Sex and age structured matrix model applied to harvesting a white tailed deer population

A simple two-sex density dependent matrix model was applied to simulate the effects of harvesting deer (Odocoileus virginianus borealis Miller) with harvesting of only males, with harvesting of only females, and with harvesting of both males and females. When both males and females were harvested the relation between harvest and rate of harvest was a parabola. At the maximum sustainable harvest most of the deer harvested were fawns with several 1-year-olds and a few 2- and 3-year-olds also harvested. If only males were harvested, yield increased asymptotically with increased harvest effort and there was no maximum sustainable yield. Deer abundance remained near the carrying capacity but nearly all of the deer were female. If only females were harvested, the harvest increased to a maximum and then decreased but the harvest was much smaller than when both males and females were harvested.