Game & Fish Needs Sage Grouse Wings

With some environmental groups keeping a very close watch on the population numbers of sage grouse in Wyoming, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department is asking hunters to lend a hand, or wing, in keeping accurate figures. The sage grouse hunting season opens Saturday, Sept. 17 and hunters are being urged to deposit one wing from harvested bird in sage grouse wing barrels so data can be collected.

Department biologists have placed marked barrels at major access roads to popular hunting areas along U.S. Highways 189 and 191 in the Pinedale and Big Piney areas. Hunters are encouraged to deposit one wing from each grouse harvested in the barrel when leaving the field.

The wing data from harvested birds is especially valuable in a wet year like we had this spring, where birds are more spread out across the landscape and it's harder to get a good sample on the broods. We really appreciate the cooperation we've gotten from sage grouse hunters in past years and hope it continues.
-Dean Clause, Pinedale Wildlife Biologist

Biologists can tell the age and sex of the harvested birds from their wings, which is a valuable piece of information in determining reproduction rates and ultimately the population trend. Each year, in addition to the wing data, biologists count the number of male birds on spring strutting grounds, or leks, and then try to get a sample of brood counts after the chicks have hatched. Together, the Department says these data provide wildlife managers a pretty good picture of the population trend.

Clause says that while the number of male birds on leks this spring was down a bit from last year, he predicts good hunting, similar to last