ABSTRACT
Deer management exists on two landscape levels: that involving regulation of deer hunting within large administrative units identified herein as deer administrative units, and active management on individual forestlands herein identified as deer/forest management areas. The latter are individual forestlands managed by single entities wherein factors related to deer ecology and management, including habitat, are actively manipulated. In the past, state natural resource agencies attempted to manage deer by regulating hunting within deer administrative units erroneously identified as deer management units, where the only thing managed was control of hunting. State natural resource agencies regulate deer management by determining season and bag limits for harvesting deer. Unfortunately, these regulations are often manipulated in response to the political power of deer hunters. True management involves more, including control of access, manipulation of forest vegetation, and monitoring of deer density and impact. Some state agencies have realized the difference, and acknowledge as much by developing deer management assistance programs wherein permits for reducing deer density are made available for individual deer/forest management areas. This is the future and true dimension of deer management.
