Hot Springs Village deer are in the spotlight this week as POA Management and Common Property, Forest, and Wildlife Committee Members perform a spotlight deer survey.
Estimating the deer herd population on an annual basis is critical in deer management. There are several survey types, but Hot Springs Village POA uses a ” spotlight survey ” method.
Tuesday night, March 12, turned into a chilly evening and marked the beginning of the 2024 HSV Spotlight Deer Survey. Todd Noles, Streets, and Sanitation Superintendent; David Harper, Lakes, Dams, Common Property, and Forestry Superintendent; Scott McCord, Common Property, Forest, and Wildlife Committee (CPFWC) Vice-chair, and I drove around the Village shining a spotlight in the woods to document the deer population and location. (Yes, you read that correctly. I was with them.) This survey occurred in the evening hours between 7:58 and 11:16 p.m.
Harper notified the HSV Police Department ahead of time that they would be conducting the survey.
The adventure began when we met up at the Hot Springs Village POA Administration Building a little before 8:00 p.m., piled into the pickup truck and made our way on the designated path.
We began our survey when turning left on E. Valencia from DeSoto, at which point we started traveling at the speed of seven miles per hour. While shining the spotlights to locate deer, we turned left on Fresno to Carmona, crossed DeSoto and took a right on Barcelona, right on Cortez Road, left on Minorca, left on Balearic, and left on Ponce de Leon until we hit DeSoto again and made our way back to the POA Administration Building around 11:16 p.m.
Crawling along, we stopped when there was a deer sighting while McCord called out the precise coordinates from his GPS phone app while Harper assisted with the spotlighting.
Noles performed double or triple duty as he drove the truck while shining a spotlight, documented the findings, and trained Harper and McCord to conduct the survey. Noles received spotlight deer survey training from the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (AGFC) around eight or so years ago. Since Noles was promoted to Streets and Sanitation Superintendent and Harper was promoted to the role of Common Property Superintendent, in January, it was crucial that Noles turn over the spotlight survey reins to him. The survey will continue throughout the week, with different CPFWC members assisting Superintendent Harper.
Twenty-six deer were spotted on Tuesday evening.
Harper and crew will reverse the Tuesday night route on Wednesday, March 13. The survey will continue for two more evenings with the team concentrating on the east end of the Village.
After completion of the survey this week, Harper will send the data to Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. AGFC will use a formula to calculate the HSV deer population, and return findings and their recommendations to Harper.
By Cheryl Dowden
Featured image: The deer photo at the top of this article is not from the 2024 Spotlight Deer Survey and is for illustrative purposes only.
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