10 mi. W
Buffalo, 2; 10 mi. S, 5 mi. W Reva, 3.

The mule deer is common in the buttes and adjacent badland areas of the
county, and many were seen by members of each of our field parties.
Local residents reported "black-tails" to be widespread in the area and
State Game Protector Merritt Paukarbek reported to Andersen that even
though hunting success was high in the autumn of 1967, there was no
apparent reduction in numbers in the spring of 1968. In contrast, Visher
(1914:88) found this species absent in Harding County in the early
1900's, and stated that it was "exterminated by 1900."

An adult female taken on June 26, 1961, in the North Cave Hills was
molting and evidenced no indication of reproductive activity.

~Odocoileus virginianus dacotensis~ Goldman and Kellogg, 1940

White-tailed Deer

_Specimen examined_ (1).--8-1/2 mi. N, 1-1/2 mi. E Camp Crook, 1.

The white-tailed deer is less abundant in northwestern South Dakota
than is _O. hemionus_, but a number were seen by members of our parties
(in Deer Draw of the Slim Buttes, for example), and local residents
reported many sightings to us. Visher (1914:82) earlier recorded this
species as once "fairly plentiful in the forest reserves" in Harding
County, but stated that it had become rare when he made his biological
survey of the area in 1910 and 1912.

~Antilocapra americana americana~ (Ord, 1815)

Pronghorn

_Specimens examined_ (2).--Sec. 28, R. 8 E, T. 23 N, 1; 12 mi. S, 10 mi.
W Buffalo, 1.

This species is the most conspicuous (and possibly the most abundant)
ungulate in Harding County. It ranges throughout the county on flat and
rolling grasslands where small groups, and occasionally herds of up to
50 individuals, were seen in 1960, 1961, 1963, 1968, and 1970. Visher
(1914:88) reported that the pronghorn was common in the area until about
1900, but that it was near the point of extinction when he visited the
county in 1910 and 1912.

~Bison bison bison~ (Linnaeus, 1758)

Bison

According to historical accounts (Anonymous, 1959), the bison was rare
or absent in Harding County at the time of settlement in 1876. By the
early 1880's, however, herds were of regular occurrence, and there is
one record (_op. cit._: 95-96) of thousands crossing the Little Missouri
near Camp Crook in November of 1882.

One report has it that the last bison killed in the county was shot in
the summer of 1884 (_op. cit._: 73-74), but Visher (1914:88) reporte