Deer population surveys near Salmon and Challis to begin soon

"People may see and hear low-flying helicopters near Salmon and Challis in the coming week," said Fish and Game Wildlife Biologist Bret Stansberry of Salmon. "While we understand that folks are still recreating, we will do our best to temporarily avoid areas where we observe people."

Care is taken to minimize disturbance to the animals and prevent the expenditure of valuable energy reserves. Generally, the information collected can be gathered within a few minutes or less of an animal being spotted.

This information, together with abundance monitoring, survival monitoring and hunter harvest information, will be used to determine the overall health of Idaho's big game herds, which plays a critical role in determining future hunting seasons.