Migration Routes of Mule Deer in Methow Herd in Washington

The Methow mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) sub-herd is part of the larger West Okanogan herd, the largest migratory mule deer herd in Washington State. Individuals travel as far as 65 miles twice annually between lowland winter range and higher elevation summer range (fig. 27). Mule deer wintering on the shrubsteppe dominated foothills in the lower half of the Methow valley undertake a roughly 3-week trek in mid-spring to the productive subalpine and alpine meadows of the Pasayten and Chelan Sawtooth Wilderness, and surrounding high country, with some animals traveling north into British Columbia. On summer range they mingle with deer moving up from the west side of the Okanogan valley forming an estimated summering population of between 15,000–25,000 animals. Currently, migrating deer in the Methow watershed do not have to contend with any known major barriers, but their movements are somewhat constrained in the lower portion of the watershed where the topography narrows the valley considerably. These data provide the location of migration routes for mule deer in the Methow population in Washington. They were developed from 321 migration sequences collected from a sample size of 97 animals comprising GPS locations collected every 2 hours.

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  "geospatial"
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