Much of the western United States is experiencing the worst drought in several decades. Prolonged drought impacts both human and wildlife alike. Drought increases the risk of wildfires which can destroy homes, wildlife food, and cover. Reduced rainfall can alter wildlife movements and habitat patterns further degrading habitat conditions as animals concentrate in riparian areas. Drought can have both short and long term consequences for mule deer and mule deer hunters.

Water is the universal solvent. It keeps our bodies functioning by not only providing the medium to dissolve nutrients, but a transportation system to move them throughout our bodies. Water is a lubricant and helps us buffer temperature extremes. Much like

humans, over 70 percent of the adult mule deer body are composed of water. In mature deer, water in the their cells may compose up to 50-percent of their body weight with the blood and non-cell water accounting for another 20-percent.

Mule deer body water is in dynamic balance. Several environmental factors, all which are affected by drought, contribute to determining an animal's water balance. The primary factors include humidity, temperature, forage consumption, and forage succulence.

Mule deer foods vary naturally in succulence. Succulence is closely related to water content. New growth is higher in water content than weathered drought-impacted forages. Deer that eat more succulent forages require less free water. However, during drought both free water and forage water content is reduced.

Reduced free water and forage succulence can force deer to alter their movements and habitat use patterns. In some areas deer may increase their movement or change activity patterns to take advantage of alternative resources or favorable daily climatic conditions. At times, these increased movements can place deer at increased accident risk as they cross highways. They also may be more susceptible to predators as they more through unfamiliar habitats. In addition, increased deer use of agricultural crops during the drought can cause significant economic losses for farmers and ranchers. Most states have enacted laws that allow landowners to kill depredating animals.

From a hunter's standpoint this could translate into fewer deer and deer being generally harder to hunt, particularly if access to areas where the deer are concentrated is limited. As a hunter, your best bet of success remains pre-season scouting. Don't expect to find deer using the same places they frequented before the drought. If you do scout, you may find increased access to better hunting areas and maybe, just maybe, some new friends if your hunting pressure translates into reduced damage to agricultural crops.

One of the other functions of body water is that it serves as a solvent for biochemical reactions and a medium for transporting nutrients and waste to and from cells. Many of these nutrients are essential for growth, development, and metabolism in mule deer.

Of particular importance to mule deer and the mule deer hunter are calcium and phosphorous. These minerals are important for maintaining bone, teeth, muscle and body functions, and antler growth in bucks.

Fawns absorb most of their dietary calcium from the doe's milk. Does feeding on poor quality forage may not be able to obtain adequate amounts of calcium from their diet. To compensate for low calcium diets they mobilize and transport calcium from their skeleton. Bucks are also able to do this during early antler development.

Calcium is probably adequate in vegetation on western mule deer range. However that is not the case for phosphorous. Phosphorous is important in the adsorption and transfer of nutrients in the body. Low phosphorous levels in the body means that the available nutrients are not being adequately used. For mule deer, phosphorous levels should be about 0.25 percent of the diet and calcium no more than one to five times this level.

During drought periods the phosphorous content of range vegetation throughout mule deer country is severely lacking. When mule deer feed on phosphorus-deficient forages they experience weight loss, lower milk production, and reduced fertility. Thus, for the mule deer hunter, this also can translate into fewer and smaller deer, with reduced antler mass in bucks.

Many state wildlife agencies have implemented aggressive management programs to compensate for the effects of the drought on mule deer. Some states have increased efforts to provide water sources, while others have increased antlerless harvests to reduce browsing pressure on impacted habitats.

Ultimately, for the hunter, the secret to a successful mule deer hunt rests with providing and protecting an adequate habitat base. Although the drought has impacted mule deer habitats, in some areas the wildfires that have occurred may have actually benefited mule deer by removing vegetation that competes with preferred browse plants. However, rather than relying on uncontrolled wildfires to do this work, hunters need to become more involved with state wildlife agencies and other private non-profit organizations to plan and implement habitat projects.