ELKINS, W.Va. — Residents of some rural West Virginia counties will notice spotlights from the road near their homes in the next two months. However, before you pick up the phone to call 9-1-1 or a shotgun to investigate, it may actually be an effort to enhance wildlife instead of poaching.
Division of Natural Resources personnel will conduct a second annual spotlight survey for whitetail deer during August and September. The agency conducted the first of the spotlight surveys last year.
“We did more than 40 counties last year and we’re planning to hit 36 counties this year,” said DNR Game Management Supervisor Gary Foster. “The deer distance sampling is the technique we’re using. It’s a good method to use to get a better idea about deer densities. We didn’t want to stop after just a year.”
The data collected becomes part of the equation in the state’s overall deer management plan. However, it’s one of the more labor intensive methods of collecting data.
“We have two spotlighters in a vehicle and a driver,” Foster said. “We’ll try to look at all habitat along the route and record if deer are in the fields or in the woods. We also use range finders to get distances and we look for age and sex.”
The surveys are done on the back roads only. Foster said they stay away from U.S. Routes where traffic is a concern for safety reasons. The average speed of the team during the survey is eight miles an hour. Foster advised those living along the route will be given ample notification ahead of time.
“It’s purely done from the back of a vehicle and we actually deliver flyers along the routes the week before to notify landowners,” he said. “We stay right on the public roads and we don’t go onto private property at all.”