Wood examined the distribution patterns of mule deer and pronghorn, in eastern Montana, using aerial surveys taken over a 543 square km area. He found that pronghorn prefer habitat that is open and unbroken, dominated by shorter grass, while mule deer prefer habitat that is more rugged that provides ample hardwood cover. Wood assessed that during autumn, when graminoid quality begins to decease, pronghorn begin to move into some of the identified mule deer habitat in search of higher quality forage. In the statistical analysis, this overlap was quite insignificant, leading the author to determine that mule deer-pronghorn habitat overlap shows no visible evidence of competition between the two species.
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