made south of the study area in Hunting District 417. Classifi- 

 cation of these deer resulted in a ratio of 43 fawns per 100 

 adults. This low fawn/adult ratio can be attributed, at least 

 in part, to the extremely severe winter. Deer were observed 

 using haystacks as early as December 1, and dead fawns were ob- 

 served around haystacks before the end of December. 



Most of the whitetail habitat along the Judith River is on 

 private lands, whereas all the habitat along the Missouri River 

 is within the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Range. Live- 

 stock tend to concentrate along riverbottoms , and the resulting 

 overgrazing of the bottoms can harm whitetail habitat. Land use 

 practices which destroy brush species in these bottoms are also 

 very detrimental to whitetail habitat. All involved land mana- 

 gers should take extra precautions to prevent wildlife habitat 

 destruction on these riverbottom lands, as these are usually 

 superior wildlife habitat. 



Antelope 



Western Segment 



Distribution 



Figure 14 presents the distribution of antelope observations 

 A total of 711 antelope was observed during the course of the 

 study. This species is generally found in small bands (10-20 

 animals) throughout the study area in the remaining native sage- 

 brush-grassland areas. The antelope is one species that has un- 

 doubtedly seen its numbers and range greatly reduced with the ad- 

 vent and expansion of dryland agriculture. Seasonal vegetation 

 use shows the importance of the native sagebrush and grassland 

 types with some spring and fall use of small grain areas. Ante- 

 lope are typically found in the plateau and coulee head areas 

 during most of the year, with a movement into the river breaks 

 during winter. The severe winter of 1977-78 found antelope con- 

 centrated along the Missouri River and Teton River breaks near 

 Fort Benton, the Arrow Creek breaks and the Birch Creek-Black 

 Coulee breaks. Here antelope are found wintering along with mule 

 deer, making particular use of the sagebrush sidehill and ridge 

 habitat types. 



Population Characteristics 



Table 8 presents data on seasonal antelope classifications 

 for the course of the study. The average population structure 

 found was 11 percent bucks, 62 percent does and 26 percent fawns. 

 This would primarily represent postwinter populations. Varying 

 degrees of overwinter fawn mortality were noted each year. The 

 relatively mild winter of 1975-76 showed only a small decline in 

 the number of fawns/100 does. The severe winter of 1977-78, how- 

 ever, recorded a 75 percent decline in the fawn/doe ratio. This 

 severe winter caused high antelope mortalities in the study area. 



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