Experience of the prefecture with hunting management influences the effectiveness of wildlife policy

Overabundant ungulate populations have impacted forestry and agricultural systems, as well as natural ecosystems, worldwide. To effectively control the sika deer (Cervus nippon) and wild boar (Sus scrofa) populations, which are currently under limited hunting pressure in Japan, we evaluated the prefectures' past management experiences with 2 wildlife laws: a prefecture‐determined management system for relaxing hunting regulations implemented in 2000 and municipality‐determined damage control system for subsidized culling implemented in 2008. Time series data (1990–2014) of sika deer and wild boar harvest per hunter for each prefecture were grouped using dynamic time warping clustering analyses. All groups of both ungulates demonstrated significant increases in harvest per hunter after implementing both laws. The prefectures with the most experience in deer management could control sika deer populations through management planning, culling supported by subsidies, and enforcement of antlerless deer harvest. The strategies are likely ineffective for controlling wild boar populations because of the lack of effective selective harvesting and limited survey methods for population monitoring. Our findings suggest that prefectures' experience in hunting management influences the success of population reduction actions for sika deer. The prefectures’ experience in population management combining hunting and culling influences the increase in sika deer harvest per hunter through feedback management.