CHEYENNE, Wyo. — The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is asking hunters to complete a harvest survey for the 2020 hunting season. Many hunters have received or will begin to receive, a harvest survey via e-mail or the Postal Service. Hunters’ responses about their season are used in making future wildlife management decisions.
“This harvest survey is the best way to gather large amounts of data from the public. We use the responses to estimate harvest, hunter success and hunter effort,” said Emily Gates, Game and Fish harvest survey coordinator. “Hunter feedback is important information and is a valuable tool for monitoring populations, setting future quotas, season dates and other regulations. We appreciate every response.”
All license holders for moose, bighorn sheep, mountain goat, black bear, mountain lion, gray wolf, fall wild turkey, spring wild turkey, furbearer, sandhill crane, and light goose conservation order are included in the survey process.
Because of the large volume of antelope, deer, elk, small game, upland game bird, and migratory game bird license holders, a random sampling of those licensed hunters are surveyed; not all license holders of those species will receive a request to complete a harvest survey.
Hunters who do receive and complete an antelope, deer, or elk harvest survey will be entered in a drawing to win one of several donated prizes. To be eligible for prizes, hunters who are selected for a survey must submit responses by Jan. 7 for antelope, Jan. 28 for deer, and Feb. 4 for elk.
“In Wyoming, it’s not a requirement all hunters fill out a survey,” Gates said. “But, if you get a survey, it’s important to fill it out, even if you didn’t hunt or harvest.”
Some hunters may receive a survey before their season ends; but, Game and Fish asks hunters to wait until they are finished hunting or their season is over before filling out the survey. The antelope, deer and elk surveys are conducted by Tetra Tech, the survey research firm that won the competitive bid to conduct these large volume surveys.
