Delegated Aerial Ungulate Surveys 2009/2010 Survey Season

surveyed from January 9 ‐ 11, 2010. Due to a less than adequate targeted precisionestimate, two additional units were flown on January 12 th . Navigation was aidedby computer generated maps and a GPS unit. Units were flown in an east‐westdirection with a flight line separation of 400 m. Observations were recordedwithin 200 m of either side of the machine, allowing for total coverage of the area.Altitude was approximately 60 m above ground and air speed was approximately80 km/h, reaching 100 km/h in open areas. Moose were classified using fourcriteria: presence of antlers or pedicel scars, presence of vulva patch, face andbody shape and pigmentation, and behaviour. White‐tailed deer and mule deerwere classified by the presence of antlers, body size, and behaviour. All antleredmoose and deer were classified as small, medium or large under the standardizedantler classification system, as per Table 1. Where adults lacked antlers and sexwas undeterminable, animals were recorded as unclassified. All wildlifeobservations were recorded on forms with locations recorded using a Garmin60Cx GPS. We did not correct for sightability; therefore, overall counts should beconsidered as minimum estimates and direct comparisons of survey resultsamong years may be difficult.Survey conditions during the stratification portion were fair with a small amount(< 6 cm) of recent snow and temperatures between ‐20 and ‐30 degrees Celsius.During the rotary portion, temperatures rose steadily from ‐20 degrees Celsius onJanuary 8 th to ‐2 degrees Celsius on the last two days of surveying (January 11 ‐12). Due to a freezing rain forecast between Lac La Biche, and Bonnyville, flightswere cancelled for January 9 th .6.9.3 ResultsThe intensive search of fourteen sampling units resulted in observations of 49moose (8 bulls, 29 cows, 12 calves), 758 white‐tailed deer, and 48 mule deer. Ofthe 8 bulls observed, 1 was a juvenile, 4 had already shed their antlers, and basedon antler classification, 2 were classed as small, and 1 was classed as medium. Tencow‐calf pairs were observed, 14 cows were without calves, and one cow hadtwins. The Quadrat Survey Method Program generated a moose populationestimate of between 145 and 265 (Table 16). Because of deteriorating survey76