REPORTING-RATE VARIABILITY AND PRECISION OF WHITE-TAILED DEER HARVEST ESTIMATES IN PENNSYLVANIA

Use of reported harvests as an index to actual harvest assumes that the proportion of harvest reported is equal for all types of animals and hunters and does not vary spatially or temporally. We modeled reporting rates of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) harvest to determine whether they varied by year, deer management unit (DMU), type of deer (antlered or antlerless), or sex. During rifle seasons in Pennsylvania, USA, from 1990 to 2001, reporting rates varied by year, DMU, and type of deer (antlered or antlerless). Harvest estimates of antlered and antlerless deer were precise for both statewide (CV