Three-day youth-only pheasant hunt coming to Wyoming’s Yellowtail WHMA

By Brendan LaChance

A pheasant hunt open only to hunters age 17 and under is scheduled to take place on the Yellowtail Wildlife Habitat Management Area near Lovell from Friday, November 19 through Sunday, November 21.

“During this three-day timeframe, pheasant hunting is restricted to youth only on all lands contained within the Yellowtail Wildlife Habitat Management Area north of the Shoshone River,” the Wyoming Game and Fish Department explained.

The youth-only hunt has been expanded to three days for the first time. In previous years, only one day per season was set aside for youth hunters, according to Game and Fish.

“By reconfiguring the dates of the youth hunt, birds brought in and released from the Sheridan Bird Farm will be more available to youth hunters and should provide a better opportunity for youth to harvest birds over a three-day period, versus only Saturday as it was before,” Lovell Game Warden Dillon Herman said.

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WY Pheasant release a popular program

By Katie Roenigk

Hunting season for wild pheasants continues through December for roosters only. The first week of December marks the final week of the season for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department's pheasant stocking program in the Riverton area. The birds have been released in the Sand Mesa Wildlife Habitat Management Area near Riverton twice each week this fall as part of the ongoing Game and Fish program. Wildlife biologist Greg Anderson said the animals are raised in Sheridan and transported by trailer to Ocean Lake and Sand Mesa in northern Fremont County. On release days, Anderson said the locations are closed for shooting after 4 p.m., when he releases the pheasants and gives them the evening to disperse. "Hunters can pursue them the next day," he said. The pen-raised birds aren't expected to live long in the wild, Anderson added. "They're put out and meant to be harvested," he said. According to the Game and Fish website, pheasants will not be released if anyone is following the stocking truck. Anderson said he sometimes invites interested residents to tag along to watch him release the birds, however. "On Tuesdays and Fridays typically I'm putting birds out, and a number of people are aware of that and will follow me around," he said. "Sometimes they bring their kids along, or I'll bring my kids along if they're out of school." Read the full DailyRanger article

Wyoming - More Pheasant Release Sites for the 2014 Season

Pheasants will again be released on select Laramie and Platte county walk-in areas this fall and pheasant stocking in north-central Wyoming will be basically the same as last year, reports the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.

“It’s a good year for the pheasant program in southeast Wyoming,” said Steve Schafer, superintendent of the Downar Bird Farm near Yoder. “We’ve got improved cover, more release sites and more birds to release than most years.”

These southeast Wyoming walk-in areas will receive pheasants for the 2014 general pheasant season: Goshen County 29 and 63, Laramie County 21 and 34, and Platte County 20 and 23. Weather permitting, areas will be stocked twice a week through Dec. 14.

Pheasants will be stocked at least twice a week at the Springer/Bump Sullivan Wildlife Habitat Management Area (Hunt Area 8) near Yoder during the general season, which runs Nov. 2 – 21. The Table Mountain WHMA south of Huntley will also be stocked twice a week through November.

Special permits are needed Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays during November at the Glendo Pheasant Hunt but pheasants will continue to be released twice a week there through Dec. 14.

The stocking plan for pheasants from the Sheridan Bird Farm is the same as past years.

Weather permitting, the Yellowtail WHMA (Hunt Area 5) near Lovell will be stocked twice a week through the week of Christmas and the Ocean Lake and Sand Mesa WHMAs (Hunt Area 2) near Riverton will be stocked twice a week through the first week in December. Check wgfd.wyo.gov for current info about pheasant stocking in these areas.

Walk-in areas will be stocked in Campbell County (No. 2), Johnson County (Nos. 9, 11) and Sheridan County (Nos. 1-6). Plus, in the Sheridan-Buffalo area, the Buffalo Run state land area, Bud Love WHMA, Welch Bureau of Land Management area and Fort Phil Kearny Hunter Management Area will also be stocked. Weather permitting, these walk-in and other areas in the Sheridan-Buffalo area will be stocked once a week through November and possibly longer depending on the supply of birds. Hunters can contact the Sheridan Game and Fish Office for the specific locations of release areas.

Hunters, regardless of age, are reminded to purchase the Pheasant Special Management Permit to hunt pheasants released by the Game and Fish. Hunter orange is recommended for all upland game bird hunting and required when hunting pheasants on Game and Fish habitat areas and the Glendo Pheasant Hunt.

Hunters are cautioned if they follow the stocking truck, the driver will likely return to the bird farm and not release the birds until a later date.

(Contact: Jeff Obrecht (307) 777-4532)

-WGFD-

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