Even if deer preferred to range close to sources of free 

 water, several other factors may have led to their 

 distribution at random or greater distances than expected from 

 water. As stated earlier, 44% of all water sources on the 

 study area were located within broad open sagebrush-grassland 

 and coulee bottom areas . The lack of vegetational and 

 topographic diversity may have precluded deer from spending 

 more than minimal amounts of time in the vicinity of water in 

 those habitats. However, deer spent considerable time in the 

 open sagebrush-grassland type during spring when new, 

 succulent green growth occurred in abundance. They also made 

 increased use of the type following green-up in autumn and in 

 foraging on rubber rabbitbrush during autumn and winter. This 

 suggested that a lack of preferred forage also may have 

 limited use of larger blocks of sagebrush-grassland, 

 especially during hot, dry summers when they were distributed 

 at greater than random distances from water. At that time, 

 they probably preferred to remain near steep, timbered, north- 

 facing slopes that retained at least some succulent forage. 

 There were few water sources and thus reduced use by cattle 

 near those sites, which left the succulent forage remaining in 

 those areas primarily available to deer. 



Livestock grazing patterns probably were also an 

 important factor influencing deer distribution in relation to 

 water. The broad open areas of sagebrush-grassland and coulee 

 bottoms in which nearly half of all water sources were located 

 comprised primary range for cattle (Mackie 1970). During most 

 periods, but especially during hot dry summers, cattle were 

 closely associated with water such that all areas, including 

 timbered sites, within 0.805 km and up to 1.61 km or more from 

 a water source were heavily used for feeding and resting. 

 Although deer may have avoided such areas in part for social 

 reasons, little quality deer forage remained available by mid 

 summer. In the absence of cattle, deer may have made greater 

 use of those areas and have been distributed closer to water, 

 at least during hot, dry summers and autumns. 



Patterns of Habitat Selection by Sex and Age Class 



Vegetation Cover Types 



Seasonal use of vegetation cover types was not 

 statistically different among adult females, fawns, yearling 

 males, and mature males (summer: X 2 = 51.7, 60 df, P = 0.76; 

 autumn: X 2 = 47.7, 60 df, P = 0.88; winter: X 2 = 39.7, 60 df, 

 P = 0.98). Possible differences could have been obscured by 

 that test because non-productive females were often associated 

 with males, and all females and fawns were often associated 

 with yearling males during autumn and winter. To determine 

 whether differences occurred between productive females and 

 mature males, we further compared use of vegetation types by 



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