Nov. 17 Game and Fish news

For Immediate Release:

 

 

 

Wild Turkeys in Wyoming: A Game and Fish Success Story ............................................................... . 1

Evanston Resident Bags Trophy Bighorn Sheep After Winning Super Tag Raffle........................... . 2

Game and Fish to Hold Public Meeting on Access and License Lists ................................................. . 3

Black Bear Harvest Survey Now Underway ........................................................................................... . 4

Wyoming Game and Fish Announces Text-A-Poaching Tip................................................................ . 4

Game and Fish Calendar................................................................................................................................ 5

Ask Game and Fish......................................................................................................................................... 5

 

 

 

 

 

WILD TURKEYS IN WYOMING: A GAME AND FISH SUCCESS STORY

CHEYENNE – Turkey hunting is becoming an increasingly popular pastime in Wyoming, and many hunters now consider the forays for turkeys each spring and fall to be as important as their annual quests for big game.

The Thanksgiving season will undoubtedly find many hunters afield in quest for the main component of their thanksgiving dinner. But, even though many hunters have been accustomed to their bi-annual turkey hunts those events were not always possible in Wyoming.

Before the 1930’s, Wyoming did not have wild turkeys. Recognizing that Wyoming had some likely turkey habitat, the Game and Fish worked out a plan to make that happen. Game and Fish trapped some sage grouse which Wyoming had in abundance, and traded them to New Mexico for 15 wild turkeys. These turkeys were released in the Laramie Peak area and their dramatic increase in population is one of Wyoming’s wildlife management success stories. In a little over a decade the turkeys flourished in the area to where the population exceeded 1,000 birds.

In 1951 and 1952 a total of 33 turkeys were transplanted from the Laramie Peak flock to the Black Hills. Another 15 were obtained from New Mexico and the birds were on their way. Just four years later, the flock had grown sufficiently to where the first Black Hills hunting season was held. Since that time turkeys have been transplanted in a number of areas and provide hunting opportunities.

Turkey season is now open in all hunt areas and all have general license hunting. Hunters can purchase general licenses over the counter and also on the Game and Fish website wgfd.wyo.gov. Hunters are advised that Area 1 in the Black Hills will close Nov. 30. All other hunt areas will stay open until Dec. 31. Complete turkey hunting information including season dates and a map of the different hunt areas can be found on pp. 19-21 of the Upland Bird Regulations. Turkey licenses are $16 resident and $72 nonresident.

(Contact: Al Langston (307) 777-4540)

-WGFD-

 

 

EVANSTON RESIDENT HARVESTS TROPHY BIGHORN SHEEP AFTER WINNING SUPER TAG RAFFLE

 

GREEN RIVER--Evanston resident Randall E. Johnston is no stranger to hunting. Johnston is an avid hunter in his own state and does quite a bit of hunting in Africa. He has many stories to tell about his adventures and now he can add a Wyoming bighorn sheep hunting experience to his list of adventures.

Johnston was the bighorn sheep winner of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department Super Tag raffle. Created by the State Legislature, the Super Tag raffle provides hunters a chance outside of the regular drawing to win an elk, deer, antelope, moose, bighorn sheep, mountain goat or wild bison license or to have a chance to win an extra black bear, or mountain lion license. The raffle raised an additional $660,000 for wildlife management. There were a total of 10,572 raffle tickets sold for bighorn sheep, two of them were bought by Johnston and one of those was the lucky ticket.

With the help of his hunting guide and hunting partner Josh Taylor, Johnston hunted bighorn sheep on horseback and foot on the “North Slope” west of Cody. On Oct. 28, after 17 days of hunting for the “big one,” he finally killed a nice full-curl ram sporting horns with 15 inch bases, 36 inches long and scoring a near 170. The ram was aged in the field at approximately 7-9 years old.

“It was an amazing trip,” Johnston said. “We saw over 100 rams. I owe most of my success to Josh. That man would not give up until I found the one, big ram that I wanted to shoot. He worked so hard to make sure I had a successful hunt and it paid off.”

Johnston’s ram was the largest of 11 rams bedded down about 300 yards away. Josh and Randall waited almost two hours for the rams to get up and move. As the smaller rams began to move away one of them began to spar with the larger ram. The two rams butted heads and as they backed away, Johnston shot the bigger ram.

“He fell a bit down the rocky slope and stopped dead,” Johnston said. “It was late in the afternoon and the sun was going down. Josh gave me a choice to either camp on the mountain in the tent or pack the sheep all the way out. We decided to go for it and pack the sheep out. It took us four hours to get back to the trailhead on the horses. The terrain was so steep and I was sitting high up on a horse that was part draft horse. Those horses just went down those steep switchbacks in the dark and I just held on, trusting the horses.

“In all, we saw 19 grizzly bears, one of which bluff charged us, and endured some eight inches of snow, cold temperatures and rough terrain,” Johnston said. “I’ve not had any physical problems hunting at lower elevations, but I worried about whether or not I could endure the strenuous hard work required to hunt bighorn sheep above 12,000 feet. At one point, I even called my twin daughters and told them I wasn’t sure I could finish this hunt. I’m really glad that Josh pushed me to keep going.

“I was flying to Africa to hunt when I got the call that I had won the bighorn sheep super tag raffle and I thought it was a joke,” Johnston said. “The Game and Fish Director, Scott Talbott, was on the phone and I really wasn’t sure if I should believe the caller or not. When I landed I called and got more information and then I was thrilled.”

The Super Tag initiative was passed by the 2013 Wyoming Legislature and signed by Governor Matt Mead allowing the Game and Fish to raise more than $665,000 to benefit Wyoming’s wildlife. In addition to the raffle for the individual licenses, the Game and Fish was also authorized to raffle one Super Tag Trifecta. That winner was able to buy three different licenses from a pool of antelope, bighorn sheep, deer, elk, moose, mountain goat, black bear, mountain lion or wild bison licenses.

“I am very fortunate,” Johnston said. “It’s like Josh says, bighorn sheep are one of the coolest big game animals we have in Wyoming. I got to hunt a special bighorn sheep ram on a very special license. I did not lose any of my accumulated preference points, so I can still keep accumulating points and hunt another bighorn sheep next year if I draw the license. This super tag program is a great program.”

The Game and Fish sold 50,266 raffle tickets to people from Wyoming, across the country and around the world. The revenue helps the Game and Fish’s operating budget.

(Contact: Lucy Wold 307-875-3223)

-WGFD-

 

 

GAME AND FISH TO HOLD PUBLIC MEETING ON ACCESS TO PUBLIC RECORDS AND LICENSE LISTS

 

CASPER – The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is holding a public meeting in Casper Dec. 9 on proposed regulations governing access to public records and licenses and permits. A comment period on these proposals will be open through   Dec. 29.

Game and Fish is proposing that parties requesting hunter license lists will only be charged for the labor to compile and mail the list, instead of the current complicated reimbursement formula. The simplified proposal is predicted to lower costs for list requests. All references to hard copy lists (license books) will also be deleted from the regulation since all licenses are now produced electronically.

The Game and Fish proposal would expand those eligible to qualify for a landowner license to include siblings of the landowner. Other significant license regulation proposals include: simplifying resident elk license quotas to be the number of licenses approved by the Commission in April minus the number issued to nonresidents in February, prohibiting Governor’s, Commissioner’s and Super Tag license holders from hunting in Grand Teton National Park and changing the alter/withdrawal date of big game license applications to the last day of the application period.

All interested parties are encouraged to attend the public meetings at the Casper Game and Fish office. The meeting will be held at 6 p.m.

Written comments will also be accepted through 5 p.m. Dec. 29 by mailing: Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Regulations, 3030 Energy Lane, Casper, WY 82604 or through the Game and Fish website. Copies of the proposed regulations are available at the same address or on the Game and Fish website at http://wgfd.wyo.gov.All signed comments will be presented to the Game and Fish Commission before they address the proposals at their Jan. 22-23 meeting in Cheyenne.

The state of Wyoming supports the Americans with Disabilities Act. Every effort will be made for reasonable accommodations by contacting the corresponding Game and Fish office.

(Contact: Jeff Obrecht 307-777-4532)

-WGFD-

 

BLACK BEAR HARVEST SURVEY NOW UNDERWAY

CHEYENNE—The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is asking black bear hunters to take a few minutes and participate in the harvest survey now underway for the 2014 black bear season.

Game and Fish has sent 2,397 surveys via mail and another 1,970 via email, to both resident and nonresident hunters who held 2014 bear licenses. This is the first year the harvest surveys are being emailed. The Department should realize a significant reduction in cost. Hunter survey coordinator Gail Sheridan said the online method is more efficient.

“The harvest survey only takes a few minutes,” Sheridan said. “By completing this online, it saves money in postage and processing and speeds up the procedure to compile survey results.”

The survey is an important tool for the Game and Fish to estimate harvest, hunter success, effort, and provides information to help wildlife managers plan the next year’s hunting season. The Game and Fish emphasizes it is still very important for all surveys to be completed even if the hunter was unsuccessful or did not go hunting.

(Contact: Gail Sheridan 307-777-4567)

                                                                               -WGFD-

 

WYOMING GAME AND FISH ANNOUNCES TEXT-A-POACHING TIP

CASPER – The Wyoming Game and Fish Department has launched a new method for the public to report poaching incidents. Game and Fish has added a text message reporting system, as well as an Android app, to the Stop Poaching Program.

“Big game hunting seasons are winding down, but many of our biggest poaching cases come from tips received during the months wildlife is on their winter range and even during the summer,” says Aaron Kerr, law enforcement coordinator.

Anyone with a cell phone can now report critical poaching information to the Game and Fish by sending a text message to 847411 (TIP411) with WGFD as the first word of their message, followed by the poaching information they would like to report. Critical information for people to report includes suspect and vehicle descriptions, exact location of the violation and facts they observed. Tip411, an Internet-based tool, enables the public to text message an anonymous poaching tip to the department.

“The information people provide is critical to allow game wardens to follow up on a case,” says Kerr. “This new tool is going to be invaluable, as it will give the public a way to report wildlife violations in a timely manner, which in turn will give wardens the needed information to investigate and solve poaching cases.”

In addition to texting a message to 847411 (TIP411), Android users can download the WGFD Tips app to report a wildlife violations at (play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.citizenobserver.wgfdtips).

Last year, 451 tips were submitted through the Game and Fish Department’s Stop Poaching Hotline. The resulting cases involved 53 people and accounted for fines totaling over $353,000. The Wyoming Wildlife Protectors Association rewarded $15,300 to people who provided poaching tip information to the Game and Fish.

Anonymous tips can also be submitted directly on the Game and Fish website at http://wgfd.wyo.gov or by calling 1-877-WGFD-TIP (1-877-943-3847)…and now by texting WGFD and the tip to TIP411 (847411) via the WGFD Tip Android app. STOP POACHING – Help Us Stand Watch

(Contact: Janet Milek 307-473-3400)

-WGFD-

 

 

 

Game and Fish Calendar

Nov. 18 – Public meeting on Game and Fish bird farms, Thayne Town Hall, 6 p.m.

Nov. 18 – Public meeting on Game and Fish bird farms, Pinedale WGFD office, 6 p.m.

Nov. 24 – Deadline to submit entries for Wyoming Wildlife Photo Contest

Nov. 30 – Season closes for blue and ruffed grouse                                                                                                                       Nov. 30 – Turkey season in Hunt Area 1 (Black Hills) closes

Dec. 9 – Public meeting on Access to G&F records/hunter license lists, Casper WGFD office, 6 p.m.

 

 

 

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