We had a lot of fun with our 10th Anniversary Quiz. And now we are here to tell you how well you did…collectively. We don’t want to embarrass anyone 😉
1. Where do fawns have higher survival?
- Agricultural areas = 76% answered correctly
- Forests
Agricultural areas is the correct answer. We spent a lot of time on fawn survival and what it means to deer management. Refresh your memory here.
2. What predicts fawn survival better – level of stress hormones or density of predators?
- Stress hormones = 62% answered correctly
- Predators
Stress wreaks havoc on people AND fawns. And it is a predictor of their survival.
3. How far do males travel during the rut (4 weeks from late October to late November)?
- Less than a mile a day
- 2-3 miles per day
- Over 3 miles a day = 89% answered correctly
It seems that everyone pays attention when we post about buck behavior during the rut. Sigh. Go read about it again here, here, and here.
4. How many posts has Jeannine written about antlers, her favorite subject?
- 5
- 9
- 13 = 44% answered correctly
- 25
The current count is 13 but I’m sure it will go up. Given my feelings about antlers, the irony does not escape me. If you’re interested revisiting any of them, you can use the search function.
5. How old was the oldest PA research deer to date?
- 12
- 14
- 16 = 65% answered correctly
- 19
The oldest research deer is currently 16.5 years old. Will any of them reach 20? Only time will tell!
6. On a landscape without predators, more fawns would survive to hunting season.
- False = 38% answered correctly
I’m so disappointed people still think fawn survival is dependent on predators in the environment. In a world without predators, fawns still die at the same rate.
7. Yearling females do not disperse.
- False = 47% answered correctly
Yearling females absolutely disperse. But it looks different from their brothers and doesn’t get as much attention.
8. When do yearling males disperse?
- Spring only, when fawns are born
- Fall, just before the rut
- Some in spring, some in fall = 59% answered correctly
- Yearling males don’t disperse
Yearling males are sensitive souls. They respond to social pressures by running away from home in the spring and the fall.
9. What are the top 2 causes of mortality for adult deer in PA?
- Hunting = 42% answered correctly
- Predation
- Vehicle collisions = 46% answered correctly
- Disease
Hunting is by far the top cause of mortality with vehicle collisions coming in a distant second.
10. How large is a deer’s home range (outside of the rut) in the Big Woods?
- 350 acres
- 600 acres (~1 sq. mile) = 56% answered correctly
- 1.5 sq miles
That’s right. Perish the thought of a 20, 30, or 50 acre parcel of land containing all that a deer calls home.
11. What is Jeannine’s favorite deer?
- Any female deer = 37% answered correctly
- Ms. Everdeen, a 16.5-year-old doe
- A doe caught as a juvenile in 2009 and recaptured in 2024
- Deer 12866, star of the Real Does of the Deer Forest Study series
Come on now. We all know who run the world. All those does are fabulous but ANY female will do for me.
12. Who is the most famous deer in the Deer-Forest Blog?
- Average Joe
- Buck 8917 = 75% answered correctly
- Jeannine’s favorite deer
- Hillside Doe
Buck 8917 is our most famous deer on the blog. Neither Duane nor I can figure out how it happened, but that post was viewed over 50,000 times. It was the early days of the blog and no post has gone viral like that again. It was a crazy story.
13. What do rat control and deer hunting have in common?
- Both species are hunted with centerfire rifles
- The effort to kill an animal is inversely related to effort expended in an exponential manner = 41% answered correctly
- Urine is used as an attractant for both species
- Both species are most active at dawn and dusk
Remember 2020? When we had to figure out how to entertain ourselves at home and Duane started his war on rats? It was an interesting time.
14. How many miles would you have to walk to estimate antler rub density with adequate statistical precision (coefficient of variation = 0.10)?
- 12 miles
- 50 miles
- 94 miles
- 175 miles = 11% answered correctly
It’s a stupid number of miles.
15. Duane has been able to pattern a buck in the rut with GPS collar data
- False = 51% answered correctly
It’s nice that half of readers think this of Duane but if it were true, he would have retired and started a consulting business by now.
16. What species does Duane estimate from his trail camera photos/videos?
- Ground hogs
- Deer
- Coyotes
- Squirrels = 42% answered correctly
Trail cameras are fun but don’t bet the farm on them.
17. After monitoring the fates of 383 fawns, Duane’s level of concern regarding fawn survival ranks:
- Doesn’t move the needle = 37%
- Barely registers = 45% answered correctly
- Concerned
- DEFCON 1
Honestly, I would take either answer as a correct answer. Fawn survival in Pennsylvania is not anything that we lose sleep over.
18. What can influence rut activity?
- Temperature
- Moon Phase
- Does in estrous = 78% answered correctly
- Adult buck activity
The only thing that influences rut activity is does in estrous. The rest is just smoke and mirrors.
19. To date, how many peer-reviewed publications has the Deer Forest Study produced?
- 2
- 6
- 8
- 11 = 35% answered correctly
- 25
To date there have been 11 publications as a result of the Deer Forest Study. And there will be more! You can see all of the publications from various research conducted by Penn State, U.S. Geological Survey, Pennsylvania Game Commission, and Pennsylvania DCNR Bureau of Forestry on our publication page!
20. The Deer Forest Study has documented the presence of an October Lull.
- False = 69% answered correctly
We looked at this myth six ways from Sunday and found nothing to support it. Much to the chagrin of some people in my life.
Here’s the distribution of all test scores. That’s a pretty good bell-curve!
–Jeannine and Duane
