High alpine to sagebrush migrations across the Ruby Mountains of northeast Nevada — one of the most dramatic elevation changes in any Western migration.
- 117 individual animals GPS-collared and tracked
- 290 migration tracks recorded
- Tracking span: 2012–2018
- Average migration distance: ~120 km
- Longest single recorded track: 396 km
- Mapped corridor area: 3,206 km²
The map below shows the herd’s migration corridors and a sample of the GPS tracks behind them. Press play on the slider below the map to animate the migration across the calendar year — watch the tracks pulse with the seasons.
11,000 feet straight out of the sagebrush
The Ruby Mountains rise more than 11,000 feet from the floor of the Humboldt River valley in northeast Nevada — a startling alpine range surrounded by hundreds of miles of sagebrush basin and range country. The mule deer that summer in the Rubies’ alpine cirques and aspen basins make one of the most dramatic elevation migrations of any tracked population in the West, dropping more than 6,000 feet in less than 20 miles to reach winter range on the valley floor below.
Nevada Department of Wildlife biologists have tracked 290 Ruby Mountains mule deer across the modern collar era, capturing one of the cleanest examples of a high-relief, elevation-driven migration in the dataset. Spring migration kicks off as the snow line retreats up the slopes in May and June; fall migration starts with the first heavy snows of October.
Conservation context
The Ruby Mountains corridor crosses a checkerboard of Forest Service, BLM and private land, with most winter range on lower-elevation BLM and private parcels south and west of the range. As elsewhere in the West, the biggest conservation pressures are on the low-elevation winter range, where exurban subdivision and ranch fragmentation gradually erode connectivity.
Watch the animation
Press play on the slider below the map to see the herd’s movement through the calendar year. The pattern is unmistakable: the tracks bunch high in summer, fan out down the slope in October and November, and concentrate on a band of low-elevation winter range from December through April.
Related migration maps
This page is part of MapScaping’s western big-game migration series. See the Western US Big Game Migration Map for the complete dataset, explore migrations by species, or browse other famous corridors.
