Analysis of the spatial and temporal occurrence of deer spotlighting violations in Virginia

Interviews with 20 conservation agents of the Virginia Commission of Game and Inland Fisheries provided information on 70 cases of deer spot-lighting violations in 1969 and 1970. An additional survey produced information on 41 deer spotlighting cases in in 1971, The number of spotlighting violations was observed to increase during the month of October, peak in November, and decrease in January, The average time of arrest for spotlighting was 11:37 p,m,, and the largest percentage of arrests were made on Saturday evenings.

The various aspects of the violation were described including such factors as the weather; characteristics of the violator; weapon, spotlight and vehicle used; violation site; and apprehension site.

Estimation of the extent of spotlighting in Virginia was made. Using two methods 6000 and 9000 violations per year were obtained, There were no significant correlations between legal deer kill or miles of road with the number of spotlighting arrests. Correspondence with several other states indicated violator and violation characteristics were similar to those found in Virginia.

The sociological and criminological aspects of the violation were discussed, and a typology of the spotlighting violator was developed based on the assumption that the spotlighting violation occurred as the result of a decision made by the violator.