110 



Table 46. Observations by month and mean group size for mule deer on 

 the Foster Creek study area. 



Year Observations Individuals Mean Group Size 



1980 April 31 250 8.1 

 May 39 I8I 4.6 



Spring To Ji31 575" 



June 33 55 1.7 



July 98 187 1.9 



August 40 113 2.8 



Summer ITT IF5 STT" 



September 17 76 4.5 



October 4o 205 5.1 



November 39 201 5.2 



Pall ^ W2 570~ 



December 28 224 8.0 



1981 January 29 213 7.3 

 February 19 223 11.7 



Winter 75 5"50 877 



March 31 310 10.0 



April 44 329 7.5 



May 71 201 2.8 



~SprTng TWE 8T0 57B~ 



June 64 125 2.0 



July 96 202 2.1 



August 52 154 3.0 



Summer TH TOl TTT' 



€ 



impossible. Although deer were observed in larger herds, they 

 were able to range widely during the entire season. 



Cover type usage : Seasonal use of cover types is presented in 

 Table 49. Use of ponderosa pine habitats was undoubtedly 

 underestimated for all seasons due to the difficulty of observing 

 deer in coniferous cover. In spite of this observational bias, a 

 lareje nroportion of observations occurred in this cover category 

 all seasons. Ponderosa pine habitats appeared to be most 

 heavily used during winter and soring. 



Use of sagebrush and grassland habitats was fairly constant 

 except during the spring seasons of I98O and I98I. Deer made 

 more use of creek bottom habitats during the first spring and 

 appeared to shift from creek bottom habitats to sagebrush/ 

 grassland habitats the second soring. Succulent forage was even 

 more scarce early the second spring than the first, causing livestock 



