SANDPOINT - Panhandle elk numbers are increasing thanks in part to a mild winter, according to Idaho Fish and Game.

The calf-to-cow ratios that Fish and Game officers recorded through a series of aerial surveys this winter show a marked increase over last year, said Jim Hayden, wildlife manager for the Panhandle.

Biologists reported 33 calves for every 100 cows in Unit 3, which runs from Bayview south to lower Lake Coeur d'Alene and includes much of the western front of the Coeur d'Alene mountains.

The ratio is far below the 49 calf-to-cow ratio of 2008, but up from last year's count of 20 calves per 100 cow elk, Hayden said.

"For a landmark, I usually like to have a ratio of about 30 calves per 100 cows or more," Hayden said. "We saw a rebound last month to some degree in all Panhandle units, with some better than others."

The department conducts the majority of its spring aerial surveys in the Coeur d'Alene and St. Joe River drainages and in Unit 5, which covers the western side of the lake from I-90 south to Mission Mountain near DeSmet.

In Unit 5, calf-to-cow ratios dropped from 34 in 2008 to 19 this year. No counts were conducted in 2009.

Numbers in Unit 4, which includes the bulk of the Coeur d'Alene River drainage from the northern front of the St. Joe mountains to the headwaters of the North Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River, saw an upward bump in calf-to-cow ranges from 18 last year to 29 this year.

The most drastic increase was reported in the St. Joe River drainage where numbers jumped from 9 calves per 100 cows last year, to 26 calves per 100 cows last month.

Unit 7 saw an increase from 9 last year to 16 calves per 100 cows in last month's aerial survey.

"With the mildest winter on record this year, we're going into summer in great shape," Hayden said. "But spring and summer rains are very important, too. Right now, it looks pretty promising for good calf ratios next year."

The hunters who visit Tom Anderson's Sandpoint Outfitters in Ponderay have been seeing fewer winter-killed elk this year.

Moose, killed by wolves, Anderson said, are being found more readily in Unit 1 than dead elk.

"They haven't been finding elk kills," he said.

Because of the mild winter and lack of snow, elk did not congregate to escape snow or predators, he said.

"The animals are dispersed," he said.

Moose usually congregate at lower elevations near their food base, and in resurgent clearcuts.

The mild winter, he said, was just what elk herds required for populations to rebound.

"This is what we really needed after having two hard winters in a row," Anderson said. "Mother Nature has a way of bringing things back. Hopefully we'll have a lot of twins this year."

Elk herds are not yet into the clear, Hayden said.

If lower than average moisture continues into the spring and summer, it could result in poor browse, including on next year's winter range where food sources keep herds healthy in lean months.

"We want to see those spring and summer rains," he said.

A lack of funding for aerial flights prevented biologists from spending more time counting elk, so the department has no new numbers for bulls, he said.

He expected calf-to-cow ratios to rebound by next year.

"After a bad winter, it usually takes a couple years for animals to recover enough body condition to get back to normal," he said. "That's what we saw after the 1996-97 winter - calf ratios stayed low in 1998 and then came up."