Migration Routes of Elk in the Egg Lake Herd in California

The Egg Lake Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus canadensis nelsoni) sub-herd range extends northeast from the town of McCloud around Ash Creek to the Big Valley Mountains and as far east as Highway 139 near the community of Hackamore. During the winter, this sub-herd primarily resides to the east of Big Valley Mountains near Egg Lake in Modoc County, California. They migrate east to private timberlands and spend the spring and summer just outside of McCloud, California. Topography of this area is relatively flat, but gradually transitions to steeper slopes around creeks, and typical habitat includes Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), Sierran mixed conifer, and montane hardwood conifer forests. Another sub-herd is known to exist on the east side of Highway 139 near Clear Lake and this may present a barrier between the two sub-herds as some mortality has been documented on the highway, but the full extent of this is unknown. These data provide the location of migration routes for elk in the Egg Lake population in California. They were developed from 22 migration sequences collected from a sample size of 11 animals comprising GPS locations collected every 3-8 hours.