Prairie Dog Creek 



Mule Deer 



Population characteristics : During the six seasons of study 

 142 mule deer were observed on the Prairie Dog Creek study 

 area (Table 1). Average group size was lowest during the 

 summer months and highest in the winter season. This pattern 

 is similar to that observed in the other two study areas. 



Mule deer densities, in terms of numbers seen per hour of 

 aerial survey (Table 49), is considerably lower than that 

 observed on the Hanging Woman and Otter Creek study areas. 

 The highest figure, obtained during the winter surveys, 

 was 24.9 mule deer observed per hour of flight o The rugged 

 terrain and large areas of ponderosa pine cover probably 

 lowered the density figures. 



No production data or population structures were ascertained 

 because no observations were made during the fall surveys^ 

 In fact, no observations were made during five of the twelve 

 aerial surveys conducted on the Prairie Dog Creek study area. 



Distribution: Observations for all seasons of the study are 

 shown in Figure 35. None of the observations fell into the 

 15 plus category. Most of the observations, especially during 

 spring and summer, occurred on the upland area between Prairie 

 Dog and Bull Creeks. Several deer were observed wintering in 

 the Jack Creek vicinity and on the ridge between Spring Creek 

 and Prairie Dog Creek. 



No fall observations were made. It seems possible that many 

 deer may have moved to the nearby Tongue River bottoms. 



Vegetation type usage: The ponderosa pine type received the 

 most usage by mule deer in the Prairie Dog Creek area (Table 

 50). During the spring and summer of 1979, 92 and 100 percent 

 respectively of the mule deer observed were in the ponderosa 

 pine type. It had substantial use during the winter and 

 spring (1979) also. The sagebrush/grassland type had 39 and 

 49 percent of the mule deer observed during the winter (1979- 

 1980) and spring (1979) seasons. The only observation in the 

 1980 summer occurred in the sagebrush/grassland vegetation type, 

 The only creekbottom observation was noted during the 1980 

 spring season. 



Activity : Mule deer activity at the moment of observation is 

 recorded in Table 51. Most deer in the two spring seasons were 

 feeding when observed, 55 percent in 1979 and 85 percent in 

 1980. During summer 1979 and winter 1979-80, 50 percent of the 

 deer were standing. Very few deer were observed lying down 

 in any season. 



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