"Mule deer range showed some signs of over-use in the 

 vicinity of the game range boundary and along the 

 heads of the many drainages at a considerable distance 

 back from the river. As is normally the case, during 

 periods of severe drought and poor market, livestock 

 operators find it difficult to reduce their herds to 

 the carrying capacity of the range. Heavy use by 

 livestock results in utilization of browse species not 

 normally consumed during the regular grazing season. " 

 "When ranges outside [the Game Range] are overutilized 

 by livestock during drought periods such as we have 



experienced in the past two years, both cattle and 

 sheep utilize most, if not all, of the preferred 

 browse species even during the summer months forcing 

 game onto other ranges . " 



"At the extreme west end of the game range, [our study 

 area] grasses and sedges made no growth whatsoever 

 this season or for that matter we can also include 

 the season of 1955." 



"A few more coyotes have been observed on the area 

 this period than for a number of years. Hunters 

 during the deer season have likewise reported seeing 

 more coyotes than in the past. Complaints are more 

 frequent from sheep operators in or near the game 

 range . " 

 - During August, 116 fawns/100 female mule deer were 

 observed. 



1957 - "A number of mule deer checked were not in as good 



condition as in previous years and a few animals were 

 found to be thin and a considerable number harbored 

 lice. " 



"During the report period a control campaign has been 

 undertaken to clean up or at least reduce the 

 population of predators in that section of the Game 

 Range lying west of the mouth of the Musselshell 

 [includes our study area]. The PARC trapper on the 

 south side of the river either poisoned with 1080, 

 killed with cyanide or trapped a total of 54 coyotes 

 and 19 bobcats during the period [September-December 

 1957] . " 



"The rabbit population, especially the jackrabbit, is 

 down to the lowest point in game range history. It is 

 becoming a rare occurrence when personnel report 

 seeing a jack" . 



1958 - "In our opinion, deer generally, as well as other big 



game species present, suffered to a considerable 

 extent from lack of water and were probably in poorer 

 physical condition at the end of the report period 

 [January-April] than during any winter since the Game 

 Range was established." 



376 



