Vol. 23, No. 4 
Page 3 
due to the current high market value of redtop and timothy seed and the dismal 
outlook for soybean and corn prices, the private landowner plans to leave his 
meadow intact this year. The meadow provides the best remaining nest cover in 
the area. 
The tenacity of the prairie chickens at Hoyleton continues to "boggle the 
mind." Despite a landscape that may be described as a "biological desert," the 
count at Hoyleton has ranged from 2 to 11 cocks and averaged 6.1 cocks over the 
past 12 springs. The count increased from 4 males in 1979 to 7 males this spring. 
There should be no prairie chickens at Hoyleton--yet they persist. Because 
Hoyleton obviously has unique characteristics that allow survival of this flock, 
this area appears to have potential comparable to Yeatter-Field-McGraw at Bogota-- 
the area which has supported the highest density of prairie chickens in North 
America. A minimum of secure nest cover, perhaps as little as 40 acres, might 
preserve the prairie chickens at Hoyleton indefinitely. 
Ecology and Management of White - tailed Deer - W- 87 -R C. M. Nixon, 
L. P. Hansen, 
J. E. Chelsvig 
Five deer captured in the vicinity of Allerton Park, Piatt County, Illinois, 
were marked with radio transmitter collars. Four of the 5 transmitters are still 
functioning and the animals wearing them are located 3-4 times per week with a 
vehicle-mounted antenna and receiver. Two females, 1 adult and 1 fawn, are 
currently in or around the park and each maintains a consistent home range of 
less than 1 square mile. Detailed home ranges will be determined later. 
The other 2 radio-collared deer, both adult females, have dispersed greater 
distances. One doe, captured 3 March 1 980 , moved 2 miles southwest of the 
capture site, 6 days later she crossed Sangamon River to an area 1 mile northeast 
of the capture site, and after 13 March she was found 4 miles further up river. 
She was located 22 March approximately 12 miles northeast of the capture point 
where she has remained covering a consistent home range similar in size to that 
of the radio-monitored deer still near Allerton Park. 
The other dispersing doe was captured 9 March. Through 22 April she 
maintained a small home range; only once was she found more than 1 mile from the 
capture site. On 25 April, however, she was found approximately 5 miles north¬ 
east of the capture site. As there is little good deer habitat in that area, we 
expect her to move again. 
We will continue to monitor daily movements of these deer through summer 
and into next winter, provided the transmitters continue to function. 
