Population Dynamics and Age Determination for Five Utah Deer Herds

Ages of 213 deer killed during the 1972 hunting season were determined by: (1) eruption-replacement and wear criteria in the field: (2) employing the tooth eruption-replacement and wear criteria under optimum laboratory conditions; and by (3) cementum-annulation counts. Incisors collected for cementum-annulation counts were decalcified in 5 percent nitric acid, sections 16-18 microns were cut on a cryostat and stained in hematoxylin for 18 ± 2 minutes. Age determinations by cementum-annulation counts showed 87 percent agreement with the results obtained by eruption-replacement and wear criteria in the laboratory. Survival rates were estimated from the age distribution of 740 teeth aged by cementum-annulation counts. The average adult doe survival rate was 0.55. Other population parameters were also determined. All five deer herds showed apparent negative rates of population change, averaging -0.14. The adult female survival rate appeared to be the major source of variation between units in rate of population change. The correlation between hunting pressure and the rate of population change was statistically significant