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Mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) populations are in decline in many parts of western Montana, and in 2017, harvest in Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks (MFWP) management region 1 (R1) reached an all-time low. This prompts a need to better understand mule deer habitat selection behaviors in a range of ecosystems. Using resource selection functions (RSFs), we will compare how GPS-collared mule deer select nutritional resources and hiding cover at large scales (home range level) and fine scales (within-home ranges) relative to forage quality in 3 distinct ecosystems throughout western Montana. In February of 2017, we successfully captured 30 mule deer does along the Rocky Mountain Front using helicopternet-gunning, but were unsuccessful in the Whitefish Range and Fisher River drainage of R1 due to dense canopy cover. From December 2017 to present, we have relied on a crew of graduate students …