Effects of seasons and hunting on space use by female white-tailed deer in a developed landscape in southeastern Nebraska

White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) were extirpated from a 1,800-ha natural area along the Missouri River near Omaha, Nebraska, USA shortly after settlement in the mid-1800s, but they recolonized the area in the early 1960s. In absence of hunting and predators, the population of deer became overabundant in the 1980s and 1990s. Deer impacted plant communities at Fontenelle Forest (FF) and Gifford Point (GP) and a 200–300% increase in deer–vehicle collisions was observed in the area. We radiocollared female white-tailed deer in this region during February 1995–March 1996 to determine the effects of phenological seasons and archery and muzzleloader hunting on space use. Mean size of annual home ranges of 50 radiocollared female deer was 275 ha (range = 18–4,265 ha, SE = 88). Forty-one of 50 deer (82%) maintained high fidelity to their small annual home ranges ( = 115 ha, SE = 13) and made short seasonal movements (