High-tech multi-year deer population research wraps up on Mitkof Island

After six years of collecting data using trail cameras, radio collars, and DNA analysis, a deer population research project on Mitkof Island, currently led by Ketchikan-based Alaska Department of Fish and Game Wildlife Biologist Tessa Hasbrouck, is entering its final phase.

Historically, deer population monitoring in Southeast Alaska relied on relatively simple methods. Biologists would walk through the woods each spring counting deer pellets, or fly over alpine areas in summer tallying visible animals. These techniques could roughly indicate whether deer numbers were increasing or decreasing...