Other notable differences in deer behavior and population characteristics associated with the 

 two regions were: 



1) Deer in mountainous habitats generally occupy the smallest seasonal home ranges; 

 deer in the breaks and badlands are intermediate; and those in the open prairie have 

 the largest. On diverse, riparian-agricultural habitat along river bottoms and on the 

 plains, summer home ranges are relatively small. 



2) Deer on mountainous ranges, which are generally characterized by restricted 

 animal distribution and movement, high deer density and low forage quality, limit 

 energy expenditure by selecting small microenvironments, and forage on a wide 

 variety of plant material to maintain physiological function and body heat. Although 

 winter ranges in good condition are key to deer survival over winter, these 

 adaptations underscore the additional importance of stored fat accumulated the 

 previous summer and autumn. 



3) In prairie environments, especially under open winter conditions, deer tend to 

 range more widely, utilizing agricultural and riparian habitats to obtain nearly 1/2 of 

 the yearlong diet. 



4) Over-winter survival and recruitment of mule deer fawns into adult populations are 

 generally low in mountainous-foothill habitats. Moderate to high recruitment is typical 

 of breaks, badlands and prairie, although annual variations can be considerable as 

 environmental conditions fluctuate. Winter survival and recruitment are consistently 

 high for whitetails along the major riparian zones of eastern Montana. 



5) Adult survival patterns vary inversely with fawn survival and hunting pressure. In 

 mountain environments, adults of both species exhibit considerable longevity; females 

 commonly live 12-16 years and males can live 8 to 10. In prairies, females live 8 to 

 10 years, while males live 4 to 5 years (rarely 6-8 years). 



What does all this mean to deer managwnent? 



Although the bottom line is that deer management must be tailored to the local situation 

 (meaning those with similar habitats and population characteristics), there are four 

 characteristics to keep in mind when attempting to manage a specific population. 



First of all, because of the annual variability of the environmental conditions of the prairie, 

 deer populations can fluctuate in number widely in just a few years. The environmental 

 conditions are more stable in the mountainous terrain and, therefore, the deer populations do 

 not fluctuate as much or as frequently. Therefore, eastern Montana hunting seasons are 

 typically more liberal to take advantage of these wide fluctuations in the prairie environments 

 while they tend to be more conservative in the more mountainous regions to match the 

 general stability of populations in those environments. Other factors that influence this 



