Bird hunters encouraged to submit wings

With sage and sharp-tailed grouse seasons opening soon, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game is asking hunters to help gather grouse information by providing a fully feathered wing for each bird they harvest.

"The more information we have about hunters and birds harvested, the better we can manage the different species," said Bruce Ackerman, wildlife biologist at Fish and Game.

By examining the shape, condition, length and color patterns on wing feathers, biologists can determine the bird's sex and whether it was an adult or juvenile. If the bird was an adult female, biologists can even tell if she successfully produced chicks that year. In addition, the percentage of juveniles and adults wings collected can provide information on chick production rates. All of this information can help determine the status of various game bird populations and helps Fish and Game improve management of the species.

Sage grouse season opens Saturday in parts of Idaho, and sharp-tailed grouse hunting starts Oct. 1. See Fish and Game's upland game rules booklet for details, or go to http://fishandgame.idaho.gov and look under the "Hunting" tab.

Hunters can provide their wings to Fish and Game in a variety of ways, one being by mail. Close to 3,000 hunters who hold a sage/sharp-tailed grouse permit will receive a packet in the mail with specific directions and a pre-paid return envelope. Hunters, who did not receive a mail-wing envelope, can still participate by contacting their nearest Fish and Game office.

"We'd like the wings mailed back to us by November, and it's important that we know where the bird was harvested, date of harvest, days hunted and number of hunters if hunting in a group," Ackerman said.

Hunters can also drop their wings off at department-run check stations or in "wing barrels" located at popular access routes throughout the hunting season. Unfortunately, check stations and wing barrels sometimes miss grouse hunters in more remote areas of the state. The mail-in wing program targets those hunters that may not pass by a check station or wing barrel.

"Any wings we receive in addition to the mail-in program will help us," Ackerman said. "We especially are interested in sage and sharp-tailed grouse wings, but also from other game birds."

Any person hunting sage or sharp-tailed grouse must have in possession a valid Idaho hunting license with a sage, sharp-tailed grouse permit validation, which costs $4.75.