SUB MENU

Mule Deer

https://main--clarkcountynv--aemsites.aem.page/assets/images/government/departments/environment_and_sustainability/screenshot-2024-09-03-073553.png

MULE DEER

• Scientific Name- (Odocoileus hemionus).
• Mule Deer are classified as a mammal.
• Mule Deer have a lifespan of 10-20 years.
• Mule Deer bucks are male, Adult females are called Adult female does weigh 100-165 pounds, and adult male bucks weigh about 150-250 pounds.
• Mule Deer characteristics: mule deer are typically 31-42 inches tall at the shoulders.
• Mule Deer are 3.9 -6.9 long from their nose to their tails.
• Mule Deer have large, pointed ears which are larger than white-tailed deer.
• Mule Deer have reddish-brown coats in the summer and brownish-gray coats in the winter.
• Mule Deer have a white rump patch and a small white tail with a black tip.
• Male Mule Deer or bucks have forked antlers that they use to fight off competitors during mating season.
• Mule Deer can run up to 45 miles per hour and have a sense of smell that is 1,000 times stronger than a human’s thus allowing them to smell humans from up to half a mile away and detect water up to two feet underground.
• Mule Deer are found throughout the state of Nevada in habitats that consist of cold desert shrubland and sagebrush, grasslands, and upland forests, Mojave Desert, Sub-alpine mountaintops, Coniferous forests. Mule Deer also live in neighborhoods and backyards.
• Mule Deer are herbivores that eat a seasonal diet of plant Mule Deer, their primary source of food is on forbs (flowering herbaceous plants) and leaves and twigs of woody plants and berries and fruit, but their diet varies depending on the season.
• Mule Deer usually produce two fawns during the early summer and the fawns at birth are spotted and have no scent and these fawns weigh between 5 to 6 pounds, after 60 to 75 days, these fawns are winged off their mother’s milk. The does have to find food for their young, leaving the fawns for extended periods to find The fawn’s ability to protect themselves from predators due to their spotted fur which gives them camouflage and their lack of scent.
• Mule Deer threats to their habitat are invasive grasses, drought, habitat degradation, wildfires and population of wild horses and burros.
• Mule Deer migration is the seasonal movement between habitats typically biannual movements are between summer range with high elevation and winter range with low elevation. Mule Deer migrate but not all mule deer, some remain on their range year-round. Migration for the mule deer is due to changes in availability of food and the The Mule Deer due to the length of the migration use stopovers to maximize energy intake.
• The Mule Deer learn migration routes from their mothers and typically follow the same route for the remainder of their lives.
• The Mule Deer population is on the decline for decades, (MDEP) Mule Deer Enhancement Program was put in place due to this reason and consist of non-governmental organizations, land management agencies, private landowners, industry partners, all who address the reasoning of the mule deer decline and the attributes that led to this decline.

If you would like to attend one of the upcoming meetings for the (MDEP) Mule Deer Enhancement Program please go to their website: https://www.ndow.org/blog/mule-deer- enhancement-program-subcommittees/

https://main--clarkcountynv--aemsites.aem.page/assets/images/government/departments/environment_and_sustainability/muledeer-screenshot-2024-08-29-083832.png

• NDOW ANNUAL QUOTA RECOMMENDATIONS: To manage a healthy wildlife hence giving the public the hunting experience of a lifetime and keeping populations Hunting quotas are necessary, this means the maximum number of tags that NDOW gives to hunt Mule Deer. The annual quota recommendations are decided by NDOW and their biologists by the following steps: Conducting surveys during the seasons of spring and fall to understand what condition the Mule Deer are in at that time. Fall Surveys- are aerial surveys with the mission of determining ratios of male and female as well as adults and juveniles. Spring Surveys- use the same method of aerial surveys with the focus on the adults and the fawns, the biologists want to determine how bad of a winter it was for the young Mule Deer and calculate the population of new mule deer.
• NDOW ANNUAL BIG GAME QUOTAS: These quotas are set after the application deadline for applications are submitted to NDOW Annual Quota Recommendations which go to (CCABMW) Clark County Advisory Board to Manage Wildlife CABs for all counties for review and discussion and input from the boards and the members of the public who attend the CCABMW meetings, thereafter the (CCABMW) CAB votes to support or give another quota recommendation and all recommendations after this vote goes to NDOW Board of Wildlife Commissioners.
• HARVEST DATA RECOMMENDATIONS: Harvest reporting is a requirement in the State of Nevada. The return process is 98% from the hunters submitting the information to NDOW. NDOWs biologists determine total number of mule deer and other animals that were removed from these areas and the success rates for the variety type of hunting seasons for the Mule Deer. Harvest data is data that is collected by hunters only after the Mule Deer Season has ended. The hunters must report the required data: (sex of the Mule Deer, age, location of the hunt, antler points and identify any other animals in this process wounded or tracked.
• POPULATION MODELS: NDOWs estimates are based on formula of NDOWs biologists fall and spring survey added with the harvest data into the computer model. The estimates are a determination of amount of Mule Deer Removal for allowance of healthy populations, quality hunting experience for the public. Data from the Population Models and NDOWs biologists can calculate their recommendations for annual hunting quota or available quota given for the Mule Deer Season.

https://www.ndow.org/species/mule-deer/

Mule Deer (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)

CR 22-11 2022-2023 Big Game Quotas APPROVED (ndow.org)