I saw roughly the same number of mule deer as I usually do-in both Wyoming and Montana. Lots and lots and lots of does and fawns, despite a horrific winter.
I did see less bucks this year; I suspect due to winter kill being that the heavy snows hit just after the rut and didn't quit until May. Since the bucks were already in poor condition due to the rut, I guess they really got hit hard by the cold and snow loads. The WYGFD preached all spring and summer that the fawn recruitment was terrible and doe populations were severely down-but most all the does I saw (and I saw plenty this fall) had healthy looking twins and quite often triplets in the Wyoming Range and Gros Ventre Mountains in Wyoming and the Bitterroot Mountains in Montana. I've seen plenty of deer in Idaho this year thus far too while bird hunting.
Like normal, what the Game Departments say is usually the exact opposite of what I see.
