Okotoks has so many deer living in town, they have a yearly practice of counting them.
The yearly deer count came about due to the safety concerns urban deer present to people, pets, and vehicles, as well as the impact they have on local vegetation and the economic implications present when managing their population.
This annual deer count is a way to monitor the population and demographics of the deer, which will help the Town's urban deer action plan.
The deer count began in 2015, where they conducted two deer counts in town, but there were no counts done in 2016 and 2017.
It became an annual tradition in 2018, and each year they conducted the deer count with a few different approaches, with different variations in the number of volunteers and census area.
Previously, they would have volunteers walking around the census areas for an hour at a time, recording the number of does, bucks, and fawns, but their deer count method was refined in 2020.
Since 2020, deer count volunteers have been driving routes through the town, in an attempt to cover more area with less people.
The deer count is completed at dawn in either January or February, because male deer still have their antlers, and the lack of leaves and plants help to make spotting deer easier.
Moving forward, though, the Town has committed to conducting the annual deer count at approximately the same date and time each year in February.
Doing the count at the same time each year will help to accurately compare deer count data each year.
So, how many deer are living in Okotoks this year?
This year's deer count took place on February 11, and in total they counted 155 deer, which is 16 more deer than they counted in 2024.
Of those 155 deer, 93 were does, 44 were fawns, and 18 were bucks, with Mule deer being the only deer species identified.
While there were 16 more deer counted this year, there were 19 fewer bucks counted this year than last year, but there was an increase of 28 fawns compared to last year.
Not only do they count the number of deer each year, but they also keep track of where the deer were counted.
At this year's deer count, 47 per cent of the deer were found at a mowed park, while 42 per cent were found in residential business areas, and the remaining 11 per cent were counted in natural areas.
The Town says that the number of deer found in residential areas and parks during the dawn deer count indicates that these areas provide a good food source, as this is when deer are more actively eating.
This is similar to where they were found in recent years.
When they have conducted deer counts in the autumn previously, they found the majority of the deer in the natural areas, which leads them to believe the time of day the count was completed was later in the day, as deer are more likely to be bedded down in natural areas during the day.
This year's count is relatively the same for the total count, and the differences are not that significant, and the Town feels these numbers indicate that the population is reasonably stable, with no signs of significant increase or decrease.
To see the full deer count, click here.