Deer, Elk Herds Get Review From The Air
DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4)- As the big game hunting season wraps up and people start thinking about licenses for next year, biologists are collecting population data on Colorado's deer and elk. On Thursday, Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials performed an age/sex classification survey over Douglas County from a helicopter.
"They're looking for bucks, does, and fawns, and then they take the numbers they get from that and they plug it in a model. From that model it gives them a population trajectory of where the herds are going," said CPW Public Information Officer Jason Clay.
Clay shot video from the helicopter the researchers were in and posted it on the agency's twitter feed.
"It's so beautiful especially with a little snow out there today, the landscape is just gorgeous," he told CBS4's Dominic Garcia.
The survey helps tell Colorado Parks and Wildlife several things. First, they can track the health of the herds by seeing if they have any diseases or die off. It also helps them when it comes to hunting.
"They use it to plan out the number of hunting licenses that will be used in the future that will follow along with their game management plan," said Clay.
On Friday, researchers will be counting elk. Officials say their numbers are very good across the state and Colorado has the highest elk population of any state in the country.