Comparison of Air and Ground Deer Counts in Colorado

Abstract

Since the aerial technique is an important tool of big-game management in Colorado, a study was instigated in 1953, with specific objectives as follows: (1) to determine the ratio between aerial and ground counts of mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus hemionus) on a given area; (2) to determine the variation in this ratio between replications, pilots, observers, cover types, and snow conditions; (3) to evolve factors that will correct aerial counts to give ground totals for a given cover type and given counting conditions; and (4) to determine the limiting factors of aerial counts and how these counts may be used to gather population information from permanently established trend