Mule Deer in Montana: Range, Ecology, and Why They Matter
By: Michael Luby
(A snippet from the 2024 Mule Deer working group report from WAFWA)
If you’ve spent any time on the eastern prairie breaks or the steep ridges of western Montana, odds are you’ve crossed paths with mule deer. They’re woven into the landscape here. To we fortunate few who have invested in this land these critters are not just as a game animal, but a part of what makes the West wild. Like a lot of things in Montana, their story is one of peaks, valleys, and a changing environment.
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks uses aerial surveys and harvest data to track mule deer populations across 76 trend areas, from sage flats to timbered foothills. These numbers help guide management decisions, though statewide population estimates rely on a rough model that’s more about meeting legal obligations than driving policy.
What really shapes management are boots-on-the-ground observations and harvest trends. For example, in 2023, Montana’s estimated buck harvest was just under 34,000 which was lower than the long-term average, but slightly above the year before. Since a modern low in 2012 caused by brutal winters, populations rebounded for several years before trending downward again, thanks to a mix of severe winters and drought across much of the state.
Ecologically, Montana’s mule deer face different challenges depending on where you are. In the eastern two-thirds of the state, populations have stayed mostly stable, though drought and declining forage quality are a constant concern. Out west, it’s a tougher picture. Habitat changes, like thickening conifer forests, loss of browse, and competition from rising elk and white-tailed deer numbers, have hit mule deer hard in the mountain-foothill zones.
Montana’s Adaptive Harvest Management plan, in place since 2001, lets biologists tweak harvest regulations based on regional data, adjusting quotas when recruitment is down and limiting antler-less harvest when populations dip.
Why does all this matter? Because mule deer aren’t just a tag or a mount — they’re a litmus test for land health. When mule deer thrive, it means the ecosystem is functioning: predators are balanced, forage is strong, and migration routes are intact.
As a hunter who’s spent his life watching these deer move through the seasons, I believe conserving mule deer means conserving the Montana way of life. And if we do it right, our kids will still be seeing deer tracks in the same places we first learned to follow them.
Good Luck!
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Michael “Mickey” Luby – Writer Bio
Michael “Mickey” Luby is a modern-day mountain man and unapologetic traditionalist living in Western Montana. A seasoned mule deer hunter with decades of experience chasing high-country bucks, Mickey has earned a reputation for grit, stubbornness, and a sixth sense for finding big deer.
