| dc.description.abstract | Fort Sill Military Reservation (FSMR), a United states Army Artillery and Missle Training Center, encompasses 94,302.20 acres in Comanche County in southwestern Oklahoma. The area includes diverse habitats, ranging from relatively flat prairie in the east to steep granite hills in the west. Three artillery impact areas, with a multitude of firing positions, observation posts, and surveyed target locations lie within FSMR. White-tailed deer is the only native big game animal present on the area in significant numbers. FSMR has three ranges, East, West, and Quanaha each with a independently managed, heavily hunted deer herd. Each range is distinct in deer numbers as well as in soil and habitat types. The purpose of this study was to determine survival and cause-specific mortality rates for white-tailed deer on West Range of FSMR; to compare habitat quality of East and West Range using postmortem morphologic, physiologic, and dietary indices from fall-harvested deer and seasonal fecal indices of dietary quality. This thesis is comprised of three manuscripts formatted for submission to the Journal of Wildlife Diseases. The manuscripts (Chapters I, II, III) are complete as written and do not need supporting material. | |
