Forage Selection Comparisons for Mule Deer and Cattle under Managed Ponderosa Pine

Abstract

Cattle and mule deer competed very little for forage on a central Colorado ponderosa pine-bunchgrass range during the spring-summer-fall grazing season. Species they selected for the bulk of their diets were quite different. Diets overlapped most for fringed sagebrush and sunsedge. Fringed sagebrush was used heavily by both deer and cattle in April-May. Sunsedge was consumed in small amounts by both animals throughout most of the grazing season. Management of the timber stand increased forage for both types of animals. Also, timber stand improvement practices resulted in short-term availability of dried pine needles, a preferred deer food.