CPW Launches Wildlife Aerial Surveys in Southeast Colorado Beginning Dec. 2

Description: On the southeastern plains, helicopter surveys are scheduled over Kit Carson and Cheyenne counties followed by surveys over Kiowa, Prowers and Baca counties. CPW biologists are scheduled to fly over the Arkansas River and associated drainages from Pueblo to the Kansas state line to study deer, elk, and bighorn sheep.

CPW begins Wildlife Aerial Surveys in southeast Colorado Dec. 2

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – On Dec. 2, Colorado Parks and Wildlife biologists begin low-altitude helicopter flights to assess big game herds across the Southeast Region from Trinidad to Leadville and east of Interstate 25. Airbus AStar and Bell JetRanger helicopters and pilots have been contracted to support the effort.

Two elk move through a forest in this 2023 wildlife aerial survey photo taken from a helicopter. Colorado Parks and Wildlife biologists begin low-altitude helicopter flights to assess big game herds across the Southeast Region starting Dec 2. 

The flights provide important information to inform CPW wildlife biologists about individual herds. The classification flights allow biologists to determine how many deer fawns and elk calves have reached six months of age, a key indicator of the overall health of the herd. Data from the flights is used for multiple purposes to include determining the number of hunting licenses for each species the following calendar year.  

“Each year, CPW biologists inventory hundreds of thousands of animals statewide to develop a picture of the productivity and composition of big game in Colorado,” said Julie Stiver, senior wildlife biologist for CPW’s Southeast Region, based in Colorado Springs. “The data is critical to our work of forming population models, management strategies and to set future hunting license numbers.”

Flights west of I-25 involve both surveys of herds and some capture work. Those flights are scheduled over South Park, the Upper Arkansas River Valley, the Pikes Peak Region, the Sangre de Cristo mountains, the Wet Mountain Valley and Fishers Peak State Park in Trinidad.

Flights from Leadville to Cañon City, focus on mule deer does and fawns; flights over the South Park area focus on elk. Contractors will use nets or tranquilizer darts to briefly capture elk and mule deer, place GPS collars on the animals, and release them as part of ongoing studies focused on survival and movement. 

On the southeastern plains, helicopter surveys are scheduled over Kit Carson and Cheyenne counties followed by surveys over Kiowa, Prowers and Baca counties. CPW biologists are scheduled to fly over the Arkansas River and associated drainages from Pueblo to the Kansas state line to study deer, elk, and bighorn sheep. 

“The helicopters will spend a brief amount of time in a specific area to count and categorize individual herds and then move on,” said Julie Stiver, senior wildlife biologist for CPW’s Southeast Region, based in Colorado Springs. “We will only hover long enough for wildlife biologists to count and determine the sex and age of animals within the herd.”

Tweet