Gold Star

Well, I did something today I’ve never done before!  It was a blast, in more ways than one!

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is radio collaring and blood testing some elk in this area.  A friend and I crashed their party… wanting to learn more and see what we could see.

What we could see was not much, the helicopter miles and miles away doing their thing… but we were filled with information and details and techniques and stories from the professionals on the scene.  Each question we had was thoroughly answered by the guys.  I won’t remember it all because Elk Capturing 101 is a fast and in depth class!

First, there’s the radio collar… they can track the elk… are they going over the Big Horns or out in the badlands?

These collars, hopefully, will transmit data for three years!

After a hour or two of waiting, learning, and asking more questions, the helicopter showed up.

A pilot and two assistants are in charge of netting the elk and collecting the data.  Once they’ve netted one, it takes about 5 minutes to gather the needed information and set it free.  Fast and efficient, it was very clear that these guys are quite the experts in the field.  Evidently, after hearing stories, the new techniques have improved the process so much, that there is minimal impact on the elk.

While the pilot hands over the blood samples and data to the wildlife biologist, another team member repacks a net.  It was quick and easy and I was curious about it all.  So curious, the ground crew let me check out the netgun…

Do I look like I know what I’m doing??

Thank you to the Wyoming Game and Fish for letting this landowner get a full picture of where, what, how, and why of the studies they’re doing and how it impacts me.  Being very open and honest goes a long, long, long ways these days!  Good job, guys.  You get a gold star!