Mule deer migration patterns useful information for hunters

“Don’t worry, they’ll beryllium there.”

Those reassuring words came from my person and chap Hunter Education teacher Darrel Leavitt. My godforsaken bighorn sheep hunt was conscionable weeks distant and my scouting efforts were not turning up the fig of animals I had expected to see. In fact, I had seen lone a fewer sheep during aggregate outings, but daytime temperatures were inactive alternatively warm.

“Trust me,” Darrel said.

As opening time neared, the temperatures abruptly dropped and sheep numbers successful the country we planned to hunt steadily increased. It was arsenic if idiosyncratic had flipped a power and the sheep abruptly showed up.

Darrel predicted that alteration due to the fact that helium has a bully knowing of sheep behaviour and their yearly sheep migration patterns. He knows that arsenic daytime temperatures drop, sheep tin spell longer betwixt h2o stops and disperse crossed their range.

The word migration refers to the question of animals oregon birds from 1 portion of their scope to another. For immoderate animals, specified arsenic with the bighorn sheep successful my assigned hunt unit, that question covers lone a fewer miles, a comparatively abbreviated distance. For different species, similar mule deer, that migration whitethorn beryllium overmuch longer.

In 2012, researchers successful Wyoming discovered a mule cervid migration way that measures 150 miles each direction. The animals who question that way walk 4 months retired of the twelvemonth doing so, according to researchers astatine the University of Wyoming. At the time, that way was considered the longest mule cervid migration ever recorded successful North America. Then came mule cervid #255.

In 2016, researchers collared a mule cervid doe that was astir to acceptable their technological satellite connected its ear. This astonishing carnal migrates 242 miles each mode from her wintertime scope successful Wyoming’s Red Desert to her summertime scope successful Island Park, Idaho, the longest documented onshore migration successful the little 48 states. She has made that travel aggregate years successful a row.

Here successful Nevada, some the Pequop Mountain and Ruby Mountain mule cervid migration corridors are among the longest successful the authorities astatine astir 120 and 134 miles respectively, arsenic reported by the U.S. Geological Survey.

The astonishing happening is conscionable however accelerated animals implicit these extended seasonal movements betwixt their summertime and wintertime ranges. The mean clip for autumn migration on the Pequop corridor is 23 days, and for the outpouring 21 days. In the Ruby Mountain corridor its 24 days successful the autumn and 23 successful the spring. In some corridors that is astir 5 miles a day. In different words, they don’t discarded overmuch time.

Contrary to fashionable thought, the mule cervid migration successful galore parts of Nevada is not triggered by heavy snowfall. By mid-October, mule cervid are migrating successful earnest crossed overmuch of the state. Which means that if you person a tag for precocious seasons and are not seeing mule deer, you whitethorn request to determination down successful elevation and further southbound than you mightiness expect.

Keep successful caput that mule cervid volition halt to devour and remainder on the way. These stopover places whitethorn supply a bully accidental to capable your freezer with venison.

Researchers who person been studying the migration habits of mule cervid besides person learned that mule cervid bucks are much apt to determination distant from areas with accrued quality traffic, specifically those areas with important huntsman conveyance traffic. Nevertheless, the animals person precocious way fidelity and volition travel the aforesaid wide way twelvemonth aft year.

Freelance writer Doug Nielsen is simply a conservation pedagogue for the Nevada Department of Wildlife. His “In the Outdoors” file is not affiliated with oregon endorsed by the NDOW. Any opinions helium states successful his file are his own. Find him connected Facebook astatine @dougwritesoutdoors. He tin beryllium reached astatine intheoutdoorslv@gmail.com.