2.0 -| 

 1.8- 

 1.6- 

 1.4- 



1 1-2 H 

 ^ 1.0 J 



(A 



| 0.8- 



LL 



0.6 -| 

 0.4 

 0.2 -| 

 0.0 



Fawns : Pregnant 

 Female 



Initial Production 



tt> 



T 1 1 



7 8&9 10+ Female age at Parturition 



N 41 28 27 33 23 23 19 23 18 Initial Production 



N 27 29 29 24 19 17 20 17 Recruitment to 6 Months 



N 22 25 21 17 13 15 17 12 Recruitment to 12 Months 



Figure 5.3. Age-specific production and recruitment of fawns 

 by female mule deer in the Missouri River 

 Breaks, Montana, 1976-1984. 



females, and the lowest were for 4-, 7-, and 10+ year olds. 

 The highest rates of fawn loss over the entire 12 month period 

 occurred among 2-, 6-, 8-, and 9-year-old females. 



Recruitment of fawns to 12 months was the first parameter 

 to decline with age, decreasing slightly from 4- to 5-year-old 

 females and substantially from 5- to 6-year-olds. Recruitment 

 to 6 months declined slightly from age 5 to 6 and 

 substantially from age 6 to 7 . Most of this decline was 

 related to a decline in pregnancy rate, because the number of 

 fawns per pregnant female did not decline until between 7 and 

 8 years of age. 



121 



