01/28/2026
A new study from South Dakota State University is working to better understand juvenile survival rates for mule and white-tailed deer in the western half of the state. The Greater Dacotah Chapter and the Mule Deer Foundation teamed up to assist with funding for this critical project. One of our sponsors opened up his ranch for the SDSU students to work and stay during this research project.
After birth, a fawn will instinctively hide in the short-grass prairies of western South Dakota, camouflaged and out of sight from predators. But 140 feet in the sky, Helen Krueger, a graduate research assistant in South Dakota State University's Department of Natural Resource Management, observes the newborn deer through the lens of a thermal camera attached to a remote-controlled drone. After tracking the fawn's location, Krueger and her team of researchers use coordinates to find the deer's hiding spot. Once there, they blindfold the fawn and attach a GPS collar around its neck.
This work is part of a new project led by SDSU assistant professor William Severud, an expert in wildlife ecology and a certified wildlife biologist. In collaboration with South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks, Severud and Krueger are conducting research to better understand South Dakota's mule and white-tailed deer populations.
"'Muleys’ and ‘whitetails’ are highly visible and important wildlife to South Dakota," Severud said. "Understanding how these populations change through time is a shared goal of South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks and SDSU, and the university’s land-grant mission drives this work to provide science that informs management across the state."
In South Dakota, deer hunting is a popular outdoor activity in which over 60,000 residents participate annually. It also generates millions of dollars for South Dakota's economy each year. In 2023, the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks conducted a survey of South Dakota landowners and hunters to better understand their perceptions and attitudes related to deer hunting. Many hunters felt that the white-tailed deer population in the state was "just about right," while also feeling that the mule deer population was "far too few." In response, the department has taken steps to increase the mule deer population in most of the western South Dakota counties while maintaining or slightly increasing the white-tailed deer population in many of the same counties.
White-tailed deer — which has an estimated population of 330,000 — are found in both the eastern and western halves of South Dakota. Mule deer — estimated at 110,000 — are predominately found in western South Dakota. Understanding population dynamics of both white-tailed and mule deer, and determining annual rates of population change, requires knowledge of juvenile and adult survival rates. Survival rates are used to estimate deer numbers and monitor changes in populations resulting from shifts in winter conditions, disease outbreaks or harvest strategies.
Severud, Krueger and the rest of the SDSU team aimed to determine the juvenile survival rates for both white-tailed and mule deer in places where the populations overlapped. In South Dakota, many of the western counties have overlapping populations. For this year, the team's study focused on Haakon and Jackson.
