Just read this…I’m not sure how much useable information they’ll get from this, but at least they are attempting something to get better population estimates.
Wisconsin DNR to Capture Deer with Helicopter
The skies over northern Wisconsin could soon be filled with flying deer. And it’s all in the name of science.
Wisconsin wildlife officials plan to capture about 200 deer across northern Wisconsin by firing nets at them from a helicopter over the next couple weeks. Workers will then fit the downed deer with a sling and air-lift them to researchers, who will study them and fit them with radio collars before releasing them.
The effort is designed to give the Department of Natural Resources a better idea of deer mortality. It also marks the beginning of a larger DNR project to better gauge how many deer roam the state and threats to their survival.
Capturing deer with nets fired from helicopters has never been tried in Wisconsin, but the technique is widely used across western states and internationally. It’s been used in Canada to capture wolves, in Colorado to capture big-horned sheep and in Texas to capture deer, researchers say.
Essentially, a helicopter flies low, looking for deer or other targeted animals. A gunner in the chopper carries a rifle-like net gun. When the gunner has the animal in his sights, he blasts a net, capturing it alive.
“It’s kind of an amazing thing to watch,” said Tim Ginnett, an associate wildlife professor at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point who has participated in helicopter net-gun captures in Texas. “They’ll be flying around, locate a deer, swoop down on it, and when it’s in a good position, they’ll fire. The net will spread out and it will entangle the deer.”
The strategy might sound ridiculous, but researchers say it’s far more efficient — and humane — than trying to capture animals in traps.
Researchers can pick and choose specific animals that fit their goals, rather than collecting any manner of creature in a trap. They can capture, process and release them relatively quickly.
“If you want to sort and only collect one sex or one size, you’re able to pick individual animals and capture them. It’s much more selective (than traps),” said Steve Torbit, a wildlife biologist who heads up the National Wildlife Federation’s Rocky Mountain office in Boulder, Colo. “You get them down, you get them processed and they’re ready to go. They get immediate attention.”
The technique isn’t problem-free, however. Searchers will have to fly low, look for deer in open areas and capture them before they flee and get under cover, no small task in Wisconsin’s thick north woods. Deer can trip and get hurt as they’re captured, and researchers can get kicked as they process the animals.
“There’s a possibility of injury every time you handle an animal in a trap,” Torbit said.
The DNR has entered into a $94,000 contract with Salt Lake City-based Red Pine Helicopters for the job. The deal calls for capturing 60 to 90 adult deer in Sawyer, Price and Rusk counties and another 60 to 90 adult deer in Shawano, Waupaca and Outagamie counties.
The helicopter will take captured deer back to processing stations, where researchers will weigh the animals, and record their sex and age. They’ll also take blood samples and search the deer for parasites to get a better idea of diseases that may be prevalent in the herd. The samples will be preserved for years, providing biologists with a baseline for future blood tests.
“We want to get as much as we can from each animal, including lice and ticks and all the things the sportsmen don’t want to see on their bodies when they’re hunting,” said Shelli Dubay, an assistant wildlife professor at UW-Stevens Point who will lead the blood research. “It’s really pretty exciting.”
The plan also calls for researchers to tag the deer’s ears and fit them with radio transmitters before they release them. The DNR will monitor the deer until they die, with an eye toward causes of death and whether does deliver fawns. Transmitters inserted into the does will signal when fawns are born, allowing DNR workers to move into the area quickly to tag the fawns.
DNR officials hope to begin the net-gun project this week in the northeastern Wisconsin counties, weather permitting.
The effort kicks off the DNR’s “Investing in Wisconsin’s Whitetails” research initiative. The $2 million plan calls for researching deer mortality, reviewing formulas for determining the size of the state’s deer herd and studying hunter participation.
The agency announced the plan last February in response to deer hunters who were outraged over an anemic 2009 hunt. The hunters insisted the DNR has overestimated the number of deer in the state, leading to draconian herd control policies that have devastated the herd.
. Hope they get better people to do the tracking of the deer. Read article of these volonteers to go out and track the wolves, man was that a wasted effort. Can they even find that many deer up north since they shot the heck out of them the last couple years? Be interesting to find out what they do with their findings.
