Hunting

The Wyoming Senate killed a bill that would give the governor the right to strike an agreement with tribes on treaty-based hunting, fishing and gathering rights.

Wyoming may soon have a new type of hunting season – a mountain lion pursuit season. Supporters say it could help manage human and animal conflicts with lions.Senate File 178 recently passed the Senate and would establish a mountain lion pursuit season, which is where hunters could use their dogs to tree lions, but not kill them. Currently, when quotas for lions killed are met or hunters fill their lion tag, they cannot legally continue to pursue the lions for training.

The Wyoming House floor will consider a bill that would give the Wyoming governor the right to strike an agreement with tribes on treaty based hunting, fishing and gathering rights.

Several environmental and scientific groups are petitioning the Department of the Interior to ban lead-based ammunition and tackle in national parks. They argue the move would be meaningful in slowing the spread of lead poisoning in wildlife.

The Mountain West News Bureau researched two possibilities for why certain hunting spots on public lands are getting crowded while the number of hunters remains fairly stable.

Warmer falls have made hunting harder, especially elk. This is affecting the Wyoming Game and Fish Department managing elk.

A new study highlights the economic impact that hunting has on one state in the Mountain West, a region of the country that sees billions of dollars spent by hunters each year.

Wilderness is often imagined as an untouched, dramatic landscape— a place to escape the human. That’s how wilderness is depicted in an 1896 photojournal that currently resides in the Princeton University archives. The author of the journal, John Henry Purdy, was a New York socialite, invited by his friend, the railroad magnate William Seward Webb, on a 30-day hunting trip to Yellowstone National Park.

A task force that was convened by the governor has made recommendations for changes that, if approved, would go into effect in 2024. They would increase the number of non-resident licenses to help thin elk herds across the state, which have nearly doubled in population since 1980.

As the weather starts to get cooler, bears are getting ready for hibernation. That means they are actively seeking foods to put on fat for their long sleep.Dan Thompson, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s large carnivore supervisor, said because bears are so active right now, hunters, landowners and others who use the outdoors need to be bear aware. Especially in places like the Cody area, where the animals are expanding their range.