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) reported that an "old settler" had seen "a small bunch in 1886." Visher also reported finding bison remains, probably in 1910 or 1912, to the northeast of the North Cave Hills and west of the South Cave Hills. ~Ovis canadensis auduboni~ Merriam, 1901 Mountain Sheep