The Courier
NEWS
Big Game Surveys & Capture Operations
Over the next several weeks wildlife biologists from Fish and Game’s Magic Valley Region will be flying mule deer herd composition surveys and capture operations across many of the region’s game management units. Area residents should be aware that they may see the survey helicopter flying low over the landscape over the next several weeks. In mid to late December, Fish and Game biologists will be flying herd composition surveys in the northern part of the region, primarily in the Bennett and Picabo hills and the desert area north of Gooding and Shoshone, which includes game management units 45, 52 and 49. Flights will also be occurring in the southern portion of the Magic Valley Region south of Twin Falls and Burley, in game management units 54 and 55. The purpose of the herd composition survey is to gather herd composition of bucks, does and fawns. The information is used by game managers to evaluate herd productivity, which when combined with other sources of data like hunter harvest, deer abundance, fawn survival can help inform big game season-setting discussions. Starting in late December, helicopter operations will also be used to place GPS collars on around 70 mule deer fawns in the South Hills, Bennett Mountains, and Picabo Hills in game management units 45, 49, 52, and 54. 20 elk calves will be captured in game management units 45 and 52 along the Bennett front. Capture operations for mule deer fawns will use both drive nets and net gunning while net gunning will be used to capture elk calves. The information gained from these projects will be used to estimate survival of mule deer fawns and elk calves and document seasonal movements. Cow elk captures will be occurring in game management unit 49, east of the Wood River Valley to place GPS collars on 15 elk in late December. The elk will be captured using immobilizing drugs from a dart. Information gathered from these collars will help wildlife managers understand habitat use and movement patterns of this elk population. Abundance Survey Later this winter, Fish and Game biologists will once again be conducting low-level flights over a large expanse of mule deer winter range to gather abundance data. Flights will be occurring north of the Snake River from Mountain Home to the west, Galena Summit to the north, and Minidoka area to the east. During this multi-week survey, 2-3 helicopters will be used... continued on page 3...
News from the Heart of Idaho Camas • Lincoln • Gooding
January 1, 2025
Vol 49 Num 1
January Could Be COOOOLD!
According to the National Weather Service, an arctic blast will affect a large swathe of the U.S. spreading from the northern Rockies to the East Coast by New Year's Day. "A significant pattern change is expected across much of the country as an Arctic Outbreak is forecast to spread from the Northern Plains to the south and east, leading to exceptionally high probabilities of below-normal temperatures expected across much of the East," the NWS said. The plunge will bring wind chills across the Midwest with temperatures dipping below zero in at least 30 states. "The coldest air of the season to date and dangerous wind chills are likely across many areas of the Southeast," the NWS warned. Meanwhile, the West Coast and Alaska are predicted to have above normal temperatures with Idaho sitting right on the edge of normal.
The current Snow Water Equivalent in the Big Wood Basin is at 110% of average with Year-to-Date Precipitation at just over 80% of average. Snow Water Equivalent in the Little Wood Basin is at 80% of average with Year-to-Date Precipitation at 64% of average. Updated water reports will come out over the next two months as the area reaches it's peak snow pack in late February and early March.