Download or read book Survival Cause specific Mortality and Habitat Selection of Translocated Female Mule Deer in Southern New Mexico written by Jana Bethanie Ashling and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) populations in southern New Mexico have failed to recover from past population declines. Concurrently, populations near urban areas have increased, resulting in overabundant populations and increased human-wildlife conflicts, including damage to property and increased vehicle collisions. Rather than conducting large-scale, lethal removal of mule deer, a translocation program was initiated in an effort to simultaneously reduce the density of the urban mule deer population in Silver City, New Mexico, and augment low density populations in two local mountain ranges: the Peloncillo Mountains (PE) and San Francisco River Valley (SFRV) in southwestern New Mexico. I monitored survival and cause-specific mortality, and compared a hard versus soft release method in the second year to determine if release method influenced survival rates. Causes of mortality were predation (51%), disease (9%), accident (5%), and poaching (5%) with an additional 20% of mortalities due to unknown causes. Mountains lions (Puma concolor) caused most of the confirmed predator kills. Annual survival of translocated deer varied by year and location, but did not differ between release methods. In 2013-2014, annual survival in the PE of hard-released deer was 0.61 (SE = 0.10) compared to 0.26 (SE = 0.09) in the SFRV. In 2014-2015, survival of hard-released deer in the PE was 0.65 (SE = 0.16) and survival of soft-released deer was 0.77 (SE = 0.12). In the SFRV, survival of hard- and soft-released deer was 0.67 (SE = 0.15) and 0.49 (SE = 0.16), respectively. Results of my study demonstrate that translocation can be an effective management tool to augment populations of mule deer while reducing over abundant urban populations. It also aids in evaluation of release method, with my study showing that release method did not appear to affect survival. although the timeframe and conditions were limited.

Download or read book Survival Rates and Cause Specific Mortality of Mule Deer in South Central Oregon written by Elizabeth M. Mulligan and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 87 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is critical for wildlife managers to understand the population dynamics of a harvested species, particularly for ungulates, which are a valuable wildlife resource. Due to concerns that mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) populations in Oregon were declining, more comprehensive data on population vital rates and the factors potentially affecting them were needed by resource managers. To meet this research need, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife implemented a seven year study to investigate habitat use and survival of mule deer in eastern Oregon. From 2005-2012, the agency radiocollared 621 mule deer in south-central Oregon in order to gain more comprehensive information about seasonal movement, seasonal and annual survival, and changes in habitat use for the population. I used the radio-telemetry data from this larger study to investigate mule deer survival rates and cause-specific mortality and the effects of deer seasonal distributions, movement behavior, and environmental factors such as annual and climatic variation. I used known-fate data for 408 adult female radio-collared mule deer to estimate monthly survival rates and to investigate a variety of factors that might affect these rates including seasonal distribution, temporal effects (seasonal, annual, and trends across season and year), movement behavior, and climatic covariates on differing scales. Variation in survival rates for this population of female mule deer in eastern Oregon was best explained by an additive effect of migration behavior, fall migration period, and precipitation levels on individual winter ranges. Survival was significantly higher for migratory deer than residents. Both groups had lower survival during the fall migration period (Oct-Nov) and a positive linear relationship between survival and winter precipitation in individual winter ranges. Annual survival estimates for migrants ranged from 0.81-0.82, which is similar to other findings, but survival rates for residents (0.76- 0.77) were low in comparison to survival rates for adult female mule deer in other parts of their range. I used a nonparametric cumulative incidence function estimator (NPCIFE) to generate annual cumulative incidence functions separately for males and females due to differing risks associated with each sex. The four competing sources of mortality I included in this analysis for males were legal harvest, illegal harvest, predation, and starvation, disease, vehicle or fence-collision combined as one category (i.e., other). For females in investigated predation, human-associated mortality (vehicle or fence), illegal harvest, and natural causes (starvation and disease). Annual risk functions were pooled across all years of the study to maximize sample size. For males, the cumulative risk was highest for legal harvest (0.249, 95%CI=0.172-0.326), with predation the next highest cause of mortality for this sex (0.104, 95%CI=0.042-0.611). For females, the cumulative risk was highest for predation, (0.044, 95%CI=0.028-0.065) with anthropogenic causes (0.038, 95%CI=0.021-0.054) and illegal harvest (0.031, 95%CI=0.17-0.054) also important sources of mortality. Higher monthly survival rates of migrants compared to residents (across all months of the biological cycle) suggested that leaving for potentially higher quality summer foraging grounds outweighed the cost of traveling through unfamiliar habitats and energy expenditure from migration. Conversely, it may also imply that the summer ranges for residents had a negative effect on survival due to habitat quality or human disturbance. Both migrants and residents had lower monthly survival during the fall migration period (Oct - Nov). Female mule deer were excluded from the state-managed bow and rifle hunting season during this study, but females may experience the negative effects of human disturbance associated with fall hunting activities. This time of year is also energetically costly for females, being that some may still be nursing, which could have an additive effect to the energy used to migrate or avoid human disturbance. Winter precipitation also had positive effect on survival for both groups, possibly because increased average winter precipitation resulted in increased winter forage quantity and quality. My results suggest that female survival rates observed during my study are on the low end of the range reported for this species and may be contributing to population declines of mule deer in Oregon. Annual estimates of male survival were also low, but it is unclear how that might contribute to overall population declines without more information on annual and seasonal variation in male survival. Surprisingly, I observed high levels of illegal harvest on female deer and evidence that female survival during the fall migration period, which overlaps Oregon's legal harvest season, was lower than other times of the year. It is unclear why the fall migration period negatively affects both migrants and resident deer similarly, but future research should attempt to determine the specific factors that are negatively impacting mule deer survival during this time period in south-central Oregon. In addition, as human development in the area continues to grow, it is important to consider migration paths and the habitat quality of both summer and winter ranges. My results suggested that conditions may differ between summer ranges in particular, for residents vs. migrants, and understanding these differences may be the key to increasing survival of female mule deer in Oregon. Sharing information from this study with law enforcement and the general public may be the first step towards increasing awareness of, and thereby reducing, the relatively high levels of illegal harvest I documented for the female population. Future research should focus on investigating the differences in habitat quality for residents versus migrants, the factors that decrease survival during fall migration for both groups, and the social and economic factors that contribute to the illegal harvest of female mule deer in eastern Oregon.

Download or read book Survival Activity Patterns Movements Home Ranges and Resource Selection of Female Mule Deer and White tailed Deer in Western Kansas written by Talesha Karish and published by . This book was released on 2022 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and mule deer (O. hemionus) occur in sympatric populations across the Great Plains in North America. Mule deer abundance and occupied range has been declining during the past three decades while white-tailed deer abundance and occupied range has been increasing. Factors contributing to the dichotomous population growth and distribution patterns across their sympatric range are unknown, but potentially include differential survival, space use, and resource selection, all of which may be contributing to indirect competition that may be negatively affecting mule deer populations. Overlap in resource use or space use between mule deer and white-tailed deer could be evidence of competition or competitive exclusion. Activity patterns could provide insights for temporal segregation or competition. Differential space use could allow these species to spatially segregate and co-occur without competing for the same resources. My objectives were to 1) estimate annual and seasonal survival rates, 2) identify cause-specific mortality of adult female mule deer and white-tailed deer, 3) compare behavior patterns between adult mule deer and white-tailed deer of both sexes at seasonal and fine temporal period scales, 4) evaluate the difference in movements between adult female mule deer and white-tailed deer at seasonal and fine temporal scales, 5) test for differences in home range area and composition of adult female mule deer and white-tailed deer at seasonal and fine temporal scales, and 6) evaluate differences in seasonal multi-scale resource selection by female mule deer and white-tailed deer in western Kansas. I deployed collars on 184 pregnant females (94 mule deer and 90 white-tailed deer) at two different study sites in western Kansas (North, South) over three years, 2018, 2019 and 2020. Each deer received a high-resolution GPS/VHF collar that recorded hourly locations, activity accelerometer data along 3 axes, and used an activity sensor to identify mortality events. I used a Kaplan-Meier model to estimate cumulative weekly and annual survival and fit a hazard function to each survival model. I tested for relative influence of factors on estimated survival. I categorized activity points into three behavioral states (feeding, resting, and running). I converted activity points into a proportion of total behavior for each deer and tested for differences in the proportion of behavior categories between species and among seasons. I calculated individual hourly and daily movements seasonally and compared them between species and among seasons. I calculated annual and seasonal 95% home ranges and 50% core areas for each individual deer using a Biased Brownian Bridge movement model. Using logistic regression, I modeled resource selection by mule deer and white-tailed deer at the landscape scale, within home range scale, and within the core home range to identify selection for potential habitat variables and cover types. There was no difference in annual survival of adult female deer between species (mule deer [0.78 ± 0.04] and white-tailed deer [0.77 ± 0.05]). Harvest was the leading known cause of female mortality at 14% of the total mortality, but it was low compared to other studies in the Great Plains. Behavior of both species was similar in all seasons except for rut for males. In rut, males doubled their running behavior. Firearm season produced no changes in behavior for either species or sex. However, the greatest movements and home ranges were in the firearm season. There were greater movements and home ranges in the cold seasons than in the warm seasons. Mule deer were found to use steeper slopes than white-tailed deer, and white-tailed deer used riparian and woodland areas more than mule deer. Habitat patches enrolled in the U.S. Department of Agriculture Conservation Reserve Program were strongly selected by both species in every season and scale. Managers should focus on preserving CRP to stabilize the mule deer population. Given harvest rates of females are low, survival of adult females of both species of deer appears to be little affected by harvest, so there is no need to alter harvest rates of either species.

Download or read book Survival and Cause specific Mortality of Mule Deer Fawns Along the Upper Santa Fe Trail Northcentral New Mexico written by Laurie Araceli Lomas and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Wildlife Techniques Manual written by Nova J. Silvy and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2020-07-28 with total page 1401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The #1 selling wildlife management book for 40 years, now updated for the next generation of professionals and students. Since its original publication in 1960, The Wildlife Techniques Manual has remained the cornerstone text for the professional wildlife biologist. Now fully revised and updated, this eighth edition promises to be the most comprehensive resource on wildlife biology, conservation, and management for years to come. Superbly edited by Nova J. Silvy and published in association with The Wildlife Society, the 50 authoritative chapters included in this work provide a full synthesis of methods used in the field and laboratory. Chapter authors, all leading wildlife professionals, explain and critique traditional and new methodologies and offer thorough discussions of a wide range of relevant topics. To effectively incorporate the explosion of new information in the wildlife profession, this latest edition is logically organized into a 2-volume set: Volume 1 is devoted to research techniques and Volume 2 focuses on pragmatic management methodologies. Volume 1 describes research design and proper analytic methods prior to conducting research, as well as methods and considerations for capturing and handling wild animals and information on identification and marking of captured animals. It also includes new chapters on nutritional research and field sign identification, and on emerging topics, including structured decision-making. Finally, Volume 1 addresses measurements of wildlife abundance and habitat and research on individual animals. Volume 2 begins with a section on the relationship between research and management including public outreach, described in a context that encourages engagement prior to initiation of management. An adaptive management approach is described as a cornerstone of natural resource management, followed by a section on managing landscapes and wildlife populations. The volume also includes new chapters on ethics in wildlife science and conservation, conflict resolution and management, and land reclamation. A standard text in a variety of courses, the Techniques Manual, as it is commonly called, covers every aspect of modern wildlife management and provides practical information for applying the hundreds of methods described in its pages. This deft and thorough update ensures that The Wildlife Techniques Manual will remain an indispensable resource, one that professionals and students in wildlife biology, conservation, and management simply cannot do without.

Download or read book Habitat Restoration Effects and Habitat Selection of Female Mule Deer in the Jemez Mountains New Mexico written by Tanya Marianne Roerick and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Habitat alterations have affected mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) populations and in the last 50 years mule deer populations have been declining throughout the western United States. Fire suppression and logging have altered mule deer habitat by increasing tree densities and reducing forage quality and abundance for mule deer. Forest restoration treatments have become more common in an attempt to improve wildlife habitat and to mitigate the risk of catastrophic wildfires, but little is known regarding the effects of forest restoration and habitat treatments on mule deer populations. Landscape-scale forest restoration treatments are occurring in the Jemez Mountains, New Mexico primarily through the use of prescribed burning and forest thinning. I assessed habitat selection of adult female mule deer at two spatial scales in relation to forest restoration treatments and other habitat covariates. Mule deer selected for areas burned by prescribed five and avoided wildfire burned and thinned areas unless the forest thinning was >5 years old. At both spatial scales, grasslands were avoided during all seasons, pinyon-juniper woodlands were selected for in winter, and oak (Quercus spp) vegetation was selected for during the summer. Mixed conifer forests were selected during summer at the landscape scale and selected in most seasons at the within home range scale. Odds of use increased with increasing distance from perennial water sources and mule deer selected for low elevation at the landscape scale. Mule deer selected for intermediate slopes and odds of use increased with decreasing distance to high use roads at both spatial scales. My data suggests mule deer benefit from prescribed burns and older forest thinning rather than wildfire burned areas. Knowledge of the short and long term effects of restoration treatments will provide researchers guidance when making management decisions in terms of how often treatments should occur, the sizing, and timing of treatments.

Download or read book Population Ecology and Summer Habitat Selection of Mule Deer in the White Mountains written by Sabrina Morano and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Changes in landscape composition have the potential to negatively influence animal populations through shifts in dominant plant communities, loss of important forage items, or changes in structural components of habitat. In the western United States, expansion of woodland vegetation into shrub dominated communities is of concern, particularly with regard to animal populations reliant on robust sagebrush and shrub vegetation. Once established, trees can out-compete shrubs and herbaceous plants resulting in declines in abundance and diversity of shrub-forb vegetation, which female mule deer are reliant on during summer months to meet nutritional demands and to provide hiding cover for young. As a result, shifts in the distribution of pinyon-juniper woodland and increases in tree densities could negatively affect mule deer population. The study had two primary objectives, (1) to determine summer habitat composition of female mule deer in the White Mountains of California and eastern Nevada, and assess implications of pinyon-juniper expansion on habitat availability, and (2) evaluate the status of the population relative to nutritional carrying capacity and determined the influence of habitat and precipitation on demographic rates. I used mixed-effects logistic regression to model summer resource selection and demographic rates of female mule deer from 2005 to 2008. Summer resource selection was modeled at two spatial scales and among three behavioral periods, related to foraging, resting, and parturition. Summer habitat consisted of sites with high productivity, greater shrub abundance, and greater proximity to riparian areas. Deer avoided high levels of tree cover at all spatial and temporal scales, but they selected areas with low to intermediate tree cover during resting periods and during parturition. Moreover, mule deer avoided areas of productive shrub-forb vegetation (riparian and shrub NDVI), when surrounded by stands of high level pinyon-juniper cover, otherwise those vegetation types were strongly selected. During parturition female mule deer selected habitat that maximized hiding cover for newborns (greater shrub densities and structural cover), while still providing foraging opportunities (greater NDVI and shrub cover). Females underutilized certain areas that contained optimal forage such as riparian corridors, high AET sites, higher elevation shrub communities, and selected areas with low to moderate tree cover, suggesting some trade-off between minimizing predation risk for offspring, and maximizing foraging opportunities. Demographic rates (body condition, survival, fetal rates, and index of recruitment) of female mule deer were sensitive to changes in resource availability resulting from variation in precipitation or habitat composition and suggestive of a population regulated to a greater degree by bottom-up processes, and likely nearing nutritional carrying capacity. Moreover, I identified a strong negative effect of pinyon-juniper cover on annual survival, only during periods of drought, otherwise individuals were able to maintain relatively high survival regardless of habitat composition. These results suggest that in productive years mule deer are able to inhabit areas of varying levels of pinyon-juniper cover with little effect on survival, and only during the drought years are negative effects evident. Results from this study emphasize the importance of productive shrub and forb vegetation to mule deer inhabiting semi-arid regions. Maintaining areas with low-to-intermediate tree cover, where there is still abundant shrub understory and sufficient concealment cover, may be beneficial to mule deer populations. Nevertheless, the strong influence of resource availability on the population suggests that conversion of sagebrush-steppe communities into large stands of PJ dominated woodlands would likely reduce the quality and abundance of available habitat for mule deer in the Great Basin.

Download or read book Ecology and Management of Mule Deer and White tailed Deer in Montana written by and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Effect of Enhanced Nutrition on Mule Deer Population Rate of Change written by Chad J. Bishop and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Concerns over declining mule deer (Odocoileu hemionus) populations during the 1990s prompted research efforts to identify and understand key limiting factors of deer. Similar to past deer declines, a top priority of state wildlife agencies was to evaluate the relative importance of habitat and predation. We therefore evaluated the effect of enhanced nutrition of deer during winter and spring of fecundity and survival rates using a life table response experiment involving free-ranging mule deer on the Uncompahgre Plateau in southwest Colorado, USA"--page 1.

Download or read book Ecology and Management of Black tailed and Mule Deer of North America written by James R. Heffelfinger and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2023-04-27 with total page 537 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Black-tailed and mule deer represent one of the largest distributions of mammals in North America and are symbols of the wide-open American West. Each chapter in this book was authored by the world’s leading experts on that topic. Both editors, James R. Heffelfinger and Paul R. Krausman, are widely published in the popular and scientific press and recipients of the O. C. Wallmo Award, given every two years to a leading black-tailed and mule deer expert who has made significant contributions to the conservation of this species. In addition, Heffelfinger has chaired the Mule Deer Working Group sponsored by the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies for more than 15 years. This working group consists of the leading black-tailed and mule deer experts from each of 24 states, provinces, and territories in western North America, putting them at the forefront of all conservation and much of the research on this species. The book represents all current knowledge available on these deer, including how changing conditions such as fires, habitat alteration and loss, disease, climate change, socio-economic forces, energy development, and other aspects are influencing their distribution and abundance now and into the future. It takes a completely fresh look at all chapter topics. The revisions of distribution, taxonomy, evolution, behavior, and new and exciting work being done in deer nutrition, migration and movements, diseases, predation, and human dimensions are all assembled in this volume. This book will instantly become the foundation for the latest information and management strategies to be implemented on the ground by practitioners and to inform the public. Although this book is about deer, the topics discussed influence most terrestrial wildlife worldwide, and the basic concepts in many of the chapters are applicable to other species.

Download or read book Mule Deer Habitat Guides written by Richard M. Kerr and published by . This book was released on 1979 with total page 70 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Winter Habitat Selection by Female Mule Deer written by Eric Dwaine Anderson and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 78 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Mule Deer Mortality on Interstate 80 in Wyoming written by Gregory A. Goodwin and published by . This book was released on 1976 with total page 4 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Survival of Neonate Mule Deer Fawns in Southern Utah written by Jacob Tyler Hall and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 61 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Second, we examined how synchrony of parturition affects the survival and cause-specific mortality of neonate mule deer. Reproductive synchrony is a strategy that influences the survival of juveniles and the growth of populations. Our objective was to test three possible explanations for the synchrony of parturition in mule deer; 1) pressure of predation on newborns, 2) a hybrid of predation and environmental effects, and 3) weather and food availability. To determine the effects of the timing of parturition on the survival and predator-related mortality of neonate mule deer, we used multi-model inference within Program MARK and a known-fate model. Our results indicated that the timing of parturition influenced survival and predator-related mortality of neonate mule deer. There was a lag between the onset of parturition of mule deer and predation of mule deer by fawns; individuals born close to the onset of parturition had higher survival and lower predator-related mortality than those whose births were delayed relative to the onset of parturition. Since predators selected for neonate mule deer that were born late, predator learning may partially explain reproductive synchrony in mule deer. Environmental factors may have a greater effect than predation on the survival of early-born individuals.

Download or read book Assessment of Mule Deer Fawn Survival and Birth Site Habitat Attributes in South central Oregon written by David Speten and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 70 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) populations in south-central Oregon are near their lowest levels since census efforts began in 1961. I investigated fawn survival, cause-specific mortality, and factors contributing to mortality from 2010 - 2012 to identify potential causes for the decline. I also explored pre-parturition and parturition site characteristics. I studied fawn survival among two different population segments in south-central Oregon. Adult females (n = 126;> 1 year old) were captured on winter ranges to collect biological samples and attach transmitters. Vaginal implant transmitters facilitated the capture of fawns (n = 127). Fawns (birth to

Download or read book Weather and Sex Influence Migratory Behaviors and Habitat Selection in Mule Deer written by Patrick A. Rodgers and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 70 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seasonal migrations along elevational and latitudinal gradients allow a diversity of wildlife species to persist in the face of dramatic seasonal shifts in habitat quality. Recent work to better understand ungulate migration has produced a suite of analytical tools for identifying the mechanisms behind migration and quantifying associated behaviors. While environmental variables like weather and plant phenology are thought to be the main drivers of migration, emergent evidence suggests that anthropogenic disturbances, such as hunting, as well as intrinsic factors like age and sex can also influence migratory patterns. However, critical gaps in understanding of the influence of both the intrinsic and extrinsic factors that influence migratory behaviors remain common. We used three years (2016–2018) of GPS-collar data for a herd of migratory mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) in south-central Wyoming to compare key migratory behaviors between sexes, identify factors that influence the timing of migration, and evaluate habitat selection in and around the autumn hunting season. Overall, migratory behaviors were sex specific. Both sexes showed high-fidelity to their migratory routes, but route fidelity was more variable in males. Males also migrated 30% farther on average, spent 14% more time on stopover sites, and took twice as long in spring and 44% longer in autumn to complete migration. Additionally, we found that weather, mainly precipitation events (i.e., snowfall), not hunting disturbance, was the main driver of autumn migration, increasing the likelihood of migration in both males and females by 14%. Our findings suggest that response to disturbance from hunting season is sex-specific. The hunted sex (males) more intensively sought refugia, whereas the less-hunted sex continued to use areas with good forage. Overall, our findings contribute to a broader understanding of migration ecology and the factors that influence migration and habitat selection of wild ungulates in western landscapes.

Download or read book Wheat Vs Wild written by Rebekah A. Hellesto and published by . This book was released on 2023 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Converting wildlife habitat to agricultural monoculture is one of the greatest drivers of habitat loss and can be a severe threat to many wildlife species. However, because mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) typically live in rugged, less arable landscapes, little is known about how they use habitat fragmented by agriculture. Using Global Positioning System (GPS) data from a partially migratory herd of 62 adult female mule deer from 2018-2022, we examined migration strategies and modeled habitat selection at three spatial scales in southeastern Washington, which is a mosaic of mostly privately owned cereal grain agriculture, shrubland, grassland, and restored cropland in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). A minority of the mule deer population was migratory (30%), with relatively short and fast migrations. During migration, they primarily selected for shrubland and grassland in both fall and spring. Mule deer used various components of the landscape throughout the year but selected grassland as their highest-ranked habitat year-round when selecting for home ranges within the study area (second order) and in winter when selecting habitat within their home ranges (third order). During summer, mule deer focused on shrubland and forested habitats within their home range, likely because it provided increased security and thermal cover for fawn-rearing. In the winter, they selected agricultural habitats to a greater degree, which might reflect the growing winter wheat (Triticum aestivum) providing more nutrition during that time. Survival from birth to recruitment into the adult population can greatly influence population dynamics of wild ungulates like mule deer and is affected by both nutrition and cover found in high-quality habitats. We used the GPS data from our population to create resource selection function models during parturition and early fawn-rearing and for fawn bed site characteristics (fourth order). We searched for fawns and fawn bed sites in 2021 and 2022 and used a parturition model to predict birthing events of collared females for which we were unable to find fawns in 2018-2022. For parturition, fawn-rearing habitat, and fawn bed sites, vegetation types that provided more vertical structure, including shrubs and trees, were consistently selected and agriculture avoided. Both intact (i.e., never plowed) shrubland and CRP shrubland were equally selected. These vegetation types provided vertical and horizontal concealment cover for fawns that were also important characteristics of fawn bed site selection. Our research suggests that to promote sustainable populations of mule deer in a landscape dominated by agriculture, managers and landowners could increase the prevalence of quality shrubs and trees where possible to improve habitat and continue support for the CRP program that provides economic incentive to restore croplands for the benefit of wildlife like mule deer.