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Migration Routes of Mule Deer in Wind River Indian Reservation Herd in Wyoming

Metadata Updated: November 19, 2025

Some of the mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) in the southwestern section of the Wind River Indian Reservation are unique, because their entire migration routes are within Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho lands (fig. 29). In the spring, deer migrate from the foothills of the Wind River Range upslope to the Tribes’ Wind River Roadless Area, or northwest into the Shoshone and Bridger-Teton National Forests or Grand Teton National Park, demonstrating how the reservation is part of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. The herd, which numbers around 1500, winters entirely within the Reservation, from the western boundary of the Reservation to south of Fort Washakie. Winter habitats consist of upland shrubs, sage, grasses and riparian areas. Summer ranges are largely lodgepole pine forests, mountain meadows, and alpine areas. Animals migrate an average one-way distance of 29 mi (47 km) ranging from as little as 4 mi (6 km) to as far as 131 mi (211 km). The population has been stable during the last 10 years. Winter ranges of these animals are largely secure under management by Shoshone and Arapaho Tribes Game and Fish, and Tribal policies that limit where rural housing and development can occur. The migration routes are a more serious concern because some are relatively long, and US Highway 26/287 is one of the highest-priority areas in the state for reducing wildlife-vehicle collisions. Additionally, a portion of the population moves through residential subdivisions near Dubois. Once the deer reach summer range, the habitats are under Federal management, and aside from timber harvest and grazing, the land is largely free from development. These data provide the location of migration routes for mule deer in the Wind River Indian Reservation population in the Wind River Reservation. They were developed from 152 migration sequences collected from a sample size of 48 animals comprising GPS locations collected every 2 hours.

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

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Dates

Metadata Created Date September 12, 2025
Metadata Updated Date November 19, 2025

Metadata Source

Harvested from DOI USGS DCAT-US

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date September 12, 2025
Metadata Updated Date November 19, 2025
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Maintainer
Identifier http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/usgs-620e4b58d34e6c7e83baa3c8
Data Last Modified 2022-04-07T00:00:00Z
Category geospatial
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 010:12
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Metadata Catalog ID https://ddi.doi.gov/usgs-data.json
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id f31aefc8-f75f-4a6e-b57e-e28c71956e98
Harvest Source Id 2b80d118-ab3a-48ba-bd93-996bbacefac2
Harvest Source Title DOI USGS DCAT-US
Metadata Type geospatial
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash f77e6763b12a785f70337561927e48e342ff66febcac8e5765ac8f6e54243d0a
Source Schema Version 1.1

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