There are many ways to get involved: you can hunt the KQDC and bring harvested deer to the check stations; you can work at a check station; you can attend a workshop and then collect deer density and impact data in spring; and you can count deer and other wildlife along any of the six roadside count routes.

Hunt the KQDC/work at a KQDC Check Station

There are three check stations on the Kinzua Quality Area that are open during the deer rifle season.  Generally they are open 10 am to 6 pm on the first two days and the two Saturdays of the season.  Hunters bring harvested deer to the check stations and data on the deer, harvest location, and hunters is taken.  Click on Map & Access to locate any of the three check stations.

Hunters bringing antlerless deer to check stations get two tickets to the Hunter Appreciation Banquet; hunters bringing in antlered deer get one ticket.  Ticket holders attend the annual banquet in February, where they get a great meal, hear interesting speakers, get an annual update on the deer herd, and have a chance to win any of several raffle prizes, including muzzleloader rifles.

Persons wishing to volunteer at the check station attend a training session to learn how to weigh and age deer and measure antlers.  Volunteers are assigned to any of the three check stations for whichever days they wish to volunteer.  To volunteer to take the training and work at a check station, click on Contact Us.

Density and Impact Data Workshop

A deer density and impact workshop is held every year in April on the Kinzua Quality Area at the Bradford Ranger Office.  The morning session is held indoors and is a basic information session that prepares attendees for going into the field to collect density and impact data.  The morning session goes over deer biology, ecology, hunting, Quality Deer Management principles, and techniques for collecting, analyzing, and interpreting deer density and impact data.  There is ample time for questions and answers, and there are coffee/donut breaks.  After lunch, trainees are grouped into teams of 3-4 with an experience team leader.  Teams are transported to one of the study locations on the Kinzua Quality Area and walk to a stating point.

Once at the starting point, teams walk a one-mile transect (mostly downhill) stopping every 100 feet to collect information on deer density (counting groups of deer pellets) and deer impact (browse impact on selected "indicator" seedlings).  Teams collect deer browse by clipping twigs and placing them in a bag.  Members take turns at the various tasks: using a compass to walk a straight line; counting deer pellet groups and measuring deer impact; recording data, and clipping deer browse.  The transect usually takes about two hours to walk.  Team members are then collected up, taken back to the classroom, and density and impact data are recorded, analyzed, and discussed, including making management recommendations related to deer density and impact.

Persons wishing to take the training and collect data for the deer density and impact workshop can click on Contact Us for more information.  Date and place for the density and impact workshop for 2011 will be announced in early 2011.

Roadside Counts

Volunteers drive one of six routes through the Kinzua Quality Area August 1 - September 15 every year, either for the 2-hour period just after dawn, or just before dusk.  Usually there are 1-2 counters in addition to the driver.  The routes are driven slowly and all deer seen are identified and recorded as spike bucks, branch-antlered bucks, does, fawns, or unknown.  In addition to deer, other wildlife, such as bears, coyotes, bobcats, turkeys, and grouse are counted.  When the roadside counts started observers never saw bears, coyotes, or bobcats; now these predators are seen fairly often.  Almost all the volunteers are local hunters.  Persons wishing to volunteer for roadside counts may work as many days as they wish, with as many of the different routes as they wish.

Persons volunteering to count deer and other wildlife along the roadside counts attend a half-day training session.  To find out how to take the training session and participate in roadside counts, click on Contact Us for more information.