Sage-grouse hunters asked to turn in GPS tags

Wyoming’s greater sage-grouse hunting season is open Sept. 19 through Sept. 30 across much of Wyoming, and the falconry hunting season opened Sept. 1, according to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. Many sage-grouse around the state have been tagged or collared as part of various research and study programs.

Power Company of Wyoming, LLC (PCW) is asking hunters to please be aware that lightweight GPS tags have been placed on more than 50 female and male sage-grouse located on and around The Overland Trail Cattle Company ranch, the site of PCW’s planned Chokecherry and Sierra Madre Wind Energy Project. Since the GPS tags were first deployed in early 2010, sage-grouse have been continuously monitored by PCW and by research partners as part of long-term studies related to sage-grouse conservation and wind energy development.

Located south of Rawlins and northwest of Saratoga, the Overland Trail Ranch is closed to the general public, and sage-grouse hunting has been prohibited for many years as part of a series of sage-grouse conservation measures implemented ranch-wide. However, the GPS-based monitoring program shows that tagged sage-grouse typically migrate well beyond the ranch boundaries, sometimes as far as 40 miles away.

Hunters who shoot a greater sage-grouse and discover that the bird is wearing a GPS tracking device are simply asked to please return the device, so scientists can continue the integrity of the overall sage-grouse monitoring program and the important scientific data being gathered. Hunters can drop the tags into WGFD wing barrels or at the BLM Rawlins Field Office. Alternatively, hunters can arrange for retrieval by calling 303-487-1183.

“Over the past five years, we have gathered well over half a million data points helping us see exactly how sage-grouse move seasonally and diurnally among different types of habitats, where they nest, and when they are impacted by weather and predators, among other important findings,” says Garry Miller, PCW vice president of land and environmental affairs. “We appreciate the hunting community’s support so that our monitoring results can be as accurate and complete as possible.”