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Winter Ranges of Mule Deer in the Carson River Herd in California and Nevada

Published by U.S. Geological Survey | Department of the Interior | Metadata Last Checked: January 27, 2026 | Last Modified: 2022-04-07T00:00:00Z
A significant portion of the interstate Carson River herd summers in the Sierra Nevada range of California and migrates to a winter range near the California-Nevada border. Herd size has declined significantly (>70%) from historical peak levels, likely due to habitat loss and vehicle collisions. A large increase in housing development and traffic along the Highway 395 corridor during the past 20 years has contributed to population declines for this herd. Significant barriers include fencing along Carson River and outlying suburban areas in Carson City, Minden, and Gardnerville, Nevada. These data provide the location of winter ranges for mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) in the Carson River population in California and Nevada. They were developed from 92 winter sequences collected from a sample size of 48 animals comprising GPS locations collected every 2-12 hours.

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