Conclusion
Our results show that survival rates vary by capture method for up to 3-months of age for white-tailed deer neonates. Additionally, even though there was some consistency amongst competing models among candidate sets analyzed by capture method (i.e., VIT only, opportunistic, and combined VIT and opportunistic captures), top models differed. Our interpretation of ecological covariates also differed amongst models, albeit interpretation did not vary as drastically as for Gilbert et al. (2014). Regardless, our results suggest that mortality varies by three time intervals and therefore, models aimed to describe the relationship between ecological covariates and survival should be assessed by these time periods, particularly for models describing survival <2 weeks of age. Survival rates derived from neonate white-tailed deer captured opportunistically should also be adjusted downward by ~10-25%. Finally, although forest is limiting in a prairie landscape, percent canopy cover is important as it likely provides cover from inclement precipitation events, which can negatively affect neonate survival up to 6-months of age.