Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: Kansas
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

Kansas Project


Resource selection and activity patterns of female mule deer and white-tailed deer in western Kansas.

September 2017 - December 2022


Personnel

Participating Agencies

  • Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism

Mule deer have been decreasing in abundance and occupied range in Kansas for the past three decades. Increasing numbers and expanding white-tailed deer may be contributing to trends in mule deer population. Mule deer are highly prized game animals that generate considerable revenue for Kansas Parks, Wildlife, and Tourism and private landowners.The project is a collaboration of among the Kansas Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Wildlife Enterprise and Outdoor Management Program at Kansas State University, Kansas Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism, Kansas Bowhunters Association, and Mule Deer Foundation. Understanding landscape segregation, space use, and movements by female mule deer and white-tailed deer will inform landscape-scale management strategies and determine the influence of the presence of white-tailed deer on mule deer populations. Female habitat use and vegetation selection will allow for development of management strategies benefiting mule deer.

Presentations Presentation Date
Karish, T., D. Haukos, A.M. Ricketts, and L. Jaster. 2020. Resource selection in multiple spatial scales by female mule deer and white-tailed deer in western Kansas. Annual Meeting of The Wildlife Society, Louisville, Kentucky. September 2020