# Big Game Migration distance



## flinger (Nov 19, 2007)

First hand, what's the greatest distance that you know for an elk or deer to have traveled during migration in Utah? I know of an elk that traveled at least 10 miles from where we seen him during the rut to where we seen him heading to winter range 3 weeks later. That seems like a long distance to me, but I've heard of them traveling 50-100 miles, just wondering what you've seen.


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## goofy elk (Dec 16, 2007)

Paunsaugunt deer, 50+ miles. not all of them but some ..
There would be more , and still going farther if Arizona wasn't shooting them in oct/nov..
A note to huntolic,,,,This is another reason the Paunsy deer have declined... 

Book cliffs deer, 25 up to 40 for most.....They still do it every year too..
Come rain, shine, whatever. doesn't matter , Both these herds still migrate.

Pretty sure the Vernon Herd still dose it too, But I haven't been out there for a while.


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## Kevin D (Sep 15, 2007)

Elk that were ear tagged at Hardware Ranch in the winter months are regularly taken around the Cokeville, Wyoming area in the fall.....a distance of 40 or 50 miles.


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## TEX-O-BOB (Sep 12, 2007)

That old Wyoming buck "Popeye" was photographed in the summer range some 100 miles from where he wintered.


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## Packout (Nov 20, 2007)

Good topic. I have a friend who has footage of a bull on the Pahvant in the August and it was killed on the Beaver in Sept-- I think about 20 miles air distance, with an interstate and lots of canyons in between. That was just for the rut.

I see elk in the Uintas travel over 7 miles in a day or two when the snow flies. Goofy mentioned the Pauns and Book Cliffs, which are the farthest I have personally seen in Utah. I heard that Dutton deer can migrate 40-60 miles south. For reference, some deer in Western Wyoming will travel over 100 miles one way for their winter migration (according to the WY bio I talked with). 

I often wonder how many migration instincts/imprints have been lost over the years with roads and segment die-offs. 

Kevin- that is an interesting bit of info.


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## svmoose (Feb 28, 2008)

Amazing animals for sure, but if you think about it -- it really isn't all that far and I'm sure can be done in a day by these animals. I've moved 20 miles in a day, and I'm a lot slower than an elk or deer. 

I grew up in western wyoming and while some deer would stick around in the mountain valleys for the winter, the majority of them head either south, or east for the winter. I suppose it would be 30 to 40 miles as the crow flies, I'm sure many go further than that.


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## TopofUtahArcher (Sep 9, 2009)

We had a tagged elk from Hardware ranch that ended up being harvested one year later in S. Colorado.

I also recall a collared wolf from West Yellowstone being tracked to Kansas. Funny thing is he only used the freeway in his travels.


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## HunterDavid (Sep 10, 2007)

I also recall a collared wolf from West Yellowstone being tracked to Kansas. Funny thing is he only used the freeway in his travels.[/quote said:


> Must have gotten himself a good Atlas, or GPS, to know what exits to take!


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## JuddCT (Sep 7, 2007)

I shot a nice 4x4 buck down near LaSal one year that had a collar on it. The Bio who was at the checking station recognized it and was not too happy he had been shot. He took my email address and was SUPPOSSED to email me gps coordinates of where this buck had been and traveled. He told me he was found all the way down in Arizona at one point (I thought this was pretty amazing). Unfortunately I never got any information to confirm.


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## flinger (Nov 19, 2007)

JuddCT said:


> I shot a nice 4x4 buck down near LaSal one year that had a collar on it. The Bio who was at the checking station recognized it and was not too happy he had been shot. He took my email address and was SUPPOSSED to email me gps coordinates of where this buck had been and traveled. He told me he was found all the way down in Arizona at one point (I thought this was pretty amazing). Unfortunately I never got any information to confirm.


That would be fun to see where a bucks home range is. I wonder if the day will ever come where technology will allow a typical consumer to easily gps track something by shooting or throwing a gps tracker onto it. How would you police that one?

Packout, I had heard some elk do that, hopefully the animals will still be traveling past i-70, even though that new deer fence was just put in. Maybe they will learn to go under those bridges.

Hardware Ranch feedlot could be so attractive to the animals that they pass it on through their social web all the way to colorado and wy. Interesting for sure. Facebook for deer....hmm.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Interesting, we had our big game meeting last night in Evanston and talked about deer migrations. Like Packout and TEX said some deer in Wyoming will travel over 100 miles to their winter range. One Game and Fish Biologist said a collared deer from Jackson WY was found down around Rock Springs WY, a distance of well over 150 miles, as the crow flies.

Elk on the North Slope winter in Wyoming. From Flaming Gorge over west to the Bear River they migrate north and winter on Wyoming's wind-blown sagebrush steppe and rancher's hay fields all the way to Interstate 80. It would be safe to stay some of these elk travel 25 miles to crucial winter range during tough winters like last winter.


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## mikevanwilder (Nov 11, 2008)

I talked with a CO in Nevada, near Ely. I was asking about what units are the best for deer and he advised that it depends on what time of year. He said that the later hunts are the best because the deer migrate down from Idaho to the units around Ely and south of there. I was very skeptical of that but after reading some of the ranges on here maybe its not that far fetched.


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## goofy elk (Dec 16, 2007)

Mike, been there done that, watched the Nevada deer migrate....Here's the scoop.

The Ely deer I'm sure he was referring to unit 114/115.
The deer there, 115 in particular,are on the Great basin national park all summer and fall,
There is a November muzzle loader hunt that IS FANTASTIC if you now the migration route..

Same with 081 in the north, Nevada has a December hunt that kills both Utah and Idaho 
deer that migrate into those areas as well.....

BUT from 081 to 114/115 is a long way.......Many units in between, deer don't migrate from Idaho to Ely.......


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## leviwin (Dec 7, 2011)

I know the Deer in Nevada migrate from the Rubies down south to near Illipah Reservoir for their winter range. The deer that hand out around Illipah travel south to the golden gate area and around the fields of Lund. I also know that a spike elk that was tagged in Spring Valley east of Ely was shot a few years later up in the south end of the Rubies. Some of these distances are well over 100 miles.


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## mikevanwilder (Nov 11, 2008)

goofy elk said:


> Mike, been there done that, watched the Nevada deer migrate....Here's the scoop.
> 
> The Ely deer I'm sure he was referring to unit 114/115.
> The deer there, 114 in particular,are on the Great basin national park all summer and fall,
> ...


You know thats what I figured too. That is a long way for deer to travel. I can see them coming down to maybe the Wells area. In fact when I coyote out there we see a ton of deer hanging out in the sage and also the fields near Clover Valley. This usually is in Jan and Feb. 
But I don't see why deer would travel down from Idaho to Ely when there is plenty of feed in between.


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## leviwin (Dec 7, 2011)

I think your right about them not going down Ely. I know most of the deer from the northern Nevada Southern Idaho area don't go much further than Spruce Mtn.


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## StillAboveGround (Aug 20, 2011)

Utah Bison herd was originally established in the San Rafael Swell area, but moved to the Burr Desert/Henry Mtns area the next year. Not an annual migration, but a 60? mile trek...


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