Darting urban deer: techniques and technology

Researchers have assessed techniques for capturing white-tailed deer in an urban environment using the Pneu-Dart delivery system and a mixture of ketamine hydrochloride and xylazine hydrochloride. Attention was given to factors including search times, distance and direction travelled by darted deer and recovery rates. It was found that darting methodology did not have an impact on recovery rates when using transmitter-equipped darts. The use of these darts allowed an improvement in rates of retrieval of missed shots and darts that did not lodge properly in unrecovered deer.