Research Article Landscape Attributes Explain Migratory Caribou Vulnerability to Sport Hunting SABRINA PLANTE, 1 Caribou Ungava and Centre d’  Etudes Nordiques, D epartement de Biologie, Universit e Laval, 1045, rue de la M edecine, Qu ebec, Canada G1V 0A6 CHRISTIAN DUSSAULT, Minist ere des For^ ets, de la Faune et des Parcs, Direction de l’expertise sur la faune et ses habitats, Minist ere des For^ ets, de la Faune, et des Parcs, 880 chemin Sainte-Foy, Qu ebec, Canada G1S 4X4; and Caribou Ungava, D epartement de Biologie, Universit e Laval, 1045, rue de la M edecine, Qu ebec, Canada G1V 0A6 STEEVE D. C ^ OT  E, Caribou Ungava and Centre d’  Etudes Nordiques, D epartement de Biologie, Universit e Laval, 1045, rue de la M edecine, Qu ebec, Canada G1V 0A6 ABSTRACT Human disturbances are increasing in Arctic regions and have been suggested as one of the main factors explaining caribou (Rangifer tarandus) decline. The cumulative effects of disturbances may negatively affect caribou habitat use, survival, and population dynamics. Thus, there is a need to evaluate the impact of various human disturbances, especially those that cause direct mortality (e.g., sport hunting). We evaluated the relative importance of caribou and hunter habitat selection and landscape characteristics on caribou vulnerability to sport hunting in northern Qu ebec, Canada. We used resource selection functions to describe habitat selection of 223 caribou and 87 hunters. We then characterized >169,000 caribou harvest sites recorded over 17 years according to the relative probability of co-occurrence of caribou and hunters, the relative probability of occurrence of hunters only, or the characteristics of the landscape (e.g., distance to human infrastructures, elevation, land cover type). Landscape characteristics better explained caribou vulnerability to sport hunting than habitat selection of caribou and hunters, or their co-occurrence. Caribou were more vulnerable in proximity to hunting infrastructures (e.g., roads, outfitter camps) than elsewhere, but caribou strongly avoided roads. Caribou were also more vulnerable on frozen lakes than in other land cover types. Lakes were, however, avoided by caribou and not selected by hunters. Harvest was more likely in smoother terrain, even if caribou and hunters did not select for this characteristic. We demonstrated caribou were more vulnerable in areas with good accessibility (near roads) or where caribou were easily detectable (lakes, smoother terrain), which also represents areas that were either avoided or not selected by caribou or hunters. This discrepancy between harvest distribution and behaviors of caribou and hunters suggests that harvest may be an opportunistic event where visibility and accessibility increased chances of success for hunters. Managers could use this information to manipulate hunting success according to population estimates and harvest quota by establishing minimal distance to risky areas within which hunting would be prohibited. Ó 2016 The Wildlife Society. KEY WORDS game species vulnerability, human disturbances, northern Qu ebec, Rangifer tarandus, resource selection functions, sport hunting. When facing predation risk, prey may respond by modifying their movement patterns (Stankowich and Blumstein 2005), increasing their vigilance rate (Cherry et al. 2015), or selecting safer habitat (Creel et al. 2005). These responses reduce predation risk but may also have costs, including reduced energy intake (Fortin et al. 2004) with impacts on reproduction (Creel and Christianson 2008). Human disturbances can also trigger anti-predator responses that are similar to those induced by other predators (Frid and Dill 2002). The most common response of animals to human disturbances is avoidance (Fahrig and Rytwinski 2009, Ben  ıtez-L opez et al. 2010) and some studies suggest that avoidance increases with disturbance intensity (Ciuti et al. 2012, Leblond et al. 2013). Although most human disturbances do not cause direct mortality in animals, hunting is a particular case of human disturbance where anti-predator responses can be invoked and prey mortality can occur. As with natural predation, hunting pressure may lead game species to leave habitat patches providing good foraging opportunities for safer ones (Kilgo et al. 1998, Benhaiem et al. 2008, Proffitt et al. 2009). Unlike most human disturbances, however, there is a real mortality risk associated with hunting, and animals that trade-off foraging to favor safety may increase their probability of survival (Proffitt et al. 2009, Lone et al. Received: 29 February 2016; Accepted: 30 October 2016 1 E-mail: sabrina.plante.6@ulaval.ca The Journal of Wildlife Management 81(2):238–247; 2017; DOI: 10.1002/jwmg.21203 238 The Journal of Wildlife Management  81(2)