Local Support of a Citizen Science Program for Aging White-tail Deer

Local Support of a Citizen Science Program for Aging White-tail Deer

Currently in Michigan, successful hunters may have their deer aged at a DNR check station. Some hunters would like to see mandatory checks to increase the amount of data obtained and used in management decisions, resulting in significant increases for operations. A possible solution is a citizen science program where members of the public are trained as “certified agers” to collect essential data from harvested deer and provide that information to the DNR. In order to assess local sportsmen interest and feasibility of such a program, a skeleton was developed which included curriculum, costs, etc. and then presented to local sportsmen’s group leaders. Leaders were then asked a series of questions related to both personal and perceived insights of their respective groups. Questions ranged from support for a citizen science system, personal interest, who would be a good “certified ager”, and potential barriers to participation. Results from the twenty-two participants showed a majority would support a training program but weren’t interested in partaking themselves. Many felt public business owners or officials would be ideal agers, local bars or gas stations would be good locations and that trust in reliability of data would be the largest barrier. While there is support for a citizen science program, significant time and effort will be required to develop a detailed program proposal before many become committed participants.

Addington, Robert

Biology

Lake Superior State University

2014

Dr. Jason Garvon

Copyright Robert Addington: All rights reserved. LSSU use only.

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English

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S20230110002