Table 4.3. Mule deer population composition during spring, as determined 

 from ground and aerial surveys, 1961-1987, Missouri River 

 Breaks study area. 



Adult Females 



Data on the age structure of adult female populations 

 were available from deer killed by hunters for 1960-64 and 

 from hunter-kills and winter trapping during 1978-1985 (Table 

 4.4). Age distribution among deer killed by hunters may not 

 have been representative of the population age structure 

 because some age-classes of females, especially yearlings and 

 the oldest females, appeared to be harvested at higher rates 

 than others (see Chapter 6). Nevertheless, these data, if not 

 mathematically reconcilable from age-class to age-class, 

 appeared to represent the general changes in age structure. 



95 



