"If you wipe out a deer herd’s ability to migrate, we stand to create vacant space: deer country without deer."
- Kevin Monteith
Associate Professor, University of Wyoming
Protecting big game migrations is critical to maintaining healthy and huntable populations of elk, deer, and pronghorn across the West. First Lite’s Ford Van Fossan sets out with Randall Williams of TRCP and Dr. Kevin Monteith of UWY to hunt a herd of migratory mule deer whose path is squeezed by a highway, train tracks, and a river. Along the way, they explore the threats to these critical links between winter and summer range and talk about how hunters can help protect them. Produced in partnership with Maven Optics, “Vacant Space” tells the story of both their October hunt and the migration that made it possible.
"These animals follow very clearly defined paths across the landscape. And they can really get funneled into narrow pinch points and they won't deviate from that."
- Randall Williams
Western Communications Manager, TRCP
"If we lose big game migrations, we lose hunting opportunity. Therefore, it’s in the best interest of sportsmen to help safeguard the movement of deer, elk and antelope from summer to winter range across the West."
- Ford Van Fossen
Conservation & Content Manager, First Lite
Featured Gear
