The intensively-farmed landscape of east-central Illinois creates a seasonal loss of potential cover and foraging locations that affects deer distribution and concentrates deer into permanent cover (i.e., riparian and woodlot habitats) during fall and winter. Certain patches of cover become seasonally void of a discernable deer population due to factors such as hunting pressure or lack of forage and are later repopulated, forming a mainland-island metapopulation dynamic. In addition to hunter influences, loss of row crop habitat can force deer to increase home range area or dispersal distances in search of suitable habitat, thereby decreasing survival. Previous studies of ecology of deer in east-central Illinois have reported late-season movements into large winter refuges, permanent cover importance, survival, and winter habitat classification. In addition, others have published papers on harvest and harvest efficiency in Illinois, reporting the significance of day of hunting season, stage of crop harvest, and amount of forest landcover on deer harvest efficiency. With these analyses providing a solid foundation, my research intends to fill information gaps (e.g., quantification of habitat characteristics and deer density) to improve management and understanding of the relationship of spatial, population, and hunting dynamics of deer in the agricultural landscape of east-central Illinois.
