Wyoming mule deer capture and collar planned for early December

About 130 Wyoming mule deer will be outfitted with GPS collars in December. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) is planning to capture and collar members of the Wyoming Range herd Dec. 1 and 2, 2022 using a professional wildlife capture crew and a helicopter, according to the Pinedale Roundup.

While the majority of mule deer will be captured on the large winter ranges near LaBarge, Kemmerer and Evanston, about 25 deer will be collared for the first time in Star Valley. Crews are targeting deer specifically in the foothills of the Salt Range between Alpine and Smoot as well as the Spring Creek area near Fairview. 

WGFD will use the capture and collar mission to continue their long-time research on the Wyoming Range herd. Data on the herd has been collected for the last 10 years. Once the new capture and collaring is complete, the agency will be able to monitor roughly 210 collared deer within the herd, which is considered one of the largest in the state with roughly 30,000 members, according to the Pinedale Roundup.

This is part of a new statewide Mule Deer Monitoring Program to help understand the decline in the state’s mule deer numbers.