Mule Deer Management Plan Update

Overview

Since the development of the 2003 Mule Deer Management Plan, ODFW has conducted several projects that provided new and important information about mule deer populations, habitat, and movements. Historically, wildlife management units (WMU) were used as the geographic unit for mule deer population monitoring and management. New data from mule deer fitted with GPS radio collars from across their range in Oregon provides a more informed understanding of how populations are distributed on summer, winter, and migratory habitats across eastern Oregon. The updated Plan incorporates these new insights and introduces more biologically meaningful herd ranges, which replace WMUs as the monitoring unit for mule deer management in Oregon.

Herd ranges are comprised of multiple WMUs to include summer range, winter range and migratory routes for mule deer populations. Delineation of herd ranges such that data collected for population vital rates in winter and hunter harvest reports from summer-autumn apply to the same populations is critical for developing appropriate management recommendations.

Currently, ODFW is in the process of updating the 2003 Mule Deer Management Plan. Topics to consider in the new management plan were solicited from ODFW staff in February 2022 and from sports group leaders in March 2022. Based on the feedback we received, a draft table of contents was compiled in June 2022. The Agency will be sharing updates on this process here on the Agency’s webpage and soliciting further public input as this plan is developed.

Latest News and Events
Join ODFW on April 17th for a webinar on the Mule Deer Plan's Revisions (read more here)

ODFW staff plan to host additional webinars as more chapters or sections are released for review. Sign up for email updates to keep in contact with ODFW staff working on the Mule Deer Management Plan update.

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Share Your Thoughts with ODFW
The Agency welcomes public questions and comments about the updated draft version of the Mule Deer Management Plan. Questions and comments can always be submitted to the Mule Deer Management Plan Team via email address. You can also submit your input about specific chapters of the Mule Deer Management Plan here now and moving forward.

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Updated DRAFT Mule Deer Management Plan
The plan itself is a lengthy document that has been broken into chapters with a table of contents to ease in navigating it. Click on each of the sections below to read more about it.

• Table of Contents
• Chapter 1: Intro Goal & Objectives
• Chapter 2: Oregon Mule Deer Distribution and History
• Chapter 3: Mule Deer Biology and Ecology

Other resources related to the plan:
Herd Range Technical Report
Mule Deer Management Plan presentation