DEER CAM PROJECT

According to Missouri Department of Conservation Wildlife Research Biologist Jeff Beringer one of the project leaders of the “Real-Time Visual Recording of Wildlife Habitat Use” who has explained to me the need for the project is as follows.

Knowledge of habitat use is important when making wildlife management decisions for whitetail deer or any other wildlife for that matter. Meaningful habitat studies require accurate whitetail deer locations. Typically whitetail deer locations are estimated from radio-tracking data or more recently, through Global Positions Systems (GPS). Global Positions Systems are expensive and their use is limited by whitetail deer size and canopy coverage associated with upland forest species. With radio-tracking data the errors of triangulating generate significant amounts of ambiguity. White and Garrett (1986,1990) have shown that the power of habitat selection models greatly decrease with decreasing precision of triangulation bearings. Ambiguity arises when locations fall on or near habitat boundaries and it becomes difficult to determine which habitat to place that location. Attempting to measure use of microhabitats and associations with other whitetail deer or other wildlife is not practical with traditional telemetry techniques. Marginal locations are typically thrown out or randomly assigned to one of the two bounding habitats, which raises considerable uncertainty. When habitat areas and/or the number of locations are small the tendency to misclassify results and is further magnified.

Currently, knowledge of the whitetail deer habitat or other wildlife usage or availability is most accurate when direct observations of whitetail deer are made. Current analyses provide only approximations, which, in turn, can be misleading. And, even if accurate locations are known, evaluations of how whitetail deer use particular habitats, for food or cover, still require subjective determinations by wildlife biologist. Accurate real-time observations of whitetail deer or other wildlife behavior within a habitat generally requires direct observation, which may affect a whitetail deer or other wildlife behavior. The use of video camera will provide a non-invasive way to observe how a whitetail deer or other wildlife uses a habitat and interacts with other wildlife or humans. It will also be possible to use the video image to resolve location errors within a habitat.

PROOF IS IN THE PICTURE

If you don’t think this is not a great opportunity for wildlife biologist, land owners, and hunters. Let me point out to you the one of the most significant changes that has taken hunters by storm, and has affected the hunter in unlimited amount of different ways.

The surveillance game cameras, which only a few existed a few years ago has exploded and now dozens have taken over the woods. The original purpose of these surveillance game cameras was to help biologist across the world keep track of animals without become to intrusive to the animal surroundings and daily routine.

What this has done for the hunter and land owner trying to create habitat for local wildlife such as deer is to give all of us an idea what kind of deer are passing through the land. Along with what deer have made it’s home range on your land and how healthy they look.

As a game management tool there is not one single thing that can help us solve the life long question. What works and what does not work?

When it come to planting food plots, cutting timber, putting in watering holes, mineral licks and in general the habitat we have provided for the deer on our land. Time and money can be wasted. These surveillance game cameras can help reduce the time on things that don’t work and can help by spending money on things that do.

They can also show the main direction of deer travel through your land and allow you to place food plots in areas you may have never thought of.

It basically comes down to, that there is no limit to the use of these surveillance game cameras. With some surveillance game cameras imprinting time and date.

They can show what time whitetail deer and other wildlife travel. Which with keeping track of what type of weather they move the most in, which moon phases effect the whitetail deer the most, the temperature that increase movement and how hunting pressure, pre-rut and rut affects the movement of free ranging deer on your land.

With all that in mind just imagine no matter how great a single picture is the “Real-Time Visual Recording of Wildlife Habitat Use” will open a whole new door for wildlife biologist, land owners, hunters and even manufactures of hunting and wildlife management products.

THE DEER CAM

Miniature wireless video camera are used in a wide variety of functions ranging from concealed surveillance to real-time viewing of the football field from the referees perspective (RefCam) These camera systems transmit FM signals that are received by any cable ready TV, with transmissions ranges of over ½ mile. The video signal can easily be stored using a VCR and provide clean, sharp, high-resolution color pictures. These types of cameras have been in use for over 2 years by law enforcement organizations. The technology is well developed.

Some of the objectives from the very start of this research project in July of 2001, from the project leaders Jeff Beringer, Wildlife Research Biologist and Joel F. Sartwell, Wildlife Systems Analyst are what type of camera and how it will be mounted.
According to Jeff Beringer first phase of the project, which is almost complete, was to create a rugged, weatherproof miniature wireless video camera system that will activate remotely on a pre-programmed schedule. Second to determine feasibility and survivability of an animal mounted miniature video camera on a whitetail deer. Then to determine the limitations of the wireless video camera system and determine if video images from animal mounted video camera can provide direct observations of habitat use and whitetail deer behavior.

The second phase of this project will be field tested by conducting it with captive whitetail deer in order to evaluate the video camera and transmitter mounted at the antler bass of an adult deer and/or on the top of a collar. The camera will be direct forward in a manner that includes the top of the whitetail deer’s head in the camera field of view. In order to obtain an estimated location the animal will also be fitted with a radio-tracking collar. The unit will be shut off at night but may be shut off intermittently during the day depending up how long the test will last.

The entire system is rugged and fully weatherproof and encased in a metal box to guard against damage to the unit from deer rubbing and sparring activities.

CONCULSION

The DEER CAM project objectives schedule to be complete in June of 2003, just think what we know today to be true could be completely different tomorrow.

With wildlife management at an all time high throughout the country by landowners and hunters. This will not only break new ground for the whitetail deer providing nothing but benefits, but for tons of other wildlife as well, that could eventually be part of this type of study someday throughout the world. The good OLE days could be yet to come, by knowing what best benefits for all types of wildlife. The possibilities are unlimited.

So next keep you eye on Missouri Department of Conservation and it’s “Real-Time Visual Recording of Wildlife Habitat Use” study of whitetail deer.

I would like the thank Jeff Beringer and the Missouri Department of Conservation for all the information and for the leading the nation in it’s conservation effort of our wildlife.

Hope to see you in the woods or on the water. Horntagger.

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