JACKSON, Wyo. — Some of the valley’s seasonal residents have recently embarked on a significant thru-hike, and they’re getting tired.
Mule deer that spend the summer near the Teton Range have begun the long migration back to their winter ranges. The Upper Shoshone herd will navigate severe weather and intense geography on their trek back to an area just west of Cody, according to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD).
Photos of the exhausted ungulates on their 75-mile journey over steep terrain were shared by WGFD on Facebook recently. The deer typically hit the road in mid to late October and they maneuver elevation gain and loss of over 25,000 feet.
“Honestly, our feet hurt just thinking about it,” WGFD said in a Facebook post.
The post goes on to say that some of the deer on the migration were born near the Tetons this year. They are now making the trip for the first time at less than a year old.
In a comment on the post, WGFD said that the deer appear labored in most of the photos likely due to being worn out from the tough hike, “going thousands of feet up and down those mountains” in just a few weeks.
A different herd of mule deer, which spends its summers in the upper Hoback, travels over 150 miles back to its winter grounds in the Red Desert. WGFD says it is the longest known mule deer migration in the U.S.
