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Cheyenne – Even though many big game seasons are still a few weeks to more than a month away, hunters can get the fall hunts started with season openers for a variety of small game and upland bird species.

Seasons for blue and ruffed grouse, often referred to as mountain grouse, open Sept.1. Blue grouse are found in most mountain areas throughout the state on both Bureau of Land Management and national forest lands. Ruffed grouse are found in western Wyoming in the Shoshone, Bridger-Teton and Targhee national forests. The season is long, ending Nov. 30. Many birds are taken each year incidental to hunts for deer and elk.

Mourning doves are found throughout the state, and the quality of hunting is weather dependant. With the first cold snap, doves will head for warmer climes, but if the weather stays mild, dove hunters often have opportunities throughout much of September. Mourning dove hunters are reminded to have the federal Harvest Information Program permit (HIP permit) in their possession while hunting. The HIP permit is available free on the Game and Fish Web site http://gf.state.wy.us or for 50 cents from license selling agents. Dove hunters should be aware that Eurasian collared doves are being seen with increasing frequency in Wyoming especially in the eastern part of the state. Eurasian doves are an exotic species that are larger than mourning doves and can be identified by a black band on the neck and a squared tail. Since Eurasian doves are not listed as a Wyoming Game bird, there is no closed season, no bag limit and no license is required.

Like mourning doves, small game animals are also found throughout much of the state. In Wyoming, animals legally classified as small game include cottontail rabbits, snowshoe hares and red, gray and fox squirrels. The small game season is long, opening Sept. 1 and running through Mar. 1.

License requirements for small game and birds vary with the age and residency of the hunters. Hunters 14 years and older are required to possess the proper small game or bird license. Resident youth under 14 do not need a license to hunt small game or birds and nonresident hunters under 14 years of age also do not need a license if hunting with a licensed adult and their bag limit is applied to and limited by the small game or game bird licenses held by the adult in his/her company. Youth under 14 can also hunt wild turkey, but a separate wild turkey license is required.

Green River—Limited quota sandhill crane and early Canada goose seasons will open Sept. 1 in the Pacific Flyway and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department is reminding bird hunters to get ready now. The sandhill crane hunt is only open to valid limited quota permit holders.

Sandhill crane hunt areas within the Green River Region include Hunt Area 1 (Bear River Drainage), Hunt Area 3 (Bureau of Reclamation Eden Project in Sweetwater County) and Hunt Area 5 (all of Uinta County). The season opens Monday, Sept. 1, and ends officially at sunset on Sept. 8. The season bag limit is one crane.

The early Canada goose season in the Pacific Flyway is a general season.. The early Canada goose season is open Sept. 1 and ends officially at sunset on Sept. 8. The daily bag limit on any Canada or cackling goose is two and the possession limit is four.

Hunters are urged to read the 2008 Early Migratory Game Bird Hunting Regulations before going hunting.

Goose and crane hunters must have a Wyoming game bird license, nontoxic shot (steel, tungsten or bismuth) and the federal Harvest Information Program (HIP) stamp. The federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp (“Duck Stamp”) is required only if you are 16 years of age or older and plan to hunt geese.

All licensed migratory bird hunters must obtain a Wyoming HIP validation permit before they can legally hunt migratory game birds in Wyoming. HIP applies to anyone who hunts doves, ducks, geese, mergansers, sandhill cranes, snipe, coots or rails. HIP is a federal program that improves the ability to estimate harvest for management of migratory game species. HIP validation permits are available free of charge when printed from the Game and Fish Web site . A charge of 50 cents will be applied if the HIP stamp is obtained from Game and Fish offices or license selling agents.

In order to obtain a HIP validation permit, hunters are asked to identify the species hunted the previous year and the approximate number harvested. Some hunters will be randomly surveyed after the hunting season. Only one HIP permit is needed to hunt all species for the entire migratory game bird season. HIP permits are only valid in the state in which they are issued.

In an effort to protect migratory birds, federal and state law requires that no person shall hunt cranes, ducks, geese, mergansers and or coots with shot shells loaded with shot other than nontoxic shot.

Bird hunters can refer to the 2008 Early Migratory Game Bird Hunting Seasons on pages 12-14 for detailed information about shotgun loads, distance estimation and steel shot lethality.A free publication, “Steel Shot: Loads for Waterfowl,” is available at any Game and Fish regional office.

Lander – This summer Game and Fish biologists continued studies that will help prevent fish from becoming trapped through entrainment, or water currents, in irrigation canals as drought and irrigation demands lower stream water levels. The study is taking place in Bear Creek on the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s Kirk Inberg/Kevin Roy and Spence/Moriarty Wildlife Habitat Management Areas (WHMAs) near Dubois and is focused primarily on sensitive species like Yellowstone cutthroat trout.

Persistent drought conditions in the Dubois area necessitated the study in which personnel are determining the number of fish lost in irrigation canals, looking at possible solutions to combat fish entrainment and making efforts to return entrained fish back to the creeks.

A few solutions to fish entrainment Game and Fish biologists are considering include changes in irrigation methods and installation of structures that would prevent entrainment and thereby remove the need to alter irrigation regimes.

The Game and Fish habitat management areas are managed by the department to protect crucial winter habitat for the Wiggins Fork elk herd, bighorn sheep, mule deer, moose, pronghorn and many other wildlife species. The areas are irrigated to provide additional high quality forage for wintering wildlife and present a unique opportunity for the Game and Fish to undertake this type of study.

“Because we manage the WHMAs, we can take into consideration altering irrigation regimes and installing structures that will prevent the problem in ways we might not be able to in other areas,” said Lander Aquatic Habitat Biologist Nick Scribner. “We have set nets in irrigation ditches to trap fish allowing us to identify which species have been pulled into ditches, the number of fish we are losing and the relationship between fish lost and creek water levels.”

In addition to providing Game and Fish personnel a means to battle fish entrainment, the information gathered in this study will allow the department to help other irrigators balance their crop production water needs while trying to minimize fish loss.

“In the past we have halted irrigation practices on the habitat area halfway through production time to give fish a better chance for survival,” said Scribner. “Obviously this is not desirable for terrestrial species we are trying to manage for nor is it feasible for producers. Hopefully this study will help us find ways to continue irrigation without threatening our valuable fisheries.”

According to Scribner, data from the past two years indicates a seasonal movement of the Yellowstone cutthroat trout. To further understand these movements, Game and Fish biologists will be catching Yellowstone cutthroat this fall and radio tagging them to track their movements into next summer. This will give Game and Fish useful information on fish migration and habitat use that will be used for habitat improvement projects, irrigation and management to protect this sensitive species.

Cheyenne— If you've got your sights set on hunting this fall and still need to complete your hunter education requirements, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department urges you to register for a class quickly.

Hunter education is required in Wyoming for all hunters born after 1965. The major purpose of hunter education is the prevention of hunting and firearm related accidents, but emphasis is also placed on improving knowledge about the heritage of hunting and developing a sense of ethics and responsibility.

"Our late summer/early fall classes fill up quickly with people trying to satisfy their hunter education requirements prior to opening day," says Jim Dawson, hunter education coordinator for the Game and Fish. "Hunter education is taught by volunteer instructors who, just like their students, want to put down the books and pick up a firearm in the fall to go hunting. Although there are still some seats available right now, the best time to take a hunter education class is really January through August."

To register for a class, visit the Game and Fish Web site at http://gf.state.wy.us and click on Education, then Hunter Education Home. The Internet Field Days for students completing online hunter education are full. Prospective students are encouraged to continue checking the Web site to see if new internet field days or traditional classes have been scheduled.

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Ask the Game and Fish

Q. Do nonresidents need guides to go archery hunting in wilderness areas?

A Yes they do. Wyoming law does not differentiate between archery and firearms with regards to hunting in federally designated wilderness areas. A guide is required of all nonresident hunters when hunting wilderness lands. Wyoming law does have a provision that allows a resident to take up to two nonresident friends hunting in wilderness. To do that, a free resident guide license is required and can be obtained from Game and Fish offices. This is not a professional guide license and the resident cannot accept compensation for his services.

Small Game , Mountain Grouse, Dove Seasons Open Sept. 1

Game and Fish Calendar