Don't be too alarmed if you start seeing helicopters flying overhead between now and the end of March.
                    
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources says low-flying helicopters will be conducting whitetail deer population surveys throughout southeastern Minnesota.        

The counts will include deer permit areas in Winona, Houston, Fillmore, Wabasha, Goodhue, Mower, Dodge, and Olmsted counties.

The helicopters will conduct the surveys from about 200 feet in the air and the results will help estimate deer populations in these areas.
  
The DNR says the survey flights collect some of the baseline data needed to make deer management decisions.