Page 31 - 2018 MAY/JUNE Outdoor Oklahoma

Barber said nearly all of the HHE studies
take place on private land, often focusing DON p. BrOWN/ODWC
on areas where over-abundant deer have

led to crop damage complaints.

strategy. With many of the locations where the collections take
place having buck-to-doe ratios that are out of balance, the
removal of even a few additional antlerless deer can help herd
demographics. Barber said nearly all of the HHE studies take place
on private land, often focusing on areas where over-abundant deer
have led to crop damage complaints. A few sessions have been
held on public areas when quotas have been difficult to attain, he
said. Because antlered bucks are a prized commodity for most
properties, securing permission to remove antlerless deer is much
easier than if bucks were the target of the collections.
Other reasons for focusing collection efforts on does involves
obtaining breeding data and fetus monitoring. Lastly, does are
generally more abundant, offering more opportunity for sampling,
and their behavior of congregating on agricultural fields improves Big game technician Emily Clark removes the lymph nodes from a study
collection success. deer while wildlife technician Zeke Hawkes and wildlife biologist Joey
Big game technician Emily Clark has been instrumental McAllister look on.
in conducting the HHE studies since they began four years
ago. She is usually the researcher in charge of collecting and
packaging the biological samples from each deer. That could DON p. BrOWN/ODWC
mean working on as many as five deer at each survey location,
often with multiple locations being surveyed in a single night.
“It’s a lot of work, but it’s fun. And we’re getting a lot of good
data,” she said.
Clark described what happens during an HHE operation.
Usually a crew of about 10 people will assemble, made up of
Wildlife Division personnel and occasional volunteers. The goal
for the afternoon/evening is to harvest about five adult does per
property, begin processing samples immediately in the field, then
bring the deer to a central processing area for further sample
collection and study.
Only Wildlife Department marksmen are allowed to shoot
deer for the HHE. They aim for a neck shot, for several important
reasons. First, it results in immediate incapacitation of the animal.
“The last thing our crew wants is for a deer to bolt and run,
making recovery a longer and more difficult process,” Clark said.
Second, the bullet placement allows field researchers to rush
to the downed animal to withdraw fresh blood from the cardiac
muscle, a critical factor needed for certain health testing. The
neck shot also preserves the animal’s brain and jaw, which are
also used in collecting health and age data.
Once recovered and the cardiac blood sample taken in the field,
the carcass is then transported to a make-shift field laboratory to
be further processed and for the collection of additional samples.
Live-weight is taken as well as dressed weight, and overall body
condition evaluated. Biologists look for any existing injuries or
obvious signs of disease. Parasites such as ticks and mites are
quantified. Kidneys are removed and the fat around the organs
is weighed to arrive at a Kidney Fat Index, which is a very good
indicator of general health within that population. “The higher the Researchers take the weight of each deer taken for the Herd Health Evalu-
number, the healthier the deer,” Clark said. ation Study, just one of many data collected from each animal.

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