Idaho Fish & Game survey elk, bighorn sheep

The Idaho Department of Fish and Game has begun aerial surveys of elk in management units 10 and 12 in the Lolo Zone.

Mike Demick with the department’s Clearwater Office says results from the surveys are used as a tool to gage population trends and to help set future elk hunting seasons.

Mike Demick, IDF&G Clearwater Office, comments
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Meanwhile, IDFG, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife plan to capture and radio-collar 50 bighorn sheep beginning February 6th from herds along the Snake and Imnaha rivers, and from herds near Troy, Oregon.

The sheep will be captured by net-gunning from a helicopter. Biologists will take health samples, apply radio-collars, and release them on site.

The project is part of research to determine movements, survival, productivity and factors limiting population growth of resident bighorns in Hells Canyon.

For more information contact the IDFG Clearwater Office in Lewiston at (208) 799-5010.

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