This data set represents the 2018 elk seasonal range boundaries for Wyoming. Seasonal range delineations depict lands that are important in each season for certain biological processes within a herd unit. Seasonal range boundaries are based on long-term observation data, specific research projects, and professional judgement. Ranges were originally digitized at a scale of 1:100,000 using USGS 1:100,000 DRGs as a backdrop for heads up digitizing, and are revised as needed by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. Current seasonal range definitions are based on a 1990 document drafted by the Wyoming Chapter of The Wildlife Society in cooperation with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and federal land agencies.

Migratory movements of elk within the Piney herd unit, a large area encompassing the eastern side of the Wyoming, include short (i.e., 10 miles) to medium (i.e., 30 miles) distance migrations. These elk migrate from low elevation elk feedgrounds and native winter ranges in the Upper Green River Basin to high elevation summer ranges in the Wyoming Range. In summer, some elk head further west into the Grey’s River Basin from the Bench Corral and Forest Park feedgrounds. Challenges for Piney elk include energy development, especially in the southern portion of the herd unit. These data provide the location of migration routes for Elk (Cervus canadensis) in the Piney herd in Wyoming. They were developed from Brownian bridge movement models using 306 migration sequences collected from a sample size of 158 animals comprising GPS locations collected every 2-8 hours.

Elk (Cervus elpahus canadensis) within the southern section of the Bighorn Mountains display altitudinal migration. In the spring, most individuals migrate from the western foothills up into the mountains, and in the fall, they head back down to lower elevations (fig. 68). In the southern section where the range curves west, the herd migrates up the northern foothills in the spring and back down in the fall. Additionally, a few individuals will summer on the eastern foothills along the Crazy Woman drainage. These individuals migrate west up the slopes in the spring and back down in the fall. The herd, which numbers around 4,000, primarily winters along the western foothills of the southern Bighorn Mountains just east of route 434 (Upper Nowood rd.), though some will winter east towards Buffalo. Winter ranges consist primarily of low growing shrubs with smaller areas of herbaceous grasslands, largely supported by private land with scattered areas of BLM land. During migration, animals travel an average one way distance of 24 mi (39 km) ranging from as little as 10 mi (16 km) to as far as 62 mi (100 km). In spring, animals migrate off winter range and head east or south up the western or northern side of the Bighorn Mountains. Summer ranges consist of shrub land with smaller areas of evergreen forests. The summer range is a mix of private land and BLM land, though the northern most individuals summer predominantly within the boundaries of the Bighorn National Forest. The population size of the herd has remained relatively steady over the last decade. There is a concern for the animals on both their winter and summer ranges because they largely consists of private land. Similarly, while their migration routes are relatively short, and do not cross any highways, there is still a concern due to the large extent of private land along the route. These data provide the location of migration routes for elk in the South Bighorn population in Wyoming. They were developed from 89 migration sequences collected from a sample size of 33 animals comprising GPS locations collected every 2 hours.

This data set represents the 2024 elk hunt area, herd unit, and regions boundaries for Wyoming. The layer was originally digitized at a scale of 1:100,000, using USGS 1:100,000 DRGs as a backdrop for heads up digitizing. Updates requested by Wyoming Game and Fish Biological Services were completed by selecting needed features from other layers, including roads, streams, HUCs, NAIP rasters and others. Hunt area boundary descriptions are part of hunting regulations, which are approved and published annually by the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission. When needed, the 2008 edition (1st Edition) of the Wyoming Road and Recreation Atlas (Benchmark Maps) was consulted for road and other information.NOTE: This layer of herd units is derived from the hunt area layer by dissolving on the "HERDUNIT" and "HERDNAME" attributes (Dissolve_Fields), and unchecking the box "Create multipart features (optional)". All of the same metadata is used from the hunt area layer except that the citation title is modified so that "Herd Unit" replaces "Hunt Area". The "Dissolve" tool: ArcToolbox > Data Management Tools > Generalization.

About this dataset

Context

The dataset tabulates the data for the Elk Mountain, WY population pyramid, which represents the Elk Mountain population distribution across age and gender, using estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) 2018-2022 5-Year Estimates. It lists the male and female population for each age group, along with the total population for those age groups. Higher numbers at the bottom of the table suggest population growth, whereas higher numbers at the top indicate declining birth rates. Furthermore, the dataset can be utilized to understand the youth dependency ratio, old-age dependency ratio, total dependency ratio, and potential support ratio.

Key observations

• Youth dependency ratio, which is the number of children aged 0-14 per 100 persons aged 15-64, for Elk Mountain, WY, is 13.2.
• Old-age dependency ratio, which is the number of persons aged 65 or over per 100 persons aged 15-64, for Elk Mountain, WY, is 58.5.
• Total dependency ratio for Elk Mountain, WY is 71.7.
• Potential support ratio, which is the number of youth (working age population) per elderly, for Elk Mountain, WY is 1.7.

Content

When available, the data consists of estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) 2018-2022 5-Year Estimates.

Age groups:

• Under 5 years
• 5 to 9 years
• 10 to 14 years
• 15 to 19 years
• 20 to 24 years
• 25 to 29 years
• 30 to 34 years
• 35 to 39 years
• 40 to 44 years
• 45 to 49 years
• 50 to 54 years
• 55 to 59 years
• 60 to 64 years
• 65 to 69 years
• 70 to 74 years
• 75 to 79 years
• 80 to 84 years
• 85 years and over

Variables / Data Columns

• Age Group: This column displays the age group for the Elk Mountain population analysis. Total expected values are 18 and are define above in the age groups section.
• Population (Male): The male population in the Elk Mountain for the selected age group is shown in the following column.
• Population (Female): The female population in the Elk Mountain for the selected age group is shown in the following column.
• Total Population: The total population of the Elk Mountain for the selected age group is shown in the following column.

Good to know

Margin of Error

Data in the dataset are based on the estimates and are subject to sampling variability and thus a margin of error. Neilsberg Research recommends using caution when presening these estimates in your research.

Custom data

If you do need custom data for any of your research project, report or presentation, you can contact our research staff at research@neilsberg.com for a feasibility of a custom tabulation on a fee-for-service basis.

Inspiration

Neilsberg Research Team curates, analyze and publishes demographics and economic data from a variety of public and proprietary sources, each of which often includes multiple surveys and programs. The large majority of Neilsberg Research aggregated datasets and insights is made available for free download at https://www.neilsberg.com/research/.

Recommended for further research

This dataset is a part of the main dataset for Elk Mountain Population by Age. You can refer the same here

Using data from 288 adult and yearling female elk that were captured on 22 Wyoming winter supplemental elk feedgrounds and monitored with GPS collars, we fit Step Selection Functions (SSFs) during the spring abortion season and then implemented a master equation approach to translate SSFs into predictions of daily elk distribution for 5 plausible winter weather scenarios (from a heavy snow, to an extreme winter drought year). Here we provide the predictions of elk space use on a daily basis at a 500m resolution for the 5 different weather scenarios: 1) low snowfall year (2010), 2) average snowfall year (2012), 3) high snowfall year (2014), 4) hypothetical early snowmelt climate change scenario where spring green up started, snow melt occurred, and supplemental feeding ended 14 days earlier than in the low snow year of 2010, and 5) hypothetical winter drought climate change scenario where spring green up started, snow melt occurred, and supplemental feeding ended 28 days earlier than in the low snow year of 2010.

1. Animal group size distributions are often right-skewed, whereby most groups are small, but most individuals occur in larger groups that may also disproportionately affect ecology and policy. In this case, examining covariates associated with upper quantiles of the group size distribution could facilitate better understanding and management of large animal groups. 2. We studied wintering elk groups in Wyoming, where group sizes span several orders of magnitude, and issues of disease, predation and property damage are affected by larger group sizes. We used quantile regression to evaluate relationships between the group size distribution and variables of land use, habitat, elk density and wolf abundance to identify conditions important to larger elk groups. 3. We recorded 1263 groups ranging from 1 to 1952 elk and found that across all quantiles of group size, group sizes were larger in open habitat and on private land, but the largest effect occurred between irrigated and non-irrigated land [e.g. the 90th quantile group size increased by 135 elk (95% CI = 42, 227) on irrigation]. 4. Only upper quantile group sizes were positively related to broad-scale measures of elk density and wolf abundance. For wolf abundance, this effect was greater on elk groups found in open habitats and private land than those in closed habitats or public land. If we had limited our analysis to mean or median group sizes, we would not have detected these effects. 5. Synthesis and applications. Our analysis of elk group size distributions using quantile regression suggests that private land, irrigation, open habitat, elk density and wolf abundance can affect large elk group sizes. Thus, to manage larger groups by removal or dispersal of individuals, we recommend incentivizing hunting on private land (particularly if irrigated) during the regular and late hunting seasons, promoting tolerance of wolves on private land (if elk aggregate in these areas to avoid wolves) and creating more winter range and varied habitats. Relationships to the variables of interest also differed by quantile, highlighting the importance of using quantile regression to examine response variables more completely to uncover relationships important to conservation and management.