Deer migration maps

[Abourda]

I just got access to some prime hunting property around the 3000 ft elevation in D3. I was told that this is the breeding ground and migration path for deer and the DFG monitors that entire area very closely.

Question: Is there such a thing as a map of migratory deer?

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<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Abourda @ Aug 28 2008, 10:05 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Question: Is there such a thing as a map of migratory deer?[/b]

Well, like my handle suggests, I make my own maps which also include some of the Mule Deer migration routes. These are migrations that I can remember from hunting during the old days, and naturally, I will passing them on to my boy. But of course, the fact that the new regulations stop hunting long before the deer migrations takes place makes these maps obsolete. Except of course, for photography or biology studies long after hunting season is over. I can remember how un-sportsman like it was to hunt that way. This is only my opinion which is not backed up with scientific study, but I think that (though natural selection) the deer that migrated down those stupid old routes were killed off and did (not) reproduce. You would have to check with a fish & game biologist to find out if the old migrations still occur? That&#39;s if you can find one old enough to remember?


Richard

After thought:

One way that you can find your own information is to study the Native Americans. Here is a game trail that is located just outside of California at Mono Lake.

http://www.faculty.ucr.edu/~legneref...gly/petro6.htm

The information is from UC, and I used it back in 1979 to study some petroglyphs that I had found while hunting, I have posted some of those pictures of this game trail for public viewing at my webpages:

http://www.geocities.com/trail_cam/

Click at the bottom of my first page at “Free California Hunting Maps”, and keep going until you find “1979 Nevada Petroglyphs” at the bottom of another page.

Good luck at finding your own game trails. There is Ogam writings on those rocks!

Richard

[WildlifeBranch]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Abourda @ Aug 28 2008, 10:05 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

I just got access to some prime hunting property around the 3000 ft elevation in D3. I was told that this is the breeding ground and migration path for deer and the DFG monitors that entire area very closely.

Question: Is there such a thing as a map of migratory deer?[/b]

3,000 ft in that area is largely winter range for the migratory deer, but also year-round range for the resident population. On migratory ranges, we have over the years identified known migration routes and corridors for management planning and to provide to county planners for consideration of wildlife in county development plans.

Routes are typically down ridgetops in the fall, in areas where the deer can quickly drop in elevation if a big storm hits to get below snowline. Summer range is much larger than winter, so they will funnel down into higher densities on the winter ranges where breeding occurs.

Maps of migration routes are typically imperfect, often generalizations, but you might be able to get a peek from the regional offices by asking the biologist to look at them or by asking to see the area deer herd plan. Doubtful they will provide "oh wow" answers however.

We thought about mapping them and making them more available, but basically, most of the range between 3-6000 feet in the Sierra is migration route... Eric

[map]

Abourda,

Before I send someone on a wild goose chase to Nevada, let me clear up something. My Rattlesnake Canyon glyphs are listed as Garfield Flat (M-4) on the UC Map. Also, the game trail proceeds south from Powell Canyon to Little Whisky Flat (M-5) then on down to Huntoon Springs. I have pictures posted of (M-5) but I never did find the Huntoon Springs glyphs. I mapped Huntoon using the 24K Quadrangle, so it should be fairly accurate.

The Ogam writings are at (M-4) and name the ship that the pre-Christian Irish used to sail to America. It would take a college professor to read that stuff, so don’t waste your time. Maybe, WillifeBranch knows whether they use the Ogam writing to study the history of the game trails?


Richard

[ZEKEDAWG]

The way I figure it, if you have access, hunt it, if they come through, blast em. Simple enough.

[knowledge]

Ok appearantly there was a double original post of this topic. Mods?


Richard I dont have time tonight, but I will have to check out area&#39;s on your site that you have mapped. I have seen your work (knoxville thread) and if you haven&#39;t mapped area&#39;s that I hunt. I would love to see what you could do... Like I said, I dont have time tonight to look.

Eric why would the biologist not provide answers/maps? Shouldn&#39;t it be their job to produce these study&#39;s and maps to the public? What zone/region do you work if you don&#39;t mind me asking?

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<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (knowledge @ Aug 29 2008, 11:55 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Richard I dont have time tonight, but I will have to check out area&#39;s on your site that you have mapped. I have seen your work (knoxville thread) and if you haven&#39;t mapped area&#39;s that I hunt. I would love to see what you could do... Like I said, I dont have to night.[/b]

All of the Hunting Maps at my site are areas where I have been crowded out by other hunters. (They are good starters for new residents and new hunters.) In other words, these are social gathering places. It’s a free Internet site, so it will shut down for a while when the limit is reached. The boundaries can be loaded into a GPS or as a KLM file in Google Earth. I will private email them on request.


Richard

[knowledge]

Awesome, thanks!

[WildlifeBranch]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (knowledge @ Aug 29 2008, 11:55 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Eric why would the biologist not provide answers/maps? Shouldn&#39;t it be their job to produce these study&#39;s and maps to the public? What zone/region do you work if you don&#39;t mind me asking?[/b]

Hi Knowledge-- no sinister reasons, but unfortunately, time, other assignments, availability of information, knowledge of the information, and ability to locate the information quickly are all factors that would affect DFG ability to produce the information if a hunter were to walk through the doors wanting it. Recommend contacting local or regional biologist in advance py phone/email to see what is available for the area you are interested in. If we have information on biological resources, it is for the most part, available to the public. Exceptions usually relate to endangered species issues/concerns (like coordinates for nest locations).

You hear about the wardens regularly, but there aren&#39;t nearly enough wildlife biologists (fewer now than there were 10-20 years ago, which was about 1 per county), and even fewer of them focus on game species nowadays. I work at headquarters in Sac. and coordinated a fair portion of the deer migration, winter range/summer range/fawning areas statewide mapping efforts we did in the early 1990s to get it all into GIS. Eric

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<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (WildlifeBranch @ Aug 30 2008, 10:20 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

I work at headquarters in Sac. and coordinated a fair portion of the deer migration, winter range/summer range/fawning areas statewide mapping efforts we did in the early 1990s to get it all into GIS. Eric[/b]

Eric,

To each his own, but I would encourage you to keep the Deer Migrations under your hat. In my opinion, you guys should use that information to insure that the season is shut-down before the migration starts. In the old days, a group of us factory workers would wait until the first storm, then call in sick, and then head directly to Kingsley Cove for the slaughter. There were no Zones in those days and deer season stayed open later than it does nowadays. With the hunter population that we have today the deer herd wouldn’t survive under those conditions.

my 2 cents;

Richard

[.257magman]

find a zone you can draw every year or every other year and hunt it hard and with time
and scouting (before and after hunting season) it will take shape... we all want quick fixes
and magic however the bio dude want us to be successful in our hunting endeavor and I never
had a bio dude or dudette mislead me or not give me a gen area to be, and it may be as simple
as he or she saying they&#39;ll typically be at 4000&#39; that time of year and when my GPS showed 4000&#39; deer
where everywhere.... even in B zone if weather coming deer go down and when it&#39;s done the deer go
back up, not a migration but like there fleeing cold stormy weather only to go back up where its feels safe and its like a freeway I seen this happened to where you could count 30 deer in a half hour just before a cold heavy down pour with lighting and thunder or snow!
their are no secrets and like I told my son while antelope hunting last weekend good hunting area&#39;s draw a crowd!
so lots of folk&#39;s means good hunting!
a lot of DFG migration stuff is done with Radio-GPS collars than actually going to the field..oh also helicopters (one time in mid Dec a Bio-copter reported seeing many deer at 10000&#39; during a drought years!) are utilized a bit too. winter range
is used mostly as a fawn survival rate tool that helps determine how the deer management goals and objective&#39;s are being met too!
"one doe&#39;s what one can"
.257magman

[knowledge]

Eric, thank you for the info. I thought about either being a Warden, or even going back to school to be a Wildlife Biologist last year after I was laid off. Very cool stuff! I ended up getting a call from a high profile company and couldn&#39;t say "no".

So no migration routes have been studied since the 90&#39;s? Thats crazy to me. I now DFG has a section basically devoted to deer. What have they been doing since the 90&#39;s?