A member of the Wyoming sage grouse team has started questioning why the state is allowing hunting. Brian Rutledge is not only a team member of the sage grouse management team he is also the Director of the National Audubon Society’s Sagebrush Ecosystem Initiative.
After looking over last year’s harvest data, Rutledge is concerned that hunting may not be the right course of action for the management plan of the birds. The Wyoming Game & Fish ask hunters to put one wing from each sage grouse that the hunters take in roadside collection barrels. These wing collection barrels help the Game & Fish have a more complete picture of sage grouse harvest within the state. In 2020, hunters dropped a total of 2,156 wings in the collection barrels statewide. Those wings were attributed to 302 adult males, 874 adult males, and 980 chicks. The state classifies sage grouse as adults after they are older than one year. Likewise, chicks are classified as such until they reach one year old.
Sage Grouse Management in Wyoming
The high harvest rate of hens is what Rutledge is concerned about. As a result, The Wyoming Sage Grouse Implementation Team met on May 5th to discuss Ruthledge’s concerns with hunting.
“What I’m asking for is a sit-down. I want to hear why this is OK. I wonder if industry killed [that many] if we’d be OK with that. One hundred years ago we grazed this to the bone and we’ve never repaired it. We have to return the carrying capacity of this landscape.” – Brian Rutledge, Wyoming Sage Grouse Implementation Team Member
The Wyoming Game and Fish’s sage grouse and sagebrush biologist Leslie Schreiber was scheduled to review hunting impacts with SGIT during the May 5th meeting. Currently, there has been no info released about what came from the May 5th meeting.
The Wyoming Game & Fish has been dedicated to managing species through hunting. Likewise, they have shown their willingness to limit sage grouse harvest in the past. The Commission set the 2021 fall hunting season of 12 days in one hunt area and two days in another in April. Two other sage grouse hunting areas remain closed. Grouse hunters can kill two grouse a day throughout the season.
“Hunting is an important component of sage grouse management in Wyoming and has not [been] shown to have a negative impact on the population.” – Leslie Schreiber, Wyoming Game and Fish, Sage Grouse and Sagebrush biologist
Over the last few years, grouse seasons have been shortened to protect the population, including breeding hens. The Game & Fish also expects more hens to be harvested than males. That is due to the fact that there are more hens on the landscape than males.
What are your thoughts on Wyoming’s sage grouse hunt? Have you ever hunted sage grouse before? Let us know in the comments!
