Jeff Koenings, Ph.D.
Director

Jerry Gutzwiler
Chairman
Washington Fish &
Wildlife Commission
 

Five-year, cooperative mule deer study underway in eastern Washington
Posted April 2001

Summary
WDFW wildlife biologists, together with graduate students from four universities and volunteers from the Inland Northwest Wildlife Council are undertaking a five-year study to get answers to long-standing questions about mule-deer populations in Washington state. Through radio telemetry, deer can be monitored regularly by radio signals to determine where they live and the habitats they prefer. Deer are weighed, measured and lab-tested before being fitted with the radios, to gather data on health, numbers of fawns produced and effects of diseases on these animals. In spring of 2000, 34 mule deer does were captured and marked in Ferry, Okanogan and Chelan counties, and this year, up to 130 more deer will become part of the study, and the range will be expanded to include Lincoln, Whitman and Adams counties. Several hundred mule deer fawns six months of age also will be radio tagged to assess survival and range.

By W. L. Myers, Jr., Wildlife Biologist
WDFW Wildlife Program

A five-year research project to learn more about mule deer populations in northeast and north-central Washington has been launched by WDFW wildlife scientists. Started a year ago, the study area includes all or parts of Chelan, Okanogan, Ferry, Stevens, Lincoln, Adams, Whitman, and Pend Oreille counties, where the general trend has been a declining mule deer population, as evidenced by survey results and hunter harvest.

Historically, mule deer harvest management in Washington has been based on what is called a "density-dependent" model. Harvest rates are dependent on the density of the deer population, which is dependent on available habitat. The density dependent management model assumes that hunting harvest does not add to overall deer mortality, but that as hunting harvest increases, natural mortality decreases. This management model, which was developed from white-tailed deer population studies, may not be appropriate for managing mule deer.

The information needed to evaluate the effectiveness of the density dependent model in managing Washington's mule deer herds or to develop a new management model is lacking. Information on the dynamics of Washington's mule deer population is very limited, and no information is available on population regulatory mechanisms and landscape-level habitat relationships. No information has been collected in Washington that connects the physical condition and fawn production of individual deer with on-the-ground habitat conditions.

These are the knowledge gaps that this study intends to fill. With a better understanding of these dynamics, WDFW should be able to more carefully manage Washington's mule deer through hunting restrictions and habitat protection.

The general study method involves the use of radio telemetry; by fitting adult female mule deer with radio collars, these marked deer can be monitored regularly by the radio signals to determine where they live and the habitats they prefer (how they make a living), and how they die. The initial process involves capturing the mule deer does, using a helicopter net-gunning crew that handles the netted deer and slings them to a processing site, where WDFW and volunteer ground crews are ready.

The captured deer are weighed and measured; blood and fecal samples are collected for laboratory assessments of disease exposure, trace element levels, DNA and parasite loads. The deer are examined manually and through ultrasonography to determine body condition, pregnancy, and fetus size and number. The deer are equipped with radio telemetry or Geographical Information System(GIS) collars to allow monitoring of their movements to determine habitat use, herd boundaries and home range sizes, population densities, and mortality rates, patterns, and causes.

Prior to release, the deer receive shots of long-acting penicillin and a selenium-vitamin E compound to help mitigate the stresses of capture and handling.

In spring 2000, 34 mule deer does were captured and marked in Ferry, Okanogan, and Chelan counties. This year, with more capture work underway, up to 130 more deer will become a direct part of the study. As of early March, 74 adult female mule deer were captured and marked: 26 in Chelan County (10 in Swakane Canyon, 10 above the town of Entiat, and 6 near Navarre Coulee), bringing the total marked deer to 41 in the Chelan area; 25 in the southeast corner of the Colville Indian Reservation, bringing the total marked deer to 38 in the south Colville study area; 23 in the shrub-steppe habitats of Lincoln, Whitman, and Adams Counties (one on Swanson Lakes Wildlife Management Area, nine at Coffee Pot Lake, five at Lakeview Ranch, and eight on the Escure Ranch-Revere Wildlife Management Area complex).

Throughout the study, surveys will be conducted to measure deer numbers and age and sex composition. Several hundred mule deer fawns six months of age will be radio tagged to assess survival and dispersal. Monitoring is conducted by graduate students from the University of Washington, Washington State University, Central Washington University, and University of Idaho.

Volunteers from the Inland Northwest Wildlife Council are also helping monitor the deer. Vegetative mapping work and evaluating nutritional values of forage species will be conducted beginning this spring. Feeding trials of penned mule deer to determine the relationship between available nutrition and reproduction will be conducted by cooperating researchers at Washington State University. Researchers from Washington State University's Large Carnivore Laboratory will investigate the relationships between mule deer, white-tailed deer, and mountain lions as part of the Cooperative Mule Deer Project.

This project is truly an inter-agency one and would not be possible without the support and involvement of the cooperating agencies. The list of major cooperators includes the Colville Confederated Tribes, Spokane Tribe, Kalispel Tribe, Chelan County Public Utility District, U.S. Forest Service s Colville and Okanogan National Forests, the Bureau of Land Management, Washington Department of Transportation, and the Washington Department of Natural Resources, the University of Washington, Washington State University and the University of Idaho. Cooperators from the private sector include the Inland Northwest Wildlife Council, the Northwest Okanogan Sports Council, the Inland Empire Chapter of the Safari Club International, and The Mule Deer Foundation.

Related Links:
Mule deer research includes ultrasonography, WSU nutrition study with captive herd

Author Biography

Woodrow L. Myers has a B.S. in wildlife resources from the University of Idaho and has been employed with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (formerly the Department of Wildlife and Department of Game) since 1977. He has been a member of The Wildlife Society for 27 years and has served as a board member of the state chapter. He started as a waterfowl biologist, first in the Columbia Basin of central Washington, then in the northwest corner of the state, covering upper Puget Sound. In 1984 Myers moved to Winthrop and for five years studied mule deer migrations, population dynamics, and habitat use. From there he moved his research activities to the Blue Mountains conducting investigations of elk population dynamics, habitat use, and calf survival. His focus for the next five years will be studying mule deer population dynamics and identifying limiting factors in eastern Washington.