TerynItUp
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Many of you are probably familiar with the Mule Deer and Elk study done in the San Juan and Chama Basins. I was reading it in a little more depth and found something that I must have skimmed over the previous times I studied it, very interesting and debunks a lot of what has been assumed by many MM'ers including myself. In regards to the initiation of the winter migration of Mule Deer in Southern Colorado, the study shows that it commences at the same time every year, regardless of snow or not. However, the one thing that snow did affect was the length of their migration, more snow pushed the deer further South into NM. Other than that, the deer show almost 100% fidelity to their winter and summer ranges as also to the dates they start moving. Here is a quote from the study:
"In general the deer migrated from the SUIR winter ranges north and east to high-elevation summer ranges along the Continental Divide (Figure 9). They typically followed major drainages and exhibited almost 100% fidelity to summer range among years. Fidelity to winter range was almost as strong; however, when snow depth became extreme during one year, some of the deer migrated farther south, with a few crossing the border into NM. The timing of the migration was also very predictable, with deer starting their migrations on almost the same date every year (Table 1) and arriving on their seasonal range on almost the same date every year (Table 2). The extremely small confidence intervals for the migration initiation and arrival dates indicates that mule deer migration must be triggered by something very predictable, perhaps day length, and not by local environmental factors like weather, green-up, or snow depth."
Average Fall Initiation date - October 15th
Average Winter Range Arrival - October 30th
Average Spring Initiation date - May 7th
Average Summer Range Arrival - May 25th
Good luck to you all chasing these Southern CO-Northern NM bucks!
Hunt Hard. Shoot Straight. Kill Clean. Apologize to No One.
"In general the deer migrated from the SUIR winter ranges north and east to high-elevation summer ranges along the Continental Divide (Figure 9). They typically followed major drainages and exhibited almost 100% fidelity to summer range among years. Fidelity to winter range was almost as strong; however, when snow depth became extreme during one year, some of the deer migrated farther south, with a few crossing the border into NM. The timing of the migration was also very predictable, with deer starting their migrations on almost the same date every year (Table 1) and arriving on their seasonal range on almost the same date every year (Table 2). The extremely small confidence intervals for the migration initiation and arrival dates indicates that mule deer migration must be triggered by something very predictable, perhaps day length, and not by local environmental factors like weather, green-up, or snow depth."
Average Fall Initiation date - October 15th
Average Winter Range Arrival - October 30th
Average Spring Initiation date - May 7th
Average Summer Range Arrival - May 25th
Good luck to you all chasing these Southern CO-Northern NM bucks!
Hunt Hard. Shoot Straight. Kill Clean. Apologize to No One.
