SE Idaho deer doing well?
Reporter: Tammy Scardino
Estimates in Favor of Mule Deer’s Survival in Southeast Idaho
Posted:
Dec 24, 2007 04:38 PM MST
A team effort has been launched statewide to reduce road mortality of big game animals in Idaho. Data is also being collected to specifically track mule deer populations.
Once a group of Mule Deer are spotted, they’re herded down the hill by helicopter to be met by nets and humans. Doesn’t look like much fun for the deer, but in the long run the tagged ones will provide crucial data for researchers to analyze.
Mark Hurley, Senior Research Biologist: “This is a part of our new Mule Deer Monitoring Program and it includes state wide surveys and state wide estimates of survival.”
Once on the ground, the deer are blind-folded, tagged and a radio collar is placed around their neck. Survival rates will be monitored based on these marked fawns discovered at Blackrock Canyon.
Mark Hurley, Senior Research Biologist: “Mule deer populations are fairly cyclic. Ya know, we need constant and annual estimates of survival in this data we collect so we can understand population cycles.”
Meanwhile, Fish and Game officials in the Mink Creek area are doing quite the opposite, looking for packs of Mule Deer only to scare them away from the roadway by shooting fireworks at them. It’s already being estimated to be a good year for Mule Deer in Idaho. The winter feeding program has not had to be implemented, meaning the deer are doing just fine on their own this year thanks to a mild winter.
Mark Gamblin, Fish and Game Regional Supervisor: “Certainly there is a cost savings for the sportsman for us to not have to spend a lot of money on winter feed, but that isn’t a consideration for whether or not we do feed.”
Remember, deer and other big game animals tend to cross roads at night time and are not as active during the day in order to save up their fat reserves.
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Associated Press – December 25, 2007 3:04 PM ET
POCATELLO, Idaho (AP) – Idaho Fish and Game officials near Pocatello are shooting fireworks at mule deer as part of an effort to keep them away from roads where they can be struck by automobiles.
One reason why there could be more deer on the roadways is, biologists are expecting another very good year for mule deer in the state’s southeast.
They’re currently in the midst of documenting mule-deer survival rates this year, an effort that includes chasing down the animals in a helicopter, netting them, then outfitting some with radio collars.
The big reason mule deer are surviving is the mild winter so far in the region surrounding Pocatello.
Officials are optimistic a bumper crop of fawns and adult animals will make it into next spring.
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Wood River Valley
Berkley cautioned against jumping to conclusions too soon as to how well big game will survive this winter. She noted that the flights took place prior to the major winter storm that dumped large amounts of snow in the valley earlier this week.
Regardless, Berkley said the findings are encouraging. She said that in general, the numbers seem on par with the last count the Fish and Game conducted in the same area in 2004.
Berkley said one surprise that came out of the flights was the number of mule deer that are wintering in the valley. She said deer usually head farther south, outside of the valley, during the winter to escape the deeper snows.
“We saw a lot of deer on our flight as far north as Quigley (Canyon),” she said.
