Use of topography : The most significant information gleaned 

 from Table 52 is the lack of use of the lowland features by 

 mule deer. During the four seasons when more than one 

 observation was made, only in the spring of 1980 were deer 

 observed on a flood plain. None were observed on alluvium/ 

 terrace terrain. The heavy use of the bottom lands by 

 domestic livestock and much human activity in the form of 

 core drilling, road building and various environmental studies 

 may have kept deer usage to a minimum. 



Dissected midslopes were used in every season observations were 

 made, ranging from 34 to 100 percent. Mesa-butte tops 

 (plateaus) and mesa-butte steep side were used quite heavily 

 by mule deer. These topographic features comprise a rather 

 large percentage of the Prairie Dog Creek surface area. 



Table 52. Seasonal use of topography by mule deer in the 

 Prairie Dog Creek area. 



Topography 



Spring Sunmer Fall Winter Spring Surmer 



1979 1979 1979 '79-80 1980 1980 



381/ 18 03/ 46 39 1 



Mesa-butte top 34?/ 



Mesa-butte steep sides 32 33 

 Dissected mid-slopes 34 67 

 Alluvium/terrace 

 Flood plain 



100 



« 



1/ Total observations 



2/ Percent of observations rounded to nearest whole number 



3/ No observations were made during the fall surveys. 



Use of exposur 

 Table 53. Dee 

 season, as the 

 Usage of north 

 summer of 1979 

 during the win 

 received subst 

 and the winter 

 this case prim 

 season, 39 per 

 winter and the 



e: Use of exposur 

 r were most scatte 

 y were observed on 

 erly slopes was gr 

 Southern exposu 

 ter and spring of 

 antial use in the s 



season, 50 percen 

 arily upland plate 

 cent of mule deer 



uplands were rela 



e by mule deer is shown in 

 red during the summer 1979 



seven of the nine exposures, 

 eatest during the spring and 

 res were most heavily used 

 1979 seasons. Eastern exposures 

 ummer of 1979, 56 percent, 

 t. The use of flat terrain, in 

 aus, was most heavy in the winter 

 observations. This was a mild 

 tivelv free of snow cover. 



Use of slope : The only major shift during the course of the 

 study was the increased usage of flat areas during the winter 

 and spring of 1980 (Table 54) as discussed above. Gentle slope 

 usage was at a low in the winter months, 9 percent. Medium and 

 steep slope usage was practically unchanged throughout the study 



