Assessing the implications of sexual segregation when surveying white‐tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus

Baited camera surveys are often used to study white‐tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus populations and inform harvest decisions. Surveys are commonly conducted in late summer or early fall when deer populations are expected to be segregated sexually, whereas hunting seasons typically occur during the breeding season when sexes are likely to be mixed. However, the effects of socio‐sexual shifts in space use on pre‐season camera surveys has not been evaluated. We conducted a baited survey before the hunting season followed by passive camera surveys during the hunting season on three properties in southwestern Georgia, USA. We collected 51 106 images of deer before and during the hunting season from baited and passive cameras. Based on interpolated maps of camera detections, the populations were highly segregated during the September baited surveys. In contrast, subsequent passive camera surveys indicated high overlap of males and females during the breeding months, with males shifting their distribution towards females. Because most management units on private lands are substantially smaller than our camera arrays (typically < 1000 ha), our results suggest that pre‐season surveys may not accurately reflect the population available for harvest during the hunting season. Establishment of cooperative management programs among adjacent landholdings may improve management effectiveness. In addition, managers should anticipate shifts in male distributions during the breeding months and real‐time analytical approaches could be developed with the use of cellular‐based cameras to rapidly alter harvest objectives.