The state Game and Fish Department’s annual fall aerial mule deer survey is set for mid-October in western North Dakota. Weather permitting, the survey takes about two weeks to complete. During the survey period, people could notice low-flying small airplanes over some parts of the Badlands.

Game and Fish biologists have completed aerial surveys of the same 24 Badlands study areas since the 1950s. The survey is used to collect mule deer population data for monitoring demographic trends, such as buck-to-doe and fawn-to-doe ratios.