The Capital City’s mule deer herd numbers about 520, according to a new census estimate by a Connecticut-based wildlife control firm, and City Manager Ron Alles said Tuesday he’d like to see a state board raise Helena’s quota for this winter’s culling.

While he won’t formally request an increase to the 150-deer limit tentatively approved by state Fish, Wildlife and Parks commissioners three months ago, Alles said he will note the city’s original Urban Wildlife Task Force agreed that the city should cut deer numbers to 25 per square mile – which would require culling about 245 this winter.

The commission will discuss the city proposal in a meeting that begins Thursday at 8:30 a.m. at FWP headquarters on Sixth Avenue.

Alles is interested to hear what FWP commissioners have to say about allowing the city to kill 200 or more deer this winter. And he wants the city’s newly created urban wildlife committee, for which officials are still seeking citizen members, to review the report and provide further recommendations.

“I think the census is accurate,” Alles added. “They didn’t put a number on every deer out there, but it’s statistically sound.”

Police Chief Troy McGee said a wildlife biologist from White Buffalo Inc. drove a 32-mile route through Helena with police officers and an FWP biologist. Working between 9 p.m. and 2:30 a.m. for five nights, the group used a spotlight and rangefinder to locate deer and estimate their distance.

The company then plugged the data into a statistical formula that estimates the herd’s size based on the number seen at varying distances. The method is used to count all types of animals and vegetation, the company’s biologist said in an earlier interview.

In chronological order, the group counted 109, 92, 78, 101 and 142 deer on five nights. Though in some areas the population density was higher, the group concluded Helena’s herd numbers 47.4 deer per square mile – or about 520 deer in the 11 square miles surveyed.

The company said the count found about 16 percent of the herd were bucks, 42 percent were yearling or adult does, and 42 percent were fawns.

The old urban wildlife group used population counts and a similar statistical method to conclude the city was home to about 500 deer. It estimated the herd would number more than 1,000 by now if no action was taken. City police officers killed 200 animals in two projects last winter.

McGee said the census went well and said the city’s officers are now trained to collect the data. In coming years they’ll still have to send the information to the company, but future studies should be cheaper. The city paid White Buffalo $5,000 last month.

Larry Kline: 447-4075 or larry.kline@helenair.com

Related

• FWP commissioners OK Helena deer plan