ill 



T^all observations show the mule deer remaining in small groups 

 and still widely dispersed (Pip;ure 37). The northeast and 

 southern areas again had the most observations. Not even the 

 lower portions of drainap;e-ways had enough water to support 

 mule deer during the drought of the fall season. 



Winter observations are shown in Figure 38. The mild weather 

 is shown in the small group sizes as still nearly 30/S of the 

 observations are in the 1-3 category and only one group larger 

 than 8 was seen. No ma.-Jor concentration areas are apparent from 

 this one season of observations. 



Vegetation type usage : Examination of Table ^ shows that the 

 Donderosa pine type received the most usage by mule deer in every 

 season during the study. This is not surprising in light of 

 the amount of area included in the ponderosa pine vegetation type 

 (Figure 2). The sagebrush/grassland type followed in importance. 

 This, combined with the sagebrush and grassland subtypes of the 

 ponderosa pine type, may have proved most significant with a 

 statistical evaluation due to the small portion of the area in the 

 sagebrush/grassland type. Only in the summer of I98O were 

 significant numbers of mule deer observed in the creek bottom 

 subtynes. No mule deer were observed in agricultural vegetation 

 subtypes simply because there are practically no agricultural 

 developments within the study area borders. 



Activity: The highest percentages of mule deer observed feeding 

 occurred during the spring and summer seasons (Table 5). The 

 lowest percentages were observed during fall and winter. This 

 compares with observations made in other areas of southeastern 

 Montana (Martin 1980b). During this period deer are recovering 

 from the stresses of winter. If they are unable to build them- 

 selves up at this time, especially as the stresses of summer 

 increase, they will be in poor shape to survive the following 

 winter season. By far the greatest percentage of deer observed 

 laying down occurred during the winter months as they attempted 

 to conserve energy. 



Use of topography : The greatest numbers of mule deer were observed 

 on dissected mid-slones or hillsides in every season of the study 

 (Table 6). Only in the spring and summer of 198O was this topo- 

 graohic feature used by less than 75% of the mule deer in the 

 area. Mesa-butte tops or plateaus were utilized in every season. 

 Winter and summer seasons sustained the greatest use in this 

 category with the summer of 198I being the highest at l6%. The 

 numbers of deer observed feeding ad.jacent to creek bottoms account 

 for the high usage of the alluvium/terrace category in the spring 

 and summer of 198O. 



Use of exposure: Seasonal use of exposure is shown in Table 7. 

 Usage of northerly slopes was highest in winter, 58/J, and lowest 

 during the 198O spring, 12%. This reflects the light snow conditions 

 during the winter. Southern slooe usage increased from 12% in 

 the 1980 spring to H8% in the 198I spring. Easterly exposures 

 received the most usage in the 198O spring and the least in the 



