Hunting: Cultural and Jurisdictional Differences Generate Different Patterns in Deer Harvest

Globally, hunting is a major cause of adult mortality for most deer species. In some areas, recreational hunting is by far the most important source of adult mortality. However, hunting and natural mortality rarely target the same deer sex-age classes, altering both population dynamics and selective pressures on deer populations by affecting their sex-age structure as well as their behaviour. Here, we address the ecological consequences of these differences, in the absence or presence of predators. Density-dependence and compensatory mortality in harvested deer populations are often assumed but not always demonstrated. Sport hunting is not always suffcient to maintain cervid populations at levels that will not negatively affect several ecological processes. To synthesise the ecological consequences of recreational hunting, we investigate the effects of harvest on deer mortality in relation to other types of mortality in different ecosystems. In addition to providing venison, hunting has become a major tool for population control in many deer species and can provide some food security, increasing the social legitimacy of hunting within certain human social contexts. Yet, different motivations for deer hunting (trophy, population control, meat supply) and hunting methods differ in social acceptance, and disagreement among interest groups and stakeholders may imperil the social acceptance of deer hunting.