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In fact, Doe 12866’s fawn, which the researchers collared and nicknamed Rose, died less than a month after she was born. Her saliva contained high levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which the research team has found to be strongly correlated with fawn mortality. “Stress level does a better job of explaining survival than how many predators are around,” Dr. Diefenbach said.

And during hunting months, humans become predators.

Deer hunters play an important role in the study. Their hunting in designated areas of the forest, while staying out of others, helps researchers see how the landscape responds. Each year, participating hunters are asked to fill out a survey describing their experiences and observations. Over a decade of research, the team has gleaned new insights about how deer make it (or don’t) through hunting season, including how attuned they are to hunting pressure.

Take Doe 8921, also known as Hillside Doe. On the afternoon before rifle season, as humans tramped around the forest scouting out their hunting spots, Hillside Doe was looking for a spot of her own. She settled on the steepest (you guessed it) hillside in her home range, an inhospitable stretch of terrain covered with “boulders the size of suitcases,” Dr. Diefenbach said.

By 4 a.m. on opening day, Hillside Doe was bedded down in her safe space, as if someone had “texted her a message deer season was about to get started,” Dr. Diefenbach later wrote on the blog.

jdege wrote:What are the cortisol levels in a deer dying of starvation or disease due to overpopulation?

Journalist: "What do these deer think when they see you coming? Do they think: Here comes the nice guy who puts out our dinner? Or, there's the man that shot my brother?"

Nugent: "I don't think they're capable of either of those thoughts. They're only interested in three things: the best place to eat, having sex and how quickly they can run away. Much like the French."