If you see low-flying helicopters through mid-February along the Front Range, including in urban areas and the Eastern Plains, the government isn't spying on you, but it is spying on deer and elk.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife staff will be conducting annual deer and elk herd classification flights during this time to collect information on size, age and sex information.

The annual aerial surveys allow the agency to gather data to help assess Colorado’s wildlife populations, which is used in part to determine the number of hunting licenses to allow.

Colorado has the largest elk herd in the world with an estimated 300,000 elk, and 400,000 deer, according to the agency.

The agency generates more than 90% of its funding from sources other than taxes and the state's general fund. The agency

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