Nevada’s mule deer make some of the most extreme elevation migrations of any tracked population in the West — from alpine cirques in the Ruby and Toiyabe ranges down to the Humboldt River valley, with elevation drops of more than 6,000 feet in less than 20 miles. This map shows every USGS-mapped big-game migration corridor in Nevada — 19 herd units, 591 GPS-collared animals, and 1,552 tracked migration segments, recorded between 2006 and 2023.
Click any corridor or stopover for herd-level stats. Toggle species on and off in the controls above the map, or pick a featured corridor lower on the page to load real GPS tracks onto the map.
Big-game migration in Nevada by the numbers
- 19 mapped herd units
- 591 individual animals tracked by GPS collar
- 1,552 GPS migration tracks recorded between 2006 and 2023
- 67,306 km² of migration corridor identified
- 19 stopovers — critical rest and refuel sites along the corridors
Species tracked in Nevada
- Mule Deer — 11 herd units mapped in Nevada
- Elk — 4 herd units mapped in Nevada
- Pronghorn — 4 herd units mapped in Nevada
Famous migration corridors in Nevada
Ruby Mountains Mule Deer
High alpine to sagebrush migrations across the Ruby Mountains of northeast Nevada — one of the most dramatic elevation changes in any Western migration. 117 animals tracked between 2012 and 2018.
Sheldon-Hart Mountain Pronghorn
Pronghorn moving between the Sheldon and Hart Mountain National Wildlife Refuges in the high sagebrush country of Nevada and Oregon. 30 animals tracked between 2011 and 2013.
Every tracked herd unit in Nevada
The complete list of USGS-mapped herd units that include Nevada. Cross-border herds shared with neighbouring states are included.
- Elk: Bruneau Diamond ADesert herd — 0 tracked animals, —
- Elk: Inside Desert herd — 0 tracked animals, —
- Elk: Southern Owyhee Desert herd — 33 tracked animals, 2015–2022
- Elk: YPDesert herd — 0 tracked animals, —
- Mule Deer: Area17Toiyabe herd — 35 tracked animals, 2018–2021
- Mule Deer: Carson River herd — 47 tracked animals, 2012–2019
- Mule Deer: Izzenhood herd — 35 tracked animals, 2016–2019
- Mule Deer: Loyalton herd — 31 tracked animals, 2006–2017
- Mule Deer: Pequop herd — 79 tracked animals, 2012–2018
- Mule Deer: Ruby Mountains herd — 117 tracked animals, 2012–2018
- Mule Deer: Sheep Creek herd — 36 tracked animals, 2012–2019
- Mule Deer: South Tuscarora herd — 31 tracked animals, 2012–2019
- Mule Deer: Spring Mountains herd — 18 tracked animals, 2016–2020
- Mule Deer: Verdi Truckee herd — 31 tracked animals, 2009–2017
- Mule Deer: Washoe herd — 68 tracked animals, 2007–2023
- Pronghorn: Central Washoe herd — 0 tracked animals, —
- Pronghorn: Sheldon Hart Mountain herd — 30 tracked animals, 2011–2013
- Pronghorn: Sheldon Hart Mountain herd — 0 tracked animals, —
- Pronghorn: Surprise Valley herd — 0 tracked animals, —
What threatens migration corridors in Nevada
Across the West, the biggest threats to big-game migrations are not the things that kill individual animals — they’re the things that fragment the corridor itself. Energy development, road crossings, fences and subdivision of winter range have all been documented as drivers of corridor loss in this dataset. State wildlife agencies, the USGS Corridor Mapping Team, and conservation NGOs are now using maps like this one to guide decisions about where to build wildlife crossings, where to replace woven-wire fences, and where to prioritise conservation easements on private winter range.
Explore further
This page is part of MapScaping’s western big-game migration series. See the Western US Big Game Migration Map for the complete dataset across all ten states, or browse a different state:
