Deer diets are quite random. Varies year to year.

Here is a link that might be useful: Random anecdotes

There's a lot of deer around here. Elk too. So far.....no rhodies have been bothered and I have a fair amount of different varieties.
It seems their diet varies from year to year. Last year they stripped an Oak leaved Hydrangea. This year it's untouched.
Mike..with power back on after two days.

I'm not in S. Puget Sound but sadly, have lots of experience with deer. The yellow and orange varieties of rhodies seem to be browsed the most but last winter they nibbled at others too. Interestingly, I have the same azalea on opposite sides of the house. One is eaten to nothing, the other has been left alone. They are about 8 years old now.

At my place (Chehalem Mt) deer leave my rhodies alone, eat my white azaleas and leave the Hino Crimson azaleas untouched.

They nibble them on south Whidbey Island and also rub antlers on them. So far, they've not touched the rhodies here in east Auburn.

Reports of varying damage, inability to rely on plant selection typical of deer threads. What changes the equation is installation and maintenance of effective fencing.

Plants + deer having access = damage

Plants + deer fenced out = no damage

We recently purchased a property in the Puget Sound area that was abandoned for 20 years. Anything that survived in the garden must have been 1) highly adapted to the area and 2) able to survive the huge number of deer we have walking around. We inherited a little forest of 20' tall native rhodies, so either the deer aren't eating them or it isn't bothering them much. Whether they'd go after tender new baby rhodies more I couldn't tell you.

Thanks for the useful and in general, encouraging responses. I live south of Olympia and the deer have not bothered my rhododendrons yet. I guess the conclusion is "So far, so good!"