JACKSON, Wyo. — Elk and mule deer populations searched for foliage beneath the newly fallen snow in the Gros Ventre Mountains on Monday, Dec. 30, as they traveled to their winter range.
Buckrail photographer Nick Sulzer said that this herd of approximately 100 elk in the Gros Ventre Mountains appeared to be moving towards the National Elk Refuge (NER) on Monday.
As of Dec. 19, the Refuge’s biological update recorded that 3,080 elk have moved onto the southern portion of the NER.
According to Grand Teton National Park (GTNP), some mule deer only travel a short distance to where there is less snow, while the majority of herds travel a hundred miles or more along their annual migration route.
In the fall and winter, Jackson’s mule deer populations migrate to the Shoshone National Forest in northwest Wyoming, the Dubois region, the Red Desert region south of Rock Springs and to a newly recorded route that traverses the Teton Range into Idaho, according to GTNP.
GTNP recorded this new long-distance mule deer migration last winter. Park biologists captured a female mule deer near Colter Bay and fitted her with a GPS radio collar. In November, the deer traveled west over the Tetons to winter range along the Teton River in Idaho. The data revealed that she traveled approximately 45 miles and more than 2,000 vertical feet over four days to get to winter range.
“Her route crossed the Snake River near Steamboat Mountain then climbed the east flank of the northern Teton Range,” GTNP wrote on its website. “She passed to the north of Mount Berry at an elevation of 8,900 feet and crossed the Teton crest near ‘Peak 8,456’ before descending the west slope of the range.”
GTNP advises travelers to slow down to avoid hitting migrating wildlife this season.
