• Ungulates - deer, elk, moose, pronghorn, bighorn sheep, and mountain goats - do not hibernate. Instead, they survive off of the fat reserves they build through the summer and fall. Any excess movement or stress burns extra calories, depleting these reserves more quickly.

• Animals need to conserve their energy, particularly during snowy months when food is scarce and temperatures are low.

• Fighting against starvation for months weakens animals, making them more vulnerable.

• Winter stress and disturbance has a cumulative impact. Most winter wildlife mortality actually happens in the spring, when their energy reserves are at their lowest.

• Many neighborhoods, roads, railways, trails, and ranches now occupy what used to be the best ungulate winter habitat. Today these animals do their best to try and survive in the lower-snow open spaces that remain.

• Bighorn sheep and mountain goats can actually spend their winters at high elevations! These high-elevation winter ranges can be very limited in size and resources, and the elements are especially harsh. 

• Winter range capacity effectively defines the whole area’s carrying capacity for any particular wildlife species, or the maximum herd size that the area can support. So if winter range size and/or quality decrease, then decreases in herd sizes can be expected.

Ask yourself…

• What conditions are currently making it hard for wildlife to survive?

• Will deer, elk, moose, and pronghorn likely be hanging out at lower elevations to escape deeper snow?

• Might bighorn sheep and mountain goats be isolated to their high-elevation winter range?

• Are you planning to travel through or near critical winter ranges?

• Do you know where critical winter ranges are located?

• Can you avoid traveling through wildlife winter range?

• Can you recognize fresh wildlife sign?

• Are there voluntary (or mandatory) closures where you’re planning to go?

Make a plan A, plan B, and plan C

If you don’t know – stick to designated roads and trails for winter travel. Many were located and designed with wildlife habitat in mind.

• Avoid disturbing and stressing ungulates in the winter.

• Leash and control your dog.

• Do not feed wildlife. Unnatural food sources is very often unhealthy for widlife. Ungulates, in particular, are unable to digest high-calorie foods in winter so feeding them can actually make starvation more likely. It is also illegal to feed big game animals.

• Once deer, elk, and pronghorn herds are pushed to lower elevations (when snow covers their summer and fall habitats), they return to higher elevations until spring green-up, so they remain at high risk of death from trains and highway vehicles for months.

• Bighorn sheep and mountain goats who winter at high elevations are extremely vulnerable to displacement-caused mortality because their winter ranges are especially small and resource-limited.

• The more that a females’ body condition declines during the winter and spring, the less likely it is that their offspring will survive. If a female’s body condition declines too much to support a fetus, it will be aborted. Even if the fawn/calf is born, a winter-stressed mother may unable to produce enough milk to sustain their young, or the fawn/calf may be born too weak to survive.

• Males are stressed after the fall rut and go into the winter with low body condition to start with, making them extra vulnerable, and sensitive to disturbance

• Wildlife like to be on packed trails for the same reason you do. Be aware that you might be more likely to encounter wildlife on trails in the winter. Never rush wildlife off of trails. Give them plenty of space and time. Quietly go around any wildlife you encounter. And turn around and opt for your Plan B if you can’t avoid disturbing wildlife on that particular day.

• Collecting antlers that deer, elk, and moose have dropped (called shed hunting) is prohibited during winter months, and even during certain hours in parts of Colorado. See CPW shed hunting rules for more info: https://cpw.state.co.us/antlershed

• Disturbance doesn’t always equate to movement- even if an animal does not flee from you, increased stress or their avoidance of a certain part of their range (like an area frequented by people) can still impact their physiology and physical condition

If you see fresh tracks, turn back or take another route. If you encounter wildlife in the winter:

• Give them space!

• Turn around, take another route, or switch to your plan B.

• Be silent, move slowly.

• In general, go high when going around wildlife (unless there are other animals higher on the slope, in which case turn around).

• Leash and control your pets.

• Alert other people that you encounter on the trail so they can limit their impacts as well.

• If you keep touring notes make note of where you encounter wildlife in order to inform future decision-making.

• “Green up” is when, after a long winter, there is finally green vegetation on the landscape again. This means more (and higher quality) food for wildlife.

• Animals are at the very end of their energy reserves in spring, so just because it looks like deer, elk, and antelope are “out of the woods,” they’re still trying to bulk up and recover. Continue to give them space!

• Bottom line: if you can keep up your good winter practices all year long, wildlife will benefit now and into the future.