What role does hunting play in managing mule deer numbers?
Hunting, another form of deer mortality, is the only controllable factor in deer management. Harvest of adult does is the primary tool biologists have to use to affect population size. Biologists and wildlife managers recommend liberal, moderate or restrictive hunting seasons that should, when combined with the other factors at work in a particular mule deer habitat, keep the population within the long-term average observed in that habitat.
