FWP using hundreds of cameras to count deer, elk

Biologists with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and the University of Montana have put out hundreds of remote cameras in an attempt to get a better picture of ungulate populations across Northwest Montana’s Region 1.

FWP is employing cameras as it’s difficult to count game animals from the air, unlike the more open regions of the state. As technology has improved, the use of remote cameras has become used more and more by biologists.

Glacier National Park, for example, has used them to study wolverines and lynx and to look for the elusive fisher.

FWP will use them primarily for ungulates like deer and elk, and the hope is to also include black bear.

But the focus is on game populations, researchers note.

Last year, which was the first year of field work, they deployed 411 cameras that collected both time lapse and motion-triggered images from July 1 through at least mid-September, according to a January 2025 update report from the team.

The cameras were deployed in hunting districts 103, 122 and 100.

There were 150, 147 and 114 cameras in each district respectively. 

This year, they were putting out about 300 cameras in hunting districts 101 and 110. District 110 is the North Fork east of the Whitefish Divide.

FWP biologist Ethan Lula told the crowd at the North Fork Interlocal a few weeks ago to expect to run into a camera or two if hiking in the woods.

The project will use artificial intelligence to at least make a preliminary sort of the images. In the first year alone, it’s estimated that cameras captured 4.5 million photos.

The project is also trapping and collaring deer and elk to track their movements and other life habits.

As of the January report, of 31 deer and elk captured and collared, 21 of the 31 had survived.

The project will have field work through summer of 2026, then it’s expected to take a couple of years to sort through and analyze the data, the report notes, with final results in 2028.

There’s some optimism that this method could be used on a smaller scale to continually monitor populations in the future.

The study is headed up by David Messmer, a wildlife research biologist with FWP and Mahdieh Tourani, an assistant professor with the UM wildlife biology program, along with eight field staff.