With 14,087 records spread across all 36 Oregon counties, the mule deer is the most documented mammal in this state atlas. Deschutes County leads with nearly 1,500 records, but the map runs from Lewis and Clark National Historical Park on the coast through Siuslaw and Mt. Hood national forests to Crater Lake National Park and the Crooked River country east of the crest.
Two faces of one species
West of the Cascades, Oregon’s deer are Columbian black-tailed deer, a coastal mule deer subspecies of dense forest and brushy edges. East of the crest the classic mule deer works open ponderosa forest, sagebrush steppe, and rimrock, country well represented by the heavy record counts out of Deschutes National Forest. Both browse shrubs, forbs, and new growth rather than grazing like elk, which lets them use everything from logged second growth to high desert.
A calendar of fawns, rut, and migration
Oregon records run strong in every month and peak in June, when does bring spotted fawns into the open. The rut follows in November and December, and many east-side herds trade elevation with the seasons, summering high and wintering on lower, snow-free ground, while coastal blacktails tend to stay put year-round.
Status in Oregon
NatureServe ranks the mule deer S5, Secure, in Oregon, and the species is native to the state. USGS NAS does not list it as nonindigenous here.
Full species profile
