A helicopter drops off deer at Hardware Ranch after they were captured Wednesday.

"When pigs fly" is often a quick-witted response used to convey the unlikelihood of something occurring, but what about "When deer fly?"

The Utah Division of Wildlife Services proved that deer possess a higher capability of flight than pigs, when they conducted their winter deer capture at the Hardware Wildlife Management area, Wednesday.

Members of the DWR, Utah State University students and other volunteers worked together to provide health checkups for the deer and collect data.

So, how did the deer get there?

Using a helicopter, a net gun, straps, blindfolds and a person dubbed "the mugger," the DWR tracked down deer in the area with assistance from the GPS-collars already on certain deer.

Upon netting the deer, the "mugger" jumps out of the helicopter, restrains the deer's legs and blindfolds it to keep it as calm as possible.

The deer then dangle from the helicopter as they are flown back to the parking lot of the WMA, where other DWR members prepare to gather data.

Once released from the helicopter, the deer is carried on a stretcher to the parking lot where it receives its checkup.

Sam Robertson, the DWR's wildlife biologist for the Cache and Ogden district, explained the reasoning behind the checkups.

"We're capturing so we can give them a health assessment and see how healthy they are going into winter," Robertson said. "Also, to place GPS collars on them so we can help track them...get an idea of where they're moving to and from."

Adult does, yearling bucks and fawns all receive the same assessment, excluding slight variations based on the sex of the deer.

Weight, length, chest and fat percentage measurements are all recorded during the initial steps of the checkup. Following those measurements, blood is drawn, age is calculated based on their teeth, and they are inspected for any injuries. Some are also given a GPS-collar - assuming they didn't already have one - and old collars are replaced.

During the entire process, the deer can become stressed but Jim Christensen, a DWR regional wildlife manager, said the process is a safe one.

"It's a real safe operation... there's very few capture related mortalities with this capture event," Christensen said. "It's a short-term stress-event for them, just like if you were to startle them from under a tree while hiking. It does last a little longer than that but we know and realize there is a risk associated with that... the deer respond extremely well."

State Wildlife Veterinarian Virginia Stout said the DWR does what they can to relieve the deer's stress during the event.

"The shots that we're giving them are actually just for pain relief," Stout said. "There's a shot for pain relief and a shot of vitamin E and that just helps with potential problems due to capture."

They even provide cold towels if the deer are overheating.

Stout also provided context for some of the tests performed during the checkup. The blood tests are primarily testing for bluetongue disease and epizootic hemorrhagic disease.

According to the Cornell Wildlife Health Lab, both are viruses transmitted through a type of gnat and "can cause significant mortality events."

As for chronic wasting disease, Stout says there isn't currently a "validated" way to test live animals, but they conduct an ear punch and swab to further their research.

Chronic wasting disease is a fatal, neurological disease caused by specific proteins damaging brain cells, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Deer also are implanted with a "bio-logger," primarily used to measure heart data and fat measurements.

Following the first round of checkups, Stout was encouraged by what she'd seen.

"They look pretty good so far," Stout said. "No major injuries."

Once the deer received their checkups and were unbound, they scampered away.

Robertson said the deer population throughout the area is trending in the right direction.

"We had a pretty hard winter - as everybody knows - a couple years ago that lowered our numbers quite a bit but we seem to be on the rebound," Robertson said. "It's probably going to take a few years to get back to where we were but things are looking pretty good."

Christensen said in 15 years of doing deer captures, events like these and seeing wildlife "never gets old."

"I was with another biologist years ago and we were driving up the mountain when we saw a big bull-elk run across the road," Christensen said. "Boy, we had to stop and look at it, even though we've seen thousands of bull-elk... As the helicopter comes over the hill. no matter how many pictures I've taken already, I still pull out my phone and take some new pictures of the same thing that I have every year for about the last 15 years."