North dakota mule deer condition

[gabedenzine]

That's good. Came out Ice fishing this last January and saw big herds of nice Mule Deer Bucks (couple big ones) and whitetails mixed in. I'm pretty excited. I'm assuming you guys are having just as wet of a June as we are over here in Wisconsin.

 

[Shepardg]

Any one with info on this years winter and survival rate. wondering how everyone that made it out last year did as well. Any improvements or is it all still a slippery slope for North Dakota’s mule deer.

 

[Brandon.miller.4]

Mild winter. Deer did well. They are on the rebound. Overgrazing, and rut based rifle hunts keep mature deer numbers low. I wouldn't expect anything great without an incredible amount of time spent summer scouting to find 1 maybe 2 mature good deer.

 

[Shepardg]

Glad to hear they are on the rebound that’s at least one good thing going! Hopefully summer will be good to them and give good amounts of rain for good food sources!

 

[Brandon.miller.4]

Glad to hear they are on the rebound that’s at least one good thing going! Hopefully summer will be good to them and give good amounts of rain for good food sources!

The rain we've had in the last week is going to help tremendously. I was quite worried with how dry early spring was

 

[SuperDUECE22]

Despite consecutive mild winters and yearly reductions in licenses, mule deer populations in North Dakota are still declining. The 2025 spring mule deer survey showed a 14% drop compared to last year, and numbers remain below the long-term average. Additionally, past severe winters—especially 2020–21—combined with extreme droughts in 2017, 2020, and 2021 have significantly impacted age class and overall numbers, and those effects are still being felt today. There are still pockets with solid deer numbers, so some hunters may see different results. But overall, the data shows a continued decline.

 

[Duh]

I was out this morning killing coyotes and there’s a decent amount of muleys out and about. They looked pretty good. I saw a couple of them and antelope have brand new fawns hitting the dirt.

 

[dirtytough]

Any one with info on this years winter and survival rate. wondering how everyone that made it out last year did as well. Any improvements or is it all still a slippery slope for North Dakota’s mule deer.

I spent a lot of time this winter in the grasslands and it was shocking the lack of deer. 2 other buddies said the same.


Quality wise it’s tough for bucks to get age on them. I scouted and hunted ND quite a bit last year. It’s not easy to find a good buck.

 

[NDGuy]

I spent a lot of time this winter in the grasslands and it was shocking the lack of deer. 2 other buddies said the same.


Quality wise it’s tough for bucks to get age on them. I scouted and hunted ND quite a bit last year. It’s not easy to find a good buck.

Haven't recovered from several bad winters and continual loss of habitat

 

[dirtytough]

Haven't recovered from several bad winters and continual loss of habitat

I didn’t notice the lack while scouting/hunting. Just later while hunting coyotes. It’s like they migrated.

A buddy’s kid was archery hunting and drove most of the roads east river in 4D. They never saw a deer.

I would like to see them either cut doe tags completely or make them private land only.

 

[Brandon.miller.4]

Despite consecutive mild winters and yearly reductions in licenses, mule deer populations in North Dakota are still declining. The 2025 spring mule deer survey showed a 14% drop compared to last year, and numbers remain below the long-term average. Additionally, past severe winters—especially 2020–21—combined with extreme droughts in 2017, 2020, and 2021 have significantly impacted age class and overall numbers, and those effects are still being felt today. There are still pockets with solid deer numbers, so some hunters may see different results. But overall, the data shows a continued decline.

This is accurate, I guess I was more referring to the health of the deer we do have.