

Is my deer population increasing?

Is it declining?

Or is it relatively stable?

One practical way to answer those questions is to conduct an observation survey for approximately 30 days each year. Record what you see during the same general period each year, then compare the results over time.

Consistency is extremely important.

If you conduct your survey in April one year and June the next, your numbers may not be comparable.

Most whitetail fawns are born during the spring. A survey conducted before fawning season will naturally produce different results from one conducted after new fawns have entered the population.

Try to collect your observations during approximately the same dates each year and for roughly the same length of time.

Use your tree stand or hunting blind

You do not have to walk every acre of your property looking for deer.

In fact, it can be better to remain stationary and let the deer come to you.

One of the simplest methods is recording deer observations from your tree stand or hunting blind.

Every time you hunt during your survey period, record what you see.

But don’t simply write down the total number of deer.

Try to classify them.

For example, you might record:

Adult bucks

Adult does

Button bucks

Fawns

Unknown deer

Sometimes you simply will not be able to identify a deer with certainty.

That is fine.

It is better to classify the animal as unknown than to guess and introduce bad information into your records.

You also have to be careful about counting the same deer more than once.

Imagine that three deer enter a field and eventually leave. Thirty minutes later, three more deer appear at the opposite end of the field. Later, a buck walks into view.

Did you see seven different deer?

Maybe.

But some of the second group could have been deer you already saw.

That uncertainty is another reason an exact deer count can be misleading. What matters more is consistently recording what you observe and comparing those observations over time.

Trail cameras are excellent for deer surveys

Trail cameras are another very useful tool.

Instead of moving around the property looking for deer, position cameras in locations where deer regularly travel and allow the animals to come to you.

You can use the same approach with observations from a stand, blind, or even a window overlooking your property.

The important thing is consistency.

Use similar observation locations, similar methods, and similar dates from year to year whenever possible.

Over time, the patterns become far more valuable than any individual photograph or sighting.

A real example from a 1,200-acre Ohio property

For roughly 12 years, I managed the hunting on a 1,200-acre working farm in Athens County, Ohio.

The landowners wanted to maintain the deer population at approximately its existing level. The property was leased to 13 hunters, so we needed a way to determine whether the deer population was stable, increasing, or declining.

During the first couple of years, I did not establish specific harvest objectives for adult does. Instead, we collected information and allowed the hunters to determine how many does they harvested.

After about two years, the observation data showed a clear trend.

We were seeing more adult does.

We were seeing more fawns.

We were also seeing more bucks.

The deer population appeared to be increasing.

Once we had that information, I could begin establishing adult doe harvest objectives.

One year, the target was 27 adult does. The hunters harvested 26.

When we collected observation data the following year, the adult doe population had declined noticeably.

That is exactly the kind of information a consistent deer observation survey can provide.

You are not necessarily trying to determine that your farm has exactly 73 deer.

You are trying to determine what direction the population is moving.

Deer surveys can tell you more than population size

Consistent observations can also reveal changes in the composition of your deer herd.

For example:

Are you seeing more or fewer fawns?

Are you seeing more adult bucks?

Are adult doe observations increasing?

What does the relationship between adult buck and adult doe observations look like?

When collected consistently, these observations can provide useful information about your buck-to-doe ratio and overall herd structure.

Again, the objective isn’t mathematical perfection.

Wild deer move.

You will never see every animal.

What you are looking for are trends.

Record deer in five basic categories

After your observation period is complete, compile your observations into five categories:

1. Adult bucks
2. Adult does
3. Fawns
4. Button bucks
5. Unknown deer

Then conduct another survey during the same general time period and from the same locations the following year.

After several years, your records begin showing you what your deer population is actually doing.

That information can help guide future hunting and property management decisions much better than a one-day deer count.

Experience behind this method

My background is in wildlife management.

I have a degree in wildlife management and spent nearly 30 years working with the Ohio Division of Wildlife in research and wildlife management. During my career, my work included trapping and banding several wildlife species, and my staff and I were responsible for wildlife management and research activities on approximately 150,000 acres of public land in southeastern Ohio.

I have also managed hunting properties, worked with private landowners, and spent decades studying wildlife and habitat.

The deer observation method described here grew out of that experience.

Start collecting information you can compare

If you want to understand the deer population on your property, don’t become too concerned about determining an exact number.

Instead, develop a repeatable way to observe your deer.

Choose a consistent period of the year.

Use the same stands, blinds, cameras, or observation locations whenever possible.

Record what you see.

Separate deer into meaningful categories.

Then compare your observations from one year to the next.

After several seasons, you will have something far more valuable than a one-time deer count.

You will have information showing you where your deer population is headed.