The number is only useful if it was flown the same way.
Classification counts, net-gun capture, darting support, collaring, telemetry and transplant work for agencies, tribes and researchers, flown to the biologist's protocol with animal welfare driving the decisions in the cockpit.
The aircraft is the most dangerous thing in the valley.
Wildlife work puts a helicopter low, slow and manoeuvring over rough ground in cold air, frequently with people looking out rather than in. It is some of the most demanding flying in the industry, and the accident record for capture work in the West reflects that.
So we fly it conservatively, and we are direct about it. Pursuit times are limited and called out loud. Break-off criteria are agreed on the ground with everyone aboard, and anybody (pilot, gunner, biologist) can end a pursuit without discussion or justification.
The result is usually fewer animals in a day than an aggressive operator would promise, and a season that finishes with the crew, the aircraft and the study population all intact. Researchers who have done this a while tend to think that is the right trade.
- Written capture plan, owned by the biologist
- Pursuit limits agreed before the first animal
- Handling time measured, not estimated
- Anyone aboard can call the break-off
Six wildlife operations,
one set of standards.
Classification & trend counts
SurveyFlying a defined unit at a defined altitude and speed so this winter's number can be compared honestly with last winter's. Consistency is the entire product.
- Sightability-protocol flying
- Repeatable transects and unit boundaries
- Composition and classification counts
- Observer seating and visibility set up properly
Net-gun capture
CaptureThe most demanding wildlife flying there is. Short exposure, disciplined pursuit limits, and a crew who all agree in advance when to break off.
- Experienced gunner and mugger crews
- Agreed pursuit-time limits
- Terrain and snow-condition assessment
- Break-off criteria briefed before the first animal
Darting support
CapturePlatform work for a veterinarian or biologist delivering chemical immobilisation, on their protocol and their timing.
- Vet or biologist-led operation
- Stable, predictable platform
- Recovery and monitoring support
- Ground team insertion at the animal
Collaring & sampling
HandlingThe aircraft is a taxi with a stopwatch running. Handling time is the number that matters, and everything about the flying is arranged to shorten it.
- GPS and VHF collar deployment
- Biological sampling support
- Ear-tagging and marking
- Rapid transport to the processing site
Telemetry & tracking
MonitoringLocating collared animals across country that would take a ground crew a week to cover, on a schedule the study design actually asked for.
- VHF telemetry flights
- Mortality-signal investigation
- Habitat-use and movement flights
- Recovery of dropped collars
Transplant & translocation
MovementMoving animals between units for restoration and management, where every extra minute of handling costs the animal something.
- Sling and transport configurations
- Coordination with holding and release teams
- Time-critical movement planning
- Release-site reconnaissance
The protocol is not paperwork. It is the flight plan.
This is the part of a capture proposal most worth reading, and the part clients should push hardest on with any operator.
Before the flight
- Written capture plan owned by the biologist
- Break-off criteria agreed by everyone aboard
- Snow, temperature and terrain assessed for the day
- Handling and processing team briefed and in position
- Contingency for an animal that will not settle
In the air
- Pursuit time limited and called out loud
- Terrain hazards to the animal considered first
- No animal pushed into ground it cannot handle
- Any crew member can call the break-off
- Conditions re-assessed between animals, not once at dawn
On the ground
- Handling time measured, not estimated
- Vet or biologist leads processing
- Blindfold, restraint and monitoring per protocol
- Release watched before the aircraft departs
- Every animal recorded, including the ones that got away
When this work
actually happens.
Wildlife flying is dictated by the animals and the snow, not by the aircraft schedule. Planning a year ahead is normal.
| Season | Window | What it means for the work | Typical missions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter | December – March | Best visibility against snow, animals concentrated on winter range, cold temperatures reduce capture stress. This is when most survey and capture happens. | Counts, capture, collaring |
| Spring | April – May | Green-up, calving and lambing. Animals are stressed and dispersing; work is narrower and needs more justification. | Recruitment work, telemetry |
| Summer | June – September | High temperatures make capture unwise for most species. Telemetry and habitat work continue. | Telemetry, habitat, recon |
| Autumn | October – November | Rut and hunting seasons overlap; airspace and public sensitivity both rise. | Composition counts, telemetry |
Book the winter early
Every agency and university in the region wants the same eight cold, clear weeks. Survey blocks and capture windows for a given winter are usually agreed the previous summer, and the projects that get flown are the ones that were planned that far out.
Winter range,
from the aircraft.
What biologists and
project leads ask.
The biologist or veterinarian responsible for the animals leads the protocol; the pilot in command leads the aviation decisions. Those two things do not compete; both have an absolute right to stop the operation, and both use it.
We work with experienced capture crews and can bring a full team, or fly for the team you already use. What we will not do is put an inexperienced crew in the aircraft on the first morning of a big capture and hope it comes together.
Almost everything. It sets how long a pursuit may last, what terrain is acceptable, what temperature is too warm, how many animals per day is realistic and when the day ends.
The strongest predictor of a bad outcome is a crew trying to make a number rather than trying to make good decisions, which is why the target for a day is a plan, not a promise.
Yes. Tell us the protocol, the altitude, the speed and the transect design and we will fly it. Where a protocol asks for a flight profile that is unsafe over particular ground, we will say so before the survey rather than quietly fly something else.
Normally hourly with a daily minimum, plus mobilisation and standby for weather. Capture is occasionally quoted per animal; we are cautious about that, because per-animal pricing quietly rewards exactly the behaviour welfare protocols exist to prevent.
Send the protocol and the unit. We'll tell you what a realistic day looks like.
Survey and capture across the American West.
CALL DIRECT · 208-315-5769